Somewhere between writing this post about my fluctuating weight dilemma and making this fabulous cake; the batteries of my scale went flat! One morning I stood routinely on the little glass square waiting for a miracle, but there was nothing. No numbers. No gain. No loss. Just a blank space where the numbers used to appear...numbers that had the power to affect the rest of my day.
I fully intended to replace those batteries and continue my love/hate relationship with this little apparatus, but somehow, due to neglect and forgetfulness, I didn't. And just like that, something that used to be a part of my everyday, didn't have the power to affect me anymore!
In some ways, it was indeed the miracle I needed. Without the pressure of numbers, I've started to really listen to my body. I've had to tap into willpower, self-control and discipline and without even realising it, my focus shifted...from desiring results...to actually putting in the hard work and effort and making the changes required to achieve it!
For the first time in years I have no idea what I weigh! Instead I've been concentrating on being fit, strong and healthy...gaging my progress by how I feel. I've survived the Fast, Eid and the post Eid binge with minimal damage. And even managed to fit into a jeans that had been too tight for too long (yay me!)... A small victory :-)
Which brings me to this cake...Nothing gets a person falling off the wagon quite like an indulgent slice of Chocolate Cake!! Listening to your body also means that when you are faced with the Ultimate Chocolate Cake....you listen to the voice in your head and go ahead and eat it (in moderation of course!). I seriously don't have any regrets rewarding myself for my little accomplishments...and because I'm so generous, I'm sharing the recipe so that you can reward yourselves too ;-) You only live once, it's best you enjoy it with a slice of cake every now and again!
For the Cake
I don't think any recipe book is complete without a trusted chocolate cake recipe...rich, fluffy and moist; that can be dressed up countless different ways! For this cake I used my traditional family favourite and your favourite chocolate cake recipe should do just fine, but let me know if you want me to share my recipe.
The Ultimate Chocolate Icing
- 180 gr butter
- 360 gr icing sugar
- 200 gr chocolate (I used milk chocolate but I think dark would be better)
- 1 small tin nestle cream (or you could substitute fresh cream or thickened cream)
METHOD
- Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan until boiling, then pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
- In a separate bowl, put the butter and sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth, fluffy and pale.
- Beat in the chocolate mixture, then chill for 20 minutes.
- Spoon icing into a piping bag and decorate as desired. I used this easy to do technique and finished things off with Oreo's!
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