BIRTHDAY CAKE: Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting

Finally... The moment is here.... :-D I'm am truly in my twenties now.. No looking back!! No residual-teen stuff! And surprisingly I was quite upbeat about turning a year older! Last year, I was at home, sighing over the fact the people have mid-life crisis, but I was having an early-life crisis! :-P But this year, with so much to look forward to, I don't feel that bad about entering the 20s... And how I entered! :-D I baked this delicious looking cake (if not perfect) Some may say its sad to bake your own birthday cake. But I don't think so! (By the way, my awesome friends surprised me with a gift basket AND a Black Forest Cake!

Looks pretty, doesn't it? Well, maybe a tad bit untidy too. I completed the whole thing within 1-1.5 hours. Hence the not-so-perfect finish. There's not much I can tell about this cake. It was quite simple. I did put a lot of thought to it. I planned & I planned & I planned... Turns out, I didn't plan to carry out the plan! :-P (Uhh, I'm not sure what I'm blabbering here!)

Anyways.. here's what you'll need to do..
1. Bake a Chocolate Cake. (or any other cake you want) I could only think of the cake I made for Black Forest. You can check out the recipe here. Or use the measurements from this marble cake - but instead of the vanilla & orange flavors, simply substitute with more cocoa powder.

2. Make the CHOCOLATE FUDGE frosting. Its really simple. You can make it before and store it. Click here to read the recipe.

3. Keep your Chocolate Decorations ready. You could also buy the chocolate vermicelli, chocolate nutties etc to decorate the cake. I made the fudge 1st. And as the cake was baking, I made these decorations.

4. After the cake has cooled completely, cut it into 2 or 3 pieces. I had less frosting so I cut it into 2 pieces.

5. Sprinkle some sugar syrup all over the cake. You can sprinkle generously. This helps to keep the cake really soft.

6. Apply a layer of the fudge frosting all over the bottom layer. Sprinkle some chocolate curls or tiny bits of chocolate over the fudge. When you eat the cake, you'll find tiny chocolate delights in your mouth!

7. Close the cake with the top layer. Now apply the rest of the frosting all over the cake. Make sure you cover every inch of the cake.

8. Use the chocolate vermicelli & layer it along the sides.Then decorate your cake with your decorations or with chocolate pieces or whipped cream... whatever you want!
VERDICT: One word: Amazing. :-)
The cake had tooooo much chocolate in it! So, weight watchers: Beware! :-P But too much chocolate can NEVER go wrong! ;-)

Happy Birthday to ME! :-P :-D