What kind of mom am I? I dare to say that I, Kristen…mother of three, am a very selfish mom. My youngest daughter turned one this past Sunday. The weekend before we had a family birthday party for her and my good friend Sara made her a gorgeous individual cake to dig her little hands into for the occasion.
The week between the birthday party and her actual birthday, my Taste of Home magazine arrived. As I was flipping through the magazine a recipe for French Chocolate Cake caught my eye. The description written above the recipe had my mouth watering. Described as “A decadent fudge filling and a rum flavored glaze spread between the layers of this luscious chocolate cake…” I had to make this cake soon and with Ella’s birthday coming up, I had just the occasion.
Rum flavored glaze is probably not the top choice of flavors for a one year old? She would probably appreciate something a bit more simple, you say? Is this cake really for Ella or for you, you ask? I agree with you 100%. This is not a 1st birthday cake at all. Maybe I should make something else, or maybe I should just ignore you and make it anyway. So…that is what I did. I ignored the little guy on my shoulder trying to talk me out of making this cake for her first birthday and made it despite the ongoing commentary about how inappropriate it was for a one year old.
That makes me pretty selfish, doesn’t it? Well… this is just the beginning. This pushes me over on the selfish scale because Ella didn’t even get to have a piece of the cake. First of all, we spent the morning of her birthday at the doctor’s office because Ella was running a 103 degree fever. By the time we had everything figured out, med’s prescribed, etc., the little angel was tuckered out and wanted nothing at all to do with any food whatsoever, let alone cake. This cake was prime and ready to be eaten, so we cut into it without the birthday girl present. It was amazing…the cool whipped cream topping was the perfect accompaniment to the rich chocolate cake. The ganache filling provided the cake with a wonderful texture and the rum glaze gave you little unique bursts of flavor with each bite. This was the kind of cake that I knew I could not keep around the house. I knew I would find myself sneaking bites here and there and before I would know it the cake would be gone and my hips would be that much larger. I decided to share some of the cake with my neighbors (as I firmly believe that if I’m going to get fat, everyone else needs to get fat with me!). I took part of the cake to two sets of neighbors and left a good hunk of cake for Ella to have when she woke up.
Well, Ella never had any of the cake. I tried to give her some when she woke up but she did not want anything to do with the cake or any other food all day. Her sippy cup of milk, her pink blanket, and a lap to snuggle on was all she wanted.
I have already started therapy funds for my kids as I know that they will most likely need it by the time I am through raising them. Hopefully the “selfish mommy cake incident” won’t be remembered, but just in case I put an extra $20 in Ella’s fund today.
French Chocolate Cake (Taste of Home Magazine June/July 2007)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 squares 1 ounce each semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1 cup cold strong brewed coffee
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
RUM GLAZE:
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter cubed
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
FILLING:
- 1 cup 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 carton 8 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
- Chocolate curls
Instructions
- Line two greased 9-in. round baking pans with waxed paper and grease the paper; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until crumbly. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in chocolate and coffee. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; add to chocolate mixture alternately with buttermilk (batter will be thick).
- Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring sugar, milk and butter to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in extract.
- Invert cakes onto wire racks; drizzle with glaze. Cool completely. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips with milk; stir until smooth. Refrigerate until spreadable, stirring occasionally.
- Place one cake on a serving plate; spread with filling. Top with remaining cake. Spread whipped topping over top and sides of cake. Store in the refrigerator. Garnish with chocolate curls. Yield: 12 servings.
Oh I don’t blame you for eating it without the birthday girl there, I forgive you. This looks so sinful and I love the contrast in the light and dark. Its so striking.
You are too funny! The cake sounds divine. Is Ella better now? I sure hope so!
Poor Ella, sick on her birthday! You need a splendid cake for a birthday cake – and this one is a show stopper 🙂 Read you links and all your children look so cute and happy – so you must be doing something right!
haha, I think you are not selfish, you are the greatest mommy. Poor Ella, hope she feels better soon and I am sure you will make her an xtra special cake when she does!
LOL @ the title.No, you are not selfish!You did your best to make her B’day special.But poor baby got down with high fever on her B’day!:(
Well..mommy’s lap was the greatest gift she can have on her B’day.I bet she enjoyed it and got better quickly too.Enjoy the cake without guilt K!:))
I hope that Ella is feeling better!! This cake does look amazing, though, even if she didn’t get any. Maybe that’s an excuse to make another….
Haha, you are really a selfish mom. 😛
But I would be the one too if I could come up with such a heavenly cake!
Belated happy birthday to little Ella!
Awww Hon….console yourself with the fact that Ella, at one year of age, probably doesn’t even know what’s going on outside of the fact that she needed her mommy and a lap. The cake was not on her radar, so she didn’t miss it. Save it for her 16th birthday.
What a treat!! I wanna be your neighbor!
My mum routinely gave me alcozol whin I waz a…. hmmmm *hiccup*
Poor Ella…I hope she feels better. She sure is a cutie though! And that cake! OMGOSH! Yum!
You can laugh over the selfish cake every year for the next 20 years! A priceless memory;)
I am sorry to hear about Ella. But this cake…wow wow wow
That cake looks amazing.. I’d have to get rid of it too. lol
I’m so sorry Ella was sick for her birthday – I hope she feels much better real soon!
xoxo
That looks truely decadent – what a way to really give your daughter a very refined pallet at such a young age! I guess that is a unique gift, huh? 🙂
Too cute!!! I TOTALLY would be the same type of mom – so I think you are in the clear. And that cake looks AMAZING!! 🙂
Poor little Ella, hope she is feeling better soon!! 🙁
This post is amazing, Kristen – you’re so funny.
I think the kids will be fine – I bet they’ll always be the kids whose houses their friends would choose to hang out at. 🙂
The cake looks luscious!
Ahh, cute story! The cake looks great! I hope Ella feels much better! You’ll just have to find another excuse now to make that cake so she can have some!
Ha! It’s the kind of story she can tell her therapist later…
You are an awesome Mom! 🙂
You are too funny, too! You could make her a little cake for when she’s feeling better, and if you need me to help you eat that cake, I’ll gladly volunteer. 😉
Poor little Ella, I hope she’s feeling better now! Awesome cake pic, btw! Yum!!!
Aw, I don’t think 1 tsp. of rum extract would hurt her, especially since she wouldn’t get that much in a slice. However, the coffee might keep her up! 😉
This sounds positively decadent and one I’ll have to try out soon for a possible dinner party.
I wish you were my neighbor!
Aww – so sorry the little angel wasn’t feeling well. You can make her a little cake when she feels better. But remember, it is never too early to expand her culinary horizens and expose her to great food! Soon enough she will be making her own wishes known.
Lol at your therapy fund! I would be selfish over this cake too.
I’ll contribute to the "therapy fund" for a slice of the cake!:) The cake looks absolutely delicious!
Poor ella, there’s nothing more heartbreaking than a little girl sick on her birthday. I think Ella would forgive you…but still… start with that therapy fund. Seriously though, I don’t think even if you made a simple cake she liked she would have eaten it if she were sick…so there’s your excuse ;).
That cake looks amazing! I am going to have to try it out.
Happy belated birthday to your little one. =)
-Michelle
Oh…my…..goodness.
Doesn’t that picture classify as food porn? Let’s see the next birthday around here is my soon to be 4 year old on July 1…I am sure that it is exactly what she was hoping for… 😉
How can it be selfish to celebrate the birth of Ella’s mother!
I say Happy Birthday Mom.
Hope Ella is happily playing again.
Lovely, happy photos and great story/writing.
Aww poor Ella, I hope she feels better! It’s a beautiful cake, I love the contrast between the white frosting and dark chocolatey cake.
Hope Ella feels better!
That cake looks beautiful! And first birthday parties are REALLY never for the child anyway. 🙂 Happy birthday to Ella!
No. No. No. You are NOT a selfish mom. But…what Ella doesn’t know, won’t hurt her. If I were you, I would delete this blog entry, and pretend this cake never existed. Yup. That’s what I’d do.(but, keep the recipe, if you know what I mean.)
Oh my lord, that looks amazing! I can’t imagine anyone turning away a cake that fabulous (no matter her age or state of well-being)!
Thank you so much for encouraging me to start blogging- I’ve no idea how you came across my page, but I’m quite pleased that you decided to leave me a note! 🙂
-Ley