A Limousine Cake

 Hey guys,

Wow, first themed cake that I have ever made! Never realized how difficult it iss.

So my cousin asked me a week ago to make him a limousine cake for his birthday and in a moment of weakness, I agreed. A moment of weakness indeed.. He has been perstering me this entire week to make the cake so yesterday, when I was off from uni I decided to put all that free time to good use. I had found this cake recipe for a moist cake which I have been longing to try out and this was the perfect opportunity! Plus this recipe required mayo. And I've always wanted to use mayo in a cake. The entire concept is so funny..mayo in a cake. Lol. Be careful when adding the mayo btw, I almost added Garlic Mayo accidentally. Thank goodness I re-read the label :p

So, I followed to the recipe to a t, well as much as I possibly could. I've already mentioned I'm not very good at following recipes. I made some minor alterations along the way: using almond extract instead of vanilla extract because that's all there was available to home. I used less flour too and added more cocoa powder because the batter didn't look..well chocolatey enough. Made two batches and baked them in loaf pans for an hour each. So far so good.

The problems started when I took the cakes out of the pan. They were a bit too moist, kinda oily and very crumbly. Not holding the shape properly at all. So I put them in the fridge hoping that they'd cool down and be easier to handle. I left them in the fridge for another two hours and made a simple buttercream frosting in the meanwhile. After about two hours I took out the cakes to arrange them. And boy! It was very difficult getting the shape right, pieces of cake were falling everywhere. If anyone has any tips about what I did wrong, feel freee to let me know!

Doesn't look too good right now, I know :( 

 So once I got the shape right, I put cling foil on the cake and popped it back in the fridge. Took it out after a while to start frosting it and used up all the frosting to crumb coat the cake! At that point I had to take my little brother to the mall for a party so I had to leave the cake in the fridge. And that was all for the night, I really couldn't handle dealing with this cake anymore.

This morning, I made fresh icing for the cake and frosted it. Took me a while doing it, but I think I managed alright. I got Oreos for the wheels and Candi biscuits (which I frosted with a bit of black icing) for windows. And then, on my cousin's insistence (and this is my favourite part) I cut up a piece of an Oreo to make a little number plate for the cake!! It reads IBS 5 (His nickname is Ibs and he is 5 :p)


So now for the most important question: How did it taste? In one word, AMAZING. This is, without a doubt, the most deliciously moist cake I have ever baked in my entire life. Everyone has loved it, not a word of criticism. Well okay maybe there was one- the sugar hadn't been ground (for lack of a better word) properly. But I enjoy that bit of crunch so I'm not complaining :D Plus the cake turned out quite cute so I'm super happy about that! This cake is so incredible, definitely one of my new favourite recipes! Generally I'm never happy with the cakes that I bake, but I adore this one. So much so that I'm having some right now. With some nice hot tea. Heaven.

I know its not the neatest cake, but its pretty good for a first attempt I think :p

                                      Deliciously Moist Chocolate Cake
(Adapted from the recipe by: Bake Happy)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 ½ cup sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cup water
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp almond extract

Method:

In a bowl combine the mayo and the sugar until smooth. 

In another bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: the cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and flour. 

Add the water and dry ingredients mix to the mayo-mix, alternatively- start and end with the dry ingredients. Mix in the almond extract.

Pour the mixture into the well-greased and lined pans and bake for approx. 40 mins at 350F.

                                Buttercream Icing 

Ingredients: 

125 g unsalted butter (softened not melted)

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract 

2 tbsp whipped cream

Method:

Beat softened butter until fluffy. This should take about 5-7 minutes. The more you beat it, the paler it will become. Start incorporating the sugar, one spoon at a time. Keep testing to see whether or not the icing is too sweet or not sweet enough. Add the almond extract and cream. (Adding cream is not important, I just put it in to see what would happen :p) Beat until the icing is light and fluffy. 

Happy Baking!