Rich Dark Chocolate Cake {Recipe}

For those of you who may be thinking that I have forgotten how to bake, never fear, I am back!!

Today I baked for the first time since my surgery - 4 weeks of no baking!! I made a special cake for a very special occasion today, but I can't reveal any more about it just now, except to say that it started with my rich, moist, dark chocolate cake. Update: The cake is now revealed! - to see it, click here :)

This is by far my favourite chocolate sponge recipe, and it disappears in seconds every time I make it.    It works well as the base for many cakes, like black forrest, fudge, death by chocolate and ice cream; it works well with buttercream, ganache, cream and marshmallow, but it can also be eaten on its own, and is delicious with custard! This is the perfect chocolate sponge for simpler celebration cakes and can be tiered, if well supported - I have done 3 tiers successfully. It is no good, however for carved cakes (although it can be torted quite thinly if you are careful), and can crack and collapse if the icing and decorations get too weighty (don't ask how I know...)

So, here is my recipe for you to try. Click here to download the pdf for printing. I have also included a step-by-step photo tutorial below.

Chocolate Cake

Makes two layer 9” cake.

Ingredients:

3 cups Flour

3 cups Sugar

1 cup and 2 TBSP Cocoa

3 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp salt

3 Large Eggs

1 1/2 cups Buttermilk

1 1/4 cups Oil

2 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 cups Boiling Water

Method:

Preheat oven to 145ºC

Line and grease two 9” round cake tins.

Combine dry ingredients, in mixer bowl.

My little helper :)

Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until JUST combined. 

Benefit to being the helper ;)

Add the boiling water and mix immediately by hand until the batter is smooth (don’t over mix).

Pour into the two prepared 9” cake tins. Tap tins once, firmly on the counter to reduce large bubbles in the mix.

Bake for 60 mins, until the cake just begins to pull away from the sides of the tin, and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks.

Once the cakes are completely cool, tops can be levelled (if necessary) and cakes can be filled, stacked and decorated.

 Happy Baking!

Visiting Teaching Thought for the Month Jan 2015 {Handout}

I set a goal for myself to produce a 'Thought for the Month' handout for the Sisters that I, and my companion, visit every month. I thought, since I am making them, perhaps I could share them for others to use too, along with a few of my own thoughts.

January's message is about The Attributes of Jesus Christ: Obedient Son. I particularly liked the following quote by Elder D. Todd Christofferson: "As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life. … Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create.”

So often, obedience to rules or laws is considered restrictive or hampering to our every day lives, but in truth it opens up avenues we may not otherwise have been able to traverse. Through obedience  we gain spiritual strength and blessings which enrich our lives and help us get through challenges that otherwise may have been overwhelming. We can discover talents and abilities in ourselves that may have remained dormant, without the opportunity to obey and do the things the Lord commands us to do. Through obedience we increase our Faith in Christ and grow ever closer to becoming the people he wants us to be. Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become” (“The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32).

So, here is my 'Though for the Month' handout. To download the pdf file click here, or on the image above. (see bottom of post for a Dutch Version too)

I have also made clothes peg fridge magnets for each of our Sisters, that the handout can be pinned into each month, so that it can sit on the fridge visible, as a reminder of the months message. Click here, for the instructions and printable, to make your own fridge magnets.

Click here for the Spanish pdf.

 Click here for the Dutch pdf.

Visiting Teaching Thought for the Month Magnet

To go with my 'Though for the Month' handouts, that I make to go with my monthly Visiting Teaching messages, I have made fridge magnet pegs to display them.

To make some of these for yourself and the Sisters you visit, download the pdf by clicking here or on the image below, then follow the instructions that follow.

You will need: Print out of the pdf, laminator sheets, laminator, wooden clothes pegs,  wash tape, magnetic strips, double sided tape, scissors.

(Following photos above from top left, clockwise) Cut out each of the images, laminate them, then cut out neatly around the sealed edges. Stick wash tape along one side of each of the clothes pegs, allowing the tape to wrap around to the back to keep it neat. Cut a strip of magnet to size for each peg. Apply double sided tape to the uncovered side of the peg, then stick the magnet on to the peg. Apply double sided tape down the back of the laminated image and stick it on to the wash tape covered side of the peg.

Click here for the Spanish pdf.

Click links below for this year's Thoughts for the Month

• January 2015
• Fenbrary 2015

Have fun!

Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Scripture Mastery MAD GABS *Updated for 2021*

Today I have something slightly different to share. I have been an early morning Seminary teacher since September, and am absolutely loving it. After seeing Mad Gabs used in a Seminary activity last year (Book of Mormon), I decided I'd like to include a Mad Gab game in my lessons. After searching for and not finding a full set of Mad Gabs for the Doctrine and Covenants online, I started working on my own set, and have finally finished a complete set for this year's D&C Scripture Masteries.

My students all love practising their SM with these cards. Except my son. He has a love/hate relationship with them. One of the funniest moments in seminary is when he reads one of the cards out loud. Everyone else in the class instantly understands the phrase he is reading - he does a really good job of slurring the words together so that it sounds right - but he can't hear it! The more times he reads it out, the clearer it sounds to everyone else and the more confused he gets, and the more everyone, including him, laughs. At least he has a good sense of humour :)

So here are my D&C SM Mad Gabs, free for you to download and use. I hope you and your students enjoy them!

The cards are in a 4 page A4 pdf document that you can download.

*** EDIT January 2021 - I have created an updated set which includes the new scriptures added to scripture master this year. Click here to download the updated version, or on on of the the images. ***

 (The old 2015 version can be found by clicking here.)

You can make a set of cards by gluing the MAD GAB and it's answer back to back for each card.

OR

You can make a set of cards with only the MAD GABS on them (blank on the back), which the students can then handle without seeing the answer, then print out the whole set onto one or two pages for you (the teacher) to use as an answer sheet.

Have fun!