Double Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cake

This cake was made for my brother's gf, M, who celebrated her 2x bday yesterday. Happy Birthday! I thought it would be fitting to make her a birthday cake to celebrate the occasion.

From what M told me, she likes chocolate and nuts, and she has a liking towards white chocolate. So that's how this Double Chocolate & Macadamia Nut cake came about.

This is my first birthday cake attempt. Maybe it was me and I was very particular about getting it right, the whole process took me a few hours to make. Most foodies out there will probably take a lot less time than me. Initially I wanted to make a round cake but alas, my cake box was alot smaller than I had thought so I had to cut the cake into a square shape instead. The cake ended up being smaller than I had in mind. Eventually, after many hours in the kitchen, my creation was born. I got some reviews back and the birthday girl said the cake was delicious. Am so happy it turned out well.

Happy Birthday M! I hope you had a great one!


Double Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cake

Chocolate Cake:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cocoa
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup margarine
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp vanilla essence

- Preheat oven to 180C
- Line 2 round cake pans (8 inch - I used a 9 inch and made this twice coz that's all I had) with baking paper, grease the sides
- Sift the flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt into a bowl
- Add in the eggs, margarine, buttermilk, vanilla and water
- Using an electric mixer, beat on low setting then increase the speed until the batter is smooth
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
- Cool in the pan for 30 mins then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Frosting:
180g unsweetened dark chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla essence

- In a bowl, beat butter until creamy
- Add icing sugar and continue to beat until fluffy
- Add vanilla
- Add cooled and melted chocolate
- The icing should look glossy and smooth

Decoration:
18 caramelized macadamia nuts
White chocolate shavings

- When the cakes are cooled, use a spatula and spread the dark chocolate frosting evenly on the top of one cake
- Place the second cake on top
- Continue to spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake
- Decorate the top of the cake with the caramelized macadamia nuts and fill the rest of the top layer with white chocolate shavings