Decadent Chocolate Cake For a 50th Birthday Bash

This year my uncle turned 50! Quite a milestone to reach! Mom and I were asked to create a scrumptious chocolate cake (and chocolate frosting!) for this special day. Mom found this awesome recipe from Tyler Florence, and gave it a go a couple of days in advance. It's a good thing she did because she followed the instructions just as they were printed, and this resulted in a semi-disaster. No matter who says it, do not fill the cake pan any more than half way full! Want to know why? The cake rises as it bakes in the oven. When there is not enough room for the cake to rise properly, it spills over the edges. This means you have cake batter stuck to the bottom of your oven. And the next time you use it you'll think the house is burning down. Not to mention that it ruins the cake, making it all funky looking. So. Mom made the cake again and only filled it halfway up the edge of the cake pan. And this time, you might ask? Perfection! The cakes rose perfectly to the top of the cake pan, not over, and were perfectly flat across the top (she also used the decorating needle in the middle of the cake as well as the baking strips that go around the cake pan).

yum.

The plan was to decorate the cake after a long and busy Saturday, but that just didn't happen. Instead, we gathered up supplies and brought them to the party with us. Almost the whole family was able to be there and we had a scrumptious dinner out. I had a caramel appletini with my dinner. Must figure out how to replicate. It tasted like something between hard cider and a candied apple. So. good.

Looks good enough to eat!

Anyway, back to cake, I made chocolate buttercream frosting. My. God. I infused my trusty buttercream frosting with a bit of cocoa powder, and it was incredible! I helped mom assemble the cakes, and she frosted them. She is so much better at frosting, and I really haven't the patience for it. She doesn't seem to mind doing it, so it works out pretty well. Her piping is really coming along, too! The shell border was perfect! So professional! Auntie Cheryl and Auntie Shelly got festive candles to put in the cake, so that was about it for decorating.

Only scraps are left.

Turned out fabulously! Uncle Jim's guests seemed pretty impressed, too. I heard people saying that it was the best chocolate cake they had ever had, and "where did you get this cake from?" Awesome. Another job well done!

 
All that was left were the remains of candles.