This one is for you Sarah (Fierce) Lashkoo....

In the midst of my chaotic life and my personal diagnosis of  "hormonal imbalance", which probably accounts for my crazy emotional mood swings this year, I have found my own personal ray of sunshine! Ms. Sarah (Fierce) Lashkoo!

They say:

"The best kind of people 

are the ones that come into your life, 

and make you see the sun 

where you once saw clouds. 

The people that believe in you so much, 

you start to believe in you too."

Well, she is just that and more! Thanks to her I might actually believe in what "The Secret" tried to tell the world. It's all about the energy you give into the Universe!

That reminds me - The Universe emails me everyday and I feel very special!

Moving on, what do you bake for someone who is so simple yet super fun???

Enter Katherine Sabbath!

I recently discovered her on Instagram and Wow! I am in awe! The cake flavors, the colors - so much POP & FUNK! I felt most confident about my ability to pull her Upside Down Ice Cream Cake!

But it is never easy - Anyone who says baking is easy - deserves a SLAP!

Baking is a science - temperature, ingredients etc.etc. matter.. And the baking Gods were not on my side. Let me elaborate...

SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER - To Vanilla or not to Vanilla

Since Sarah likes Vanilla - I thought I will give Katherine Sabbath's Vanilla Sponge Cake a try! But of course - tragedy had to strike..

Tragedy No.1 - Cake batter too lumpy

Tragedy No.2 - Attempts to remove the lumps resulted in losing the airiness of the eggs

Tragedy No.3 - No.1 & No.2 made the cake dense

Extremely disappointed and upset, I decided to just go with my go-to chocolate cake recipe.

Oh and yes, I wanted to do 6 layers of cake - talk about dreaming big *sigh*

Anyways, got my batter ready and the first layer was out of the oven and then tragedy again!

In my excitement and being extremely impatient - I decided to take the cake out of the pan without waiting for it to cool! YES - real dumb move there Griselda!

And so as expected - the cake crumbled!

And this was just Day 1 of preparation!

SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER - MURDER ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR

Putting the tragedies behind me, Day 2 started with trying to figure out what frosting can I make! I finally settled on Ganache cause it works and its yummy!

But of course, why would my day go well?

There was a murder on the kitchen floor ------------------------------->

But life goes on and I baked 3 more layers of Chocolate Cake cause of my Vanilla Fail!

And then went for Dance Practice!

And then went to Balalino with Bully to get Balloons!

And then came home to finish the cake!

To be honest, things got better by 12 am... the cake had good height,

It looked yummy - I mean just look at it! Wow!

The Color was gorgeous .. what more could I ask for!

So final product - Voila! After two days - here's presenting Katherine Sabbath's Upside Down Ice Cream Cake! Probably the tallest and heaviest cake I have ever made! so Yay!

It wasn't perfect in my eyes but the Birthday Girl loved it! And thats what mattered!

Oh and it tasted fabulous - even I was impressed!

Birthday Girl with "The Cake"

4 gorgeous layers of Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache Filling
and White Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Happy Birthday Sarah (Fierce)! God Bless you Always, Love!

Katherine Sabbath's Upside Down Ice Cream Cake

(Source: http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2013/04/mounds-layer-cake/)

CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup boiling water

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour the cake pans. In the bowl of your mixer, combine sugar, cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, oil and buttermilk and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Scrape sides of the bowl and stir in boiling water. Divide the batter into the cake pans and bake for 30 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Allow the cakes to cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to cool completely.

MILK & WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE
(Source: http://mycupcakeaddiction.com/videos/3-ways-ganache)
650 gms of Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips
300 ml Puck Whipping Cream

700 gms of Hershey's White Chocolate Chips
300 ml Puck Whipping Cream

Heat the whipping cream on the stove until hot. Pour over chocolate chips and cover for a few minutes. Then Stir until there are no lumps.