FINNEGAN'S CHOCOLATE CREAM CAKE...for me from him :)

Baking a cake is so much fun, I have been seeing my Mom and Sister bake cake ever since I was a child. My Mom was well known for her Christmas cake and Lamingtons in the place I grew up. My Sister took up baking as a subject and won the President of India's award for baking. Though I never baked a cake all my life, the closest I came to baking a cake was to stir the ingredients, that’s how my Mom used to motivate me. Stir well and you get a yummy cake. As a child I used to always think the women in my family were the best bakers, and it turned out to be true, my wife is an amazingly wonderful baker. I am sure there are many people who stand as a testimony for my Ria’s baking skills. That’s just another reason to have Ria as my life partner.

Ria turned 25!! Yeah 25 this year, a milestone in one’s life. I think that’s a better way to calculate you are getting old. When asked what she needed for her birthday, one of her wishes were to have me bake a cake for her birthday. My reply was an instant yes, at that time I dint know what I just signed up for. And till a couple of days before she turned 25, she again reminded me about the cake. The only thing I was a little apprehensive about was how do I mix the ingredients? Very soon I realized Ria has all the fancy tools to bake a cake. So there I was all ready to make it for her. I dint have to bother about what cake to make as Ria figured it all out.

Finnegan’s chocolate cream cake is what I made, this is not a regular chocolate cake, but this is something which just melts in your mouth. The cake calls for the usual ingredients along with Irish cream, and chocolate chips.  Detailed ingredients are given below. Ria loved this cake and that’s all I wanted. I am glad I was able to bake this for her. Though I don’t see myself baking regularly, I am ready for her next birthday for another round. I enjoyed baking and had a wonderful day with Ria on her Birthday.  I hope you bake this as well and have a good time enjoying it.

FINNEGAN'S CHOCOLATE CREAM CAKE
Recipe Source: A passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman, pg:236

Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups brewed warm coffee
1/3 cup Irish cream liqueur or milk

Chocolate Cream Glaze
3/4 cup whipping cream/fresh cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur or strong coffee

Method:

Cake:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg.F. Generously grease a 12-cup Bundt pan or a 10" tube pan with shortening. 

• In a mixer bowl, cream butter with both sugars.Then add eggs and vanilla. Blend on low speed for 1 minute until smooth. Add flour,cocoa,baking powder,baking soda and salt. Stir briefly ;then drizzles in coffee and Irish Cream, stirring at the same time to make a smooth,somewhat loose batter.

• Spoon batter into prepared pan.Bake 55-65 minutes or until the cake springs back when gently pressed with fingertips. Cool cake well and then invert onto a serving platter.

Chocolate Cream Glaze:

• Bring whipping cream to a boil in a small sauce pan. Add chocolate chips,reduce temperature to low and whisk to blend and melt chocolate.Add Irish Cream .
• Remove from heat after 1-2 minutes and stir until smooth.Let cool to room temperature before using.If you cannot glaze right away, refrigerate glaze and gently rewarm and then drizzle over cake.

Verdict:
What more can I ask for? This was truly one of the best birthday's I have ever had! This one had many highlights: Me hitting quarter century, my first birthday with Jobin and Jobin baking his first cake...that too for me! I absolutely loved the cake and the whole experience is precious.I will cherish this all my life!To another happy quarter! :)