Today, my little boy turned 6!
I prepared several small gifts for him and he had asked to have a treasure hunt, like we did last year. Last year, he looked for toys while I told him "hot" or "cold". However, this year, since he knows how to read, I made him clue cards indicating where the gifts were hidden :)
So I made a big sign that said "Happy Birthday Amal", put it on the door so he sees it when he wakes up, and put the clue cards below the sign. This morning when he woke up, he went straight to it, looked at his cards and started racing all over the house looking for the presents. I tried documenting his search for toys but he was too fast for my camera :)
The last photo is his birthday cake that we had tonight. I made the cake from scratch (proud mama) with Jamie Oliver's Party Cake recipe that I found in his book "The Return of the Naked Chef". I bought a cake pan with the number 6 and it was a bit difficult to put the cream and strawberries between 2 layers so I decided to have them separately. I highly recommend this cake because it turned out delicious!
Here's the recipe:
3 rounded tablespoons cocoa powder
200gr/7oz caster sugar
200gr/7oz butter
3 large eggs
200gr/7oz self raising flour, sifted
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
1 handful of flaked almonds
200ml/7fl oz double cream (heavy cream)
1 large handful of raspberries
1 large handful of strawberries
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
Line the bases of 2 x 20cm/8 inch cake tins with greased greaseproof paper.
Mix the cocoa powder with 4 tablespoons of boiling water until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter until fluffy, add the cocoa mixture, eggs, flour and baking powder. Mix well, fold in the nuts. Divide the mixture between the tins. Bake for about 25 minutes. When cooked, allow to cool then remove from the tins.
Chocolate Topping
100gr/4oz butter
100gr/4oz best cooking chocolate
100gr/4oz icing sugar
3 tablespoons milk
Melt the chocolate topping ingredients in a bowl over some slightly simmering water. Stir until blended well and allow to cool.
Whip the double cream to soft peaks and sweeten with a little sugar.
To assemble the cake, remove the greaseproof paper from both sponges. Drizzle each one with a little sherry, if you like. Spread the cream over one of the sponges, then sprinkle the fruit on top. Sandwich the second sponge on top and press down. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to smooth it off and drizzle over the chocolate topping.
200gr/7oz caster sugar
200gr/7oz butter
3 large eggs
200gr/7oz self raising flour, sifted
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
1 handful of flaked almonds
200ml/7fl oz double cream (heavy cream)
1 large handful of raspberries
1 large handful of strawberries
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
Line the bases of 2 x 20cm/8 inch cake tins with greased greaseproof paper.
Mix the cocoa powder with 4 tablespoons of boiling water until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter until fluffy, add the cocoa mixture, eggs, flour and baking powder. Mix well, fold in the nuts. Divide the mixture between the tins. Bake for about 25 minutes. When cooked, allow to cool then remove from the tins.
Chocolate Topping
100gr/4oz butter
100gr/4oz best cooking chocolate
100gr/4oz icing sugar
3 tablespoons milk
Melt the chocolate topping ingredients in a bowl over some slightly simmering water. Stir until blended well and allow to cool.
Whip the double cream to soft peaks and sweeten with a little sugar.
To assemble the cake, remove the greaseproof paper from both sponges. Drizzle each one with a little sherry, if you like. Spread the cream over one of the sponges, then sprinkle the fruit on top. Sandwich the second sponge on top and press down. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to smooth it off and drizzle over the chocolate topping.
