It was Ro's turn to select a cake and he selected the boring chocolate cake (well no surprises there). I tried to convince him to change his decision saying he needed to have variety in life and too much chocolate is bad for character building (inside joke btw!) and things like that, but he said he'll live with it. So chocolate cake it was.
To be honest I don't even know why I made up this system where we alternate our preferences when it comes to dessert because unlike me, Ro is not fussy at all. he will eat anything I make and even say wow. The occasional once or twice he said something vaguely dissatisfying and I was almost in tears. Now you know why I panic when I have people over, simple..its because Ro keeps saying everything is nice and I honestly cant figure if he's just saying it to make me feel great or its ACTUALLY nice.
Anyhoo, I made a passion fruit and poppy seed cake the last time and so this time Ro selected the chocolate one. All he asked was a simple choc cake, but I cant leave it at that can I? So I searched (yet again) and decided on a recipe from Bakers Royale. I also had a tub of cream cheese which I had to use up and since the peanut butter was also sitting in the fridge untouched, I decided to pair the two together. I am not a big fan of heavy cakes and chocolate is not my thing, so I only took a bite and from that it was not that bad. The cake is not that sweet and the frosting imparts the sweetness that the cake lacks. It blends pretty well. But that's all I'm gonna have of the cake. It's all for Ro to devour. The things you do for love, I say! :)
Cupcake recipe has been adapted from here
Dark chocolates- 1 oz (more than 70 percent cocoa), roughly chopped
Unsalted butter- 4 tbsp
Cocoa powder- 1/4 cup
Plain flour- 45 gms
Baking powder- 1/4 tsp
Baking soda- 1/4 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Egg- 1
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 75 gms
Yoghurt- 1/4 cup
Peanut butter cream cheese frosting from here
Cream cheese- 3 oz
Icing sugar- 17 gms
Creamy peanut butter- 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp
Whipped cream- 1/4 cup
Into a saucepan throw in the chocolate, cocoa powder and butter and stir until melted and combined. Keep aside to cool.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.
Into a mixing bowl break the egg and whisk well with the sugar and vanilla until pale yellow.
Pour in the cooled chocolate mix and stir well to combine.
Add about 2 tbsp of the flour mix and fold it in till well combined.
Add the yoghurt, whisk well and throw in the remaining flour. Fold it in together till they all come together.
Pour into 6 muffin liners till 2/3rd full and bake in an oven pre heated at 176C for 20 minutes.
Cool on a rack completely and only then frost.
Into a clean mixing bowl add the cream cheese and sugar and whisk on medium speed for about a minute or so.
Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and continue whisking for a couple more minutes, till everything is mixed well and its light and creamy.
Fold in the whipped cream gently until you get a smooth mix.
Either pipe it on to the cake or dab a couple of spoons onto the cupcake and make a mess out of it like i did :)
Notes: The original recipe for the cake asked for sour cream which i substitutes with Greek yoghurt
Don't bring the cream cheese to room temperature. Keeps the consistency thick
place the cakes in air tight containers and it stays in the fridge for a couple of days.
