Chocolate--Birthday--Cake!!

Birthdays are always special.Whether it is you who are celebrating or someone close to you.I always looked forward to that special day in my life every year[I am sure most of us do:)].In school,where we were permitted to wear ?colour dress? while everyone else wore the boring uniforms,preparations started almost months back.As to what I would wear to who will accompany me to distribute chocolates.Shopping was done usually the previous day,lest I change my mind later:).Little tricks that amma learnt.

Amma always woke me up with a kiss and her birthday wish.Then it was appa?s turn and then my bro?s.Now of course,the baton has turned to Ajay.He has to[yup,its compulsory,lol] wish me at midnight and has to[:)] wish me throughout the day.Gifts would be chosen much beforehand,he just has to buy it for me..afterall,its my birthday:).He feels I would grow out of it after sometime,hah wishful thinking my dear.

Had a fantastic birthday this year too.Thank you all for wishing me through mails,phone calls,sms's and messages on Facebook and Orkut.Love you all,you just made me day extra special.

Made a simple Chocolate cake[Eggless] and that?s all the cooking I did.Ajay took me out the whole day not letting me do any cooking.We cut the cake in the evening with friends and then later ordered Pizza.Hmm,back to the grind from today..why don?t the birthdays come twice every year;).

Cocoa powder ? 50 gms[I used Cadbury's]

Baking powder ? 2 tsp

Baking soda ? 1 tsp

Sweetened condensed milk/Milkmaid ? 1 tin/400gms

Butter,melted ? 150 gms

Vanilla essence ? 2 tsp

Water ? 150 ml

Method

Grease and line the bottom of a 9? round cake tin with greaseproof paper/baking parchment/butter paper.I used a heart shaped tin.
Preheat the oven at about 100 to 120 degrees centigrade.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda.
In a mixing bowl,add the sifted flour mixture and make a well in the center.
Add in the condensed milk, melted butter, vanilla essence and water. Beat with an electric hand mixer, whisk or spoon just until the mixture is uniform and smooth and there are no lumps.Take care not to overbeat as this tends to make the texture of the cake hard.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for an hour at 150 degree centigrade.

For the icing

Ingredients

Icing sugar ? 2 cups,sifted
Cocoa powder ? 2 tbsp
Butter ? 90 gms,softened
Vanilla essence ? 2 tsp

Mix together everything in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon till smooth.
If the mix is too thick,you could add a few tbsp milk to ?loosen? it,but add only if required.

Assembling the Cake

Level the top part of the cake with a serrated knife and the cut the cake into 2 or 3 horizontally[I cut into 2].
Fill and cover with the icing.