This is actually a cake I made for my own birthday last year! This was just a few months before this food blog, so posting this a year later did bring back memories, of well, me not knowing how to bake. This is an ordinary chocolate cake but in fact a milestone of firsts for me- it was the first layered cake I made and the very first time I experimented with piping. I do remember how it tasted, so I brought a few modifications- the cake itself is untouched, but the icing gets revamped. This cake was super easy to make, doesn't require too much mixing, so I felt I could handle it on my own, which is funny because I still had a few issues while baking this cake back then. Probably something that I can feel amused about over a nice slice of cake.

Chocolate cake (2 layers):

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp. ground coffee
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup neutral oil
• 2 tbsp. black vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together the dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine to form a smooth batter. Evenly divide into two 9'' pans and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about 30 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Frosting:

• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tbsp. butter
• 2 1/2 tbsp. ground coffee
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 6 tbsp milk

Combine everything except for the milk in a stand mixer. Slowly beat in the milk until stiff peaks form. Reserve some frosting and transfer into a piping bag.

To decorate:

• Frosting
• Gems

Trim the top of one of the cakes until flat. Use the cake as the base. Spread about a third of the frosting on the cake, followed by the 2nd cake and another third of frosting on the top. Spread the remaining frosting evenly around the sides and pipe the reserved frosting on top, followed by some gems.

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