Day 71 - ZENE ZOE'S 5TH BIRTHDAY...

And as usual , this year too, Zene cut more  cakes than my little Zeke ever does..
She cut 4 cakes again..
One in school..
One for her birthday party, that we had for her for the first time, (as in May there is really no one to have a party with..)
The cake I made for her , which had pink bows and blue flowers..

A small group of monkeys that I love

A layer of marzipan, butter-cream icing and chocolate ganache..

It had to be filled with flowers..

The birthday girl, through the loops..

Had to put daisies..happy flowers..

And the fresh mango cake that we always have for her birthday at Waterstones, that is simply , out of this world...

And so this year, was wondering what to make for her birthday and as she is not completely into chocolate , I decided to bake a simple sponge that was not too chocolaty..
I tried this for the first time...



INGREDIENTS..
115 gm-Chocolate
1/2 cup-double cream ( I used the Amul tetra-pack)
1/2 cup- Milk
1 tbsp- Vanilla essence
115 gm- Butter
175 gm- Castor sugar
3- Eggs
225gm - Flour
1tsp- Baking powder

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees, and grease and line two 8 inch round tins with silicon or parchment paper..
In a small bowl, sift the flour, the baking powder,and keep aside... 

Melt the chocolate with the cream on a double boiler,over a low flame , stirring until smooth..
Then take it off the flame and stir in the milk and vanilla essence, and set aside to cool...

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar for about 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy...
Add the eggs , one at a time , beating after every addition...

Alternatively add the flour and the chocolate mixture to the egg and sugar mix..Until just blended..

Divide the mix into the two tins, and bake for 30 minutes or till the cake springs back if you press it in the center.. or if you insert a tooth pick in the center, it comes out clean...
Cool the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes and then, take them out and leave to cool on a wire rack..

It is always better if you can cool both the cakes and then keep it in the fridge over night...
It is easier to slice them..

Slice both the cakes in the center..
Stack them over one another, filling each layer with a filling of your choice..
I use Almond marzipan in one layer...
The second layer had butter cream icing..
And the third layer had chocolate ganache..



And once this was done ..
I was then wondering what to do as part of the decoration..
Well I knew it had to be as pretty and dainty as my little monkey "Zene"...
And so this is the first cake I decorated in the middle of doing my Sugar-craft and fondant course..
And it was great fun...
Zeke kept her away from the kitchen, while I made flowers and mixed colours and formed ribbons , and piped leaves...
Zene would keep coming to the kitchen on the pretext of water or just generally...
And Zeke would keep chasing her away..
Or then we would make her shut her eyes and drink her water that she kept coming for...
After some time...
I decided that I need to have a glass of wine..
So I poured myself some really nice Pinot Noir..
And left it near me.....
Till I finished the cake..
Once it was done, I looked at it, and frankly could not really believe that I could create something so beautiful...
I was very happy with what I created, really happy...
The cake looked happy and pretty and so beautiful , like my Zene...

On Zene's birthday, that is 2nd May, we all went to our favorite , Dakshinayan, with Zene's friends and my friends and , grandma and grand pa..
Stuffed our selves with "Gun-powder idli's , rasam-rice, Bissebille bhat, Dosas, vadas and when we were all too full to move...

We got Zene's birthday cake out, cut it and ate it...
It was soft and had a nice mix of different flavours...
The marzipan , butter-cream and chocolate, along with the lightly flavoured chocolate sponge, was a very delicate taste...
It was very much like my Zene actually...very lovely on the outside and completely surprising and full of flavour on the inside...
Well what can I say, she does take after her "Mama"....ha ha ha 

We then proceeded to our little piece of paradise...
Where we swam and chatted and had a mad time..
Arshad took pictures of the kids under water, and they went crazy, making funny faces...
Sambo and Jaya chatted about "Life" and its funny happenings...
And I slept under the shade of a coconut tree...happy and satiated and drunk on life...
(but missed Mini, Vivaan, Sairah, Sandy, Kichie, Shaheen, Arsalan and Ayatal...It did not feel quite the same without everyone...)

But Zene's birthday is always full of magic...
Just like her..
Everything turns out very special, where she is concerned...
Even the way she was born..was like straight out of a film scene...
Unreal..
Will share that a little later..

As for Zene, she is just a little munchiken , who is into princess stuff and considers herself one too...Have no clue, where she got that from..
She says whats on her mind..
Throws tantrums...
And when she cries , she breaks your heart...
And when she hugs, they are the tightest hugs ever...
She is a feisty, naughty little bundle of contradictions...
She is learning to swim, and would not take out her swimming goggles, even when they were completely fogged up..ha ha ha
It was really funny, she kept walking around with them...
And Jaya, Sambo and me would keep asking her to take it off..
But sorry , its now a much needed fashion accessory, and was not coming off, however fogged up they were...
She is more than, all I could ever ask for..
And gave me the tightest kiss, because she had such a great time...
We cut one more cake, the fresh cream , with fresh mangoes...
Oh my God...Now I really want the recipe of the sponge, the cream mix and everything...
It was to die for...

My little Zene, She is 5 today, and to me she will always be my little angel..
Cannot believe this, but I wanted another boy after Zeke...
Well I thank God for not listening to me, I ask for really silly stuff sometimes...
Thank God, he filters all my requests...

And I got this little bundle of squashable love...
She says the right things and wraps us all around her little finger...
And she has a smile , that can sell sand to the Sheik's in Dubai ha ha ha ...
She is all and everything...
And all I want for her, is that she is kept safe , in mind, body ,heart and soul...
And pray that her smile is always filled with happiness ..
And she never loses that naught spark in her beautiful brown eyes..

I LOVE YOU MY ZENE ZOE POOIEE....