Tea Parties

A common custom here in suburbia is to invite other mothers around for tea. This seems to serve a number of purposes. Firstly the kids get to socialise in a secure and child friendly environment. But primarily they go into pack mode and take care of each other for an hour or three allowing moms the much needed opportunity to sit around and actually drink an entire cup of tea in one go (mostly) and discuss a variety of topics, mostly around parenting and suburban life.
One is, of course, expected to provide tasty treats. I have found that now that T2 is old enough to allow me the time and energy to try baking I have begun to experiment with actually baking my own offerings for these occasions. I am a novice at baking and so have mostly gleaned recipes from the children's cookbooks that I have. But I have recently managed to get my hands on my mom's personal collection of favourites gathered over the past thirty-odd years which has proved to be a goldmine of easy and tasty recipes. One in particular has been such a hit that I thought I would share it.

Dead Easy Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup self raising flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
Method
1 Beat eggs well add sugar, beat until creamy
2 Add cocoa and mix well
3 Add oil, while mixing add water
4 Sift together all dry ingredients and add to mixture
5 Bake at 400F for 20 minutes

I use a ring tin and just ice with a basic butter icing. The girls love to then go over the top with various sprinkles and trimmings. And voila! A delicious cake that always goes down well. Enjoy.

Comments

Zoya said…
I may try making it tomorrow, since I only have self-raising flour left (usually there are at least 4 different varieties). Though baking will depend on the Little One's mood (she fall asleep at around 1pm and is still asleep at 8:30pm *eye-roll* - hopefully she won't wake up just as I get into bed)
Alan said…
Sounds delicious! If I'd known you were a budding baker I'd have posted the cinnamon role recipe. I do that tomorrow. I'd never have put cinnamon in chocolate cake, but it's intriguing. We'll have to try it. Might be as addicting as Lindt's Chili Dark