Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends to come together, spend time with loved ones, give thanks for all we have, and eat and enjoy each other’s company. Every year Thanksgiving also gives us another opportunity to be thankful and celebrate one very special lady in my life. My sister Sandy’s birthday is November 22ndso it usually lands just before and sometimes on the actual holiday. This year Sandy turned 30! Turning 30 is an important milestone for anyone, but for Sandy it is extra. Sandy was born with significant physical disabilities due to genetic conditions. As a result, she has had to fight for every little thing “normal” people take for granted. She lives with my parents, receives 18 hours of nursing care 6 days a week to help with her Activities for Daily Living. She loves to read and type on her iPad which gives her access to the outside world and allows her to communicate with us via communication Apps.
Sandy has always loved Fairy Tales, you will frequently find her watching Disney movies over and over, reading and retyping stories like Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, or Harry Potter. So to celebrate Sandy’s 30thmy parents took her on a Disney Cruise in early October and my other sister, DD, and I decided to plan something special for her. As fate would have it Frozen II was being released on her actual Birthday. Movies and crowds can be hard for Sandy so we knew we didn’t want to just take her to the movies. Luckily the local movie theater in Sayville does private birthday party screenings. DD and I booked a party for Monday, December 3rdat 5:00pm. We were allowed to invite up to 27 people, bring food, and CAKE, and there would be a private screening of Frozen in one of their theaters.
Some immediate and extended family members with kids, friends, a few nurses came to celebrate with us. DD and I spent the day cooking chicken nuggets, pigs in the blanket, and sweet potato fries, and prepping for the party, while my boys ran around the house like little beasties and “helped.”
After the party we celebrated with an extra special cake for Sands. Sandy LOVES cake. Her favorite is Cheesecake but Chocolate Cake comes in a close second so the night before the party I got to work on her Frozen Inspired Chocolate Drip Cake.
While researching how to make a chocolate cake from scratch I learned a few things:
Some chocolate cake recipes ask for you to add hot water to the batter; apparently this is to “activate” the chocolate.
Chocolate cakes tend to be a little more dense so you do have to add a bit more levining agents (baking soda/baking powder) to the batter to help it rise then other cakes.
In addition to making the chocolate cake I needed to figure out how to make the perfect drip top on the cake. The main thing I learned is the drip in Drip Cake is Chocolate Ganache, basically chocolate and heavy cream melted and mixed together. I also learned you need to let the Ganache cool at room temp so that it gets thicker and drips perfectly.
Sawyer helped me make the cake while Bowen pulled Tupperware out of the cabinets. I let Sawyer crack the eggs and the 2nd egg he cracked he some how managed to only get the egg white in the bowl while the yolk spilled all over him, so I had to add an extra yolk into the batter.
Once the kids went to bed I got to decorating. To decorate the cake I separated the buttercream into 3 bowls and colored one light blue, one purple, and kept one white. I crumb coated the cake and let it cool. Then I piped purple icing on the bottom, white in the middle, and blue on top and used an icing smoother to blend the frosting and smooth out the cake. I then decorated with little snowflake sprinkles and dripped the white chocolate ganache down the sides of the cake using a spoon and then flooded the top with the ganache.
Obviously, I watched Frozen while decorating the cake and had a few glasses of prosecco for inspiration.
So lets get into it!
Chocolate Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable canola oil
¼ cup of melted butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup hot water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine dry ingredients including sugar into mixer and mix until combined
Add milk, oil, butter, and eggs and mix.
Add hot but not boiling water and mix
Add vanilla and mix
Split batter into two parchment lined and greased cake pans. I used 2 6” cake pans.
Bake for 45-50 mins or until skewer comes out clean. If using larger and shallower pans baking time will vary.
Remove cakes from oven and cool completely
Buttercream:
3 cups (6 sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar sifted
Pinch of salt
Heavy cream added one Tbs at a time
Vanilla to taste about 1-1 1/2 Tbs
Cream butter and add powdered sugar one cup at a time and add pinch of salt and mix.
Add Milk and vanilla slowly so not to water down the icing and mix until nice a fluffy consistency. If not using immediately put in a container and refrigerate for 1 week or freeze for up to 2 months.
Chocolate Drip Ganache:
3 Cups of White Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Heavy Cream
Heat heavy cream on the stove top mixing constantly until it starts to boil lightly.
Pour heavy cream over white chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds.
Mix until chocolate is completely melted and heavy cream is mixed in.
Cool at room temp for 30 mins. DO NOT STIR while cooling. You will know the ganache is ready to drip if you lift the bowl and tilt it a little and is creates a little ripple.
* To create the drip I used a spoon and carefully poured it by the edge to create a drip slowly going down the cake. For longer drips I uses more ganache and shorter ones just a little ganache. Spread ganache over the top. Be careful not to add too much on the top so it doesn’t affect the drips.