Happy Birthday Liliana/Bon Anniversaire Lili!!

Its late and Mike is in London so home alone I must manage the transition of my daughter from 6 to 7!! It has been a great day shopping for special wee gifts in our local town and making chocolate cake to go on the school farm trip!! Yes Liliana has scooped with a school trip on her birthday...Brilliant! Well except that this means that our carefully decorated Party Cake now has to travel in a disposable tray to school and the farm...a challenge!  Fate presented, at the local Supermarket, a tray of Pink Lady apples in the perfect 'disposable' carrier tray...all the better for being bright pink with 'Pink Lady' written in white all over....in France...who would have guessed! Apparently I also have to provide serviettes and a drink of some sort [juice?] and individual packs of sweets for each class member to take home and then, and only then, I am conforming to traditional French customs...according to Liliana, and she would know, having been the recipient of this parental obligatory ritual on numerous occasions.

The cake that was ordered was the same as last year...apparently it went down a storm and Liliana was elevated in her peers eyes due to my great cake!....It is actually Bill Granger's easy mix chocolate Cake...

I did a trial...pictured above...on an alternate recently but after the kids careful analysis they came back to the fav! It might have been Madam Paris' 40 % proof 'Eau de Vie' which I threw in on impulse that swung the crowds...so back to Bill's it is!
So the big day starts at dawn...

This is a simple chocolate cake made with minimum fuss and loads of butter, literally in a few minutes, that is always a hit! If you do not know it...try it and it WILL be come part of your standard repertoire...especially if you have children, large or small, in the house!

EASY MIX CHOCOLATE CAKE  from Bill Granger's cookbook 'Simply Bill'

280 gm [2 1/4 cups] flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
50 gm cocoa powder
220 gm [1 cup] caster sugar
250 gm very soft butter
4 eggs
170 ml [2/3 cup] milk

FROSTING
200 gm of dark chocolate
250 gm [1 cup] of cream fraiche or sour cream

Preheat the oven to 180 deg [350 F]

1. Mix together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add butter, eggs and milk.
3. Mix with electric beaters on low speed for 2 minutes till well blended and voluminous.
4. Butter and shake flour around a large tin and put batter into tin.
5. Bake for 35 - 40 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Leave in tins for 5 mins before turning out to cool.
7. Make frosting by melting chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water then leave to cool for 15 mins before whisking in the creme fraiche.
8. Decorate however you fancy! Enjoy!

For the record...
The chicken has been back on two occasions since I last wrote with 2 eggs on one occassion then one again yesterday...loving it!

EGG TALLY: 9