Cocoa, sugar, banana and orange rind..

Feeling a bit uncertain as I look at the faded recipe for the chocolate cake which had been photocopied from the book.  It has been a year since I made the cake I think.

The year has not been good, maybe because I have not made more of the cake.

I have thought of making the cake  but could not find the mental energy to do so. As with many things which used to be easy, I am anxious about this, to get it right.


There is a process. The first thing is to measure the milk, mix with some warm water and the vinegar to sour it  as a substitute for butter milk.

Oil and line the pans
The pans have to be oiled and lined with the grease proof paper. One of the pans has been around as long as I have. There is rust on it which I cover with the oil. It isn't really rust , more like a blemish. Cakes baked in this pan are usually good. The grease proof paper has to be cut - round for the base, and then a strip to put around the side of the pan. I never get the perfect circle and have to put an additional piece to cover up. The grease proof paper has some spots on it. The paper is now old but still useful. I hope that the spots are not some poisonous fungus. 

I press the paper on the pan. The edges of the paper are not neat. I should have mindful when cutting the paper. Some bits of paper stick out of the pan. One bit keeps falling forward. I know that this one will probably have to be extracted out of the cake. The oil sort of soaks through the paper. Maybe the paper  is not as grease proof as it used to be.

This oiling and lining of the pans is the most troublesome part of baking the cake.

I am the only person in my family who lines pans with grease proof paper.

Butter and sugar
There are two tubs of butter, each of 225 g. I need 250g. I empty one tub into the mixing bowl which is older than me.
It had been purchased with a Mix Master sometime in the late sixties.   The mix master has long been discarded but the bowls continue to be useful.
I  open the other tub of butter. I use a knife to score a mark on the surface to show three portions. I will then divide each portion into three again - to roughly get 25g. I probably get an extra bit. Nothing is ever the right quantity.. sometimes more, sometimes less.

There is some damp brown sugar in a bag which has expired at the end of August.We hardly use sugar now, except eating in bought stuff.
 I will use the sugar though, because it looks and smells okay. There is another bag of damp brown sugar which I open.  I put a bit more than the two cups because I don't think the sugar is sweet enough.

Measure the dry ingredients
The recipe calls for regular flour and self raising flour. I had to figure out a way to make self raising flour which included baking powder, baking soda and 1/6 tsp of salt. So there is this mix of flour and chemicals and the cocoa. I measure carefully, checking to see that I don't forget anything and that I don't mix up baking powder and baking soda.
I hold the sifter high above the bowl.

I put extra baking soda since I am not using eggs, but crushed banana.

Creaming the butter and sugar.
I put the beaters from the mixer on the pile butter and sugar . I like this part.. watching the sugar disappear into the butter.
The brown grains are showing up and I wonder if the sugar is supposed to melt.
The butter is softening too fast and the sugar is not melting. If I used eggs, the thing would have run by now.

I keep the beaters on and at some point, I decide to put in a bit of  the crushed banana . I have to pay attention. I thought the banana would make the mixture more soft.
The mix though, seems to cream. Peaks are forming, and the sugar seems to be disappearing. I have to ask for very ripe bananas when  buying and crush to get the 1/4 cup per egg substitute. 

I like using bananas instead of the eggs because the texture of the cake seems different. I can't believe that the butter and sugar is now creamy and not runny.

I feel hopeful.

Fold in the dry ingredients and butter milk
I fold in the dry ingredients with the sour milk into the butter mixture. A metal spoon, I am not sure why.

The baking soda thing starts to work as it mixes with the baking soda and the mix gets spongy. It feels nice. The cocoa spreads in the mixture, and the nice smell rises up.
There is no smell of  the banana. I feel like a pro and think the mixture is a bit dry.
 I ad like two tablespoons of warm water rinsed in the cup which had the sour milk.  I have never done this before and I wonder if I am pushing boundaries.

I put the batter in the pans, trying to keep the paper to the side of the batter.  The piece of paper keeps falling on top of the batter.
I leave it.

I use one of those silicone spatulas which cleans the mixing bowl. It is too clean, so I leave a bit to lick off after. The batter is delicious, the cocoa and the banana flavour is coming through.

Baking..
The cake bakes, the edges cooking faster than the middle. I wonder if the extra water is making some difference. It is taking longer than I am used to. I keep checking even though you are not supposed to open the oven too often. I don't want the cake to get too dry. I use a skewer to test. The skewer comes out clean.

I take the cakes out of the oven.

Icing
My mother said she saw some recipe with orange and chocolate. There are some oranges around. I scratch the skin, but there isn't much fragrance. Orange peel gives the flavour, more than orange juice.

This is the first time too.

I grate some orange rind/skin  into the icing sugar before mixing with the cocoa and the butter. And a splash of milk. I hope that the mix of orange rind and milk do not spoil the icing.

The icing smells good.. cocoa and orange.  I layer it on the cake. The icing is not smooth and so, but good enough for me.

The cake is good. Uplifting. There is a rush.

Relief .

Next time I might try ginger in the icing with the cocoa and see.