Pouring Beer Stein Cake

The pub where I work recently celebrated their fifth birthday, from the day they first opened their doors. We had a big celebration during service that night  - a live shucking oyster bar, special appetizers and beer pairings, live music, and of course, cake. The owner asked me to make the cake, which they would be serving to customers late in the evening for free. She did not give me a lot of guidance for the cake - mostly left it up to me. Just said that the restaurant seats 60, and we expected a full house plus for the party. Because I wanted to make sure the cake met her approval, I did give her a few samples beforehand, but didn't share my design. I spend over a week planning the cake and was very happy with how it turned out in the end.

I made a chocolate stout cake using the stout beer we brew in house. Then I made a Bailey's Irish Cream buttercream frosting to go with it. The cake was my standard chocolate cake recipe with the substitution of stout for coffee. Then my signature buttercream frosting for filling, frosting, decorating and piping - except this time I used Bailey's Irish Cream instead of milk for the liquid, for a very rich (and alcoholic, in a good way). I also made some of my candy clay/modelling chocolate for the handle and stability in the hidden pipe (under the buttercream foam).

So my cake was designed to look like a beer stein - it's an eight inch round four layer cake frosted in 'beer colored' buttercream, a candy clay handle, and some white buttercream foam on top. Then I covered a pipe inserted into the center of the cake, at an angle, with candy clay and buttercream. This pipe supported the beer can making it look like the can was being poured into the cake. I finished off the cake with a little green inscription. The cake was very well received - in fact the 50 or so pieces I cut from it disappeared very quickly, and some people were amazed by how the beer can was 'levitating'.

Maple Leaf Cookies

These cookies are actually super good. They keep well and travel well. They have a subtle sweet maple flavor and a buttery flavor. They aren't difficult to make, but to get them shaped nicely, first you must track down a maple leaf cookie cutter (easier said than done), then chill them as instructed. Of course, you could forgo the maple leaf shape and cut circles or rectangles. I'll bet you can even skip the rolling and cutting all together and simply roll the dough into balls to get the same flavor with less work.

Maple Leaf Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup maple syrup, plus extra for brushing
3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
sprinkles, as desired

Cream the butter well, then beat in the sugars until light and fluffy. Blend in egg, then syrup. Gradually stir in the flour.
Wrap dough well and chill overnight.

Allow dough to come to room temperature, then roll on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Then freeze the sheets of dough for at least 15 minutes until firm.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a 2-1/2-inch maple leaf-shaped cookie cutter to cut out dough. Carefully transfer to prepared baking sheets. There is no need to space these cookies far apart. 
Gently brush each cookie with maple syrup. Then sprinkle with sprinkles as desired.
Bake about 10 or until edges are lightly browned but centers are still slightly soft. Allow to stand on baking sheets for a minute before transferring to cool completely. 

Skills - Secondary Cooking Carrot Cake

Day Two, group two cooking carrot cake dessert with icing and decor of choice and fresh fruit.

Charlotte Russe Malakoff Au Chocolat

Here is the dessert I decided to make for the second European buffet. I wanted to do a dessert (of course, I would do a dessert everyday but I figure I should learn to do some savory foods as well and expand beyond my comfort zone, plus we have two days in each region), and I wanted to do something not so simple. Something extravagant that I had never done before. And what better for a dessert than something classical French.

I settled on making a Charlotte, something I had never made, seen, or eaten in person. For those unfamiliar, a Charlotte is a dessert, often classified as a cake, trifle, or icebox cake. There are, of course much like anything, many variations on this dessert. It consists of a base, either cookie, cake or bread used for lining the mold, and may also contain more layers of this. The filling is typically a mousse, custard, or gelatin. Charlottes may be decorated with fruit, additional cookies, chocolate, whipped cream, nuts, and more. There are several famous types of Charlottes. A Charlotte Russe, invented by Marie-Antoine Carme and named for famous royals, consists of Bavarian cream and ladyfingers; whereas a Charlotte Royale is lined with swiss roll instead.

I did not choose to do an exact, classical Charlotte version, but I got the base of my recipe from "The Art of French Cooking" book by Julia Child, so I figured it would be pretty authentic and successful.

I choose to use ladyfingers as my outside lining for the mold, a chocolate spongecake for the base, and Malakoff au chocolate for the filling, which is a chocolate almond mousse, but I substituted hazelnuts instead (because it reminds me of nutella). I decorated my Charlotte with chocolate whipped cream and dipped the ladyfingers in dark chocolate on one end and white chocolate on the other end.

My Charlotte did not turn out exactly as I had envisioned (just search the internet for pictures of 'Charlotte cake'. The main issue was the ladyfinger batter - I don't think the egg whites were quite stiff enough as the batter was too thin too pipe into the classic ladyfinger shape, so I ended up having to just spread it onto a sheet pan, bake it, then slice into rectangles. It doesn't give the same form of a classical Charlotte, but the taste is equivalent and I think my presentation is nice nevertheless.

Spring Flower Cupcakes

It has been a hard winter. You can say that again. Ok, so it has been a very testing and miserable winter. And unfortunately, spring hasn't even fully arrived yet. I still see snow on the ground, the sun has been much less prominent than needed, and I have yet to venture outside in shorts or a t-shirt. So I made some flower cupcakes. If we cannot have real flowers growing yet, at least we can enjoy some another way. I used bright spring colors - maybe this will help to welcome spring.

I used basic vanilla cupcakes as the base. Then I used a dollop of chocolate frosting for the center of each cupcake. Next, I made up a few different colors - yellow, lilac, and light blue. I used a basic open star tip to pipe six swirls as petals on each cupcake. 

Here is a neat trick, and also very convenient when you only have one piping bag and/or one tip on hand. It's not that it takes too much time to wash between changing colors, but the excess water on the piping bag often has an undesired effect on the icing. So when one color runs out, I just fill the bag with the next color. The first cupcake or two frosted after this will have streaks of each color, which I think is pretty and better reflects flowers in nature. 

Coconut Cream Easter Nests

Here are some little Easter basket desserts I made. I have often seen ideas for Easter basket cupcakes, but I didn't want cupcakes. Then I thought of coconut cream pies, since coconut seems to be a popular flavor around Easter time as well. They turned out very nicely. Miniature cheesecakes would work well with this idea too.

Coconut Cream Easter Nests
1 cup granulated (white) sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
pinch salt
3 cups milk (use coconut for more coconut flavor)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon coconut or vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk, then bring the mixture almost to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for two minutes until thickened. Add a few spoonfuls of this hot mixture to the eggs to temper them, then slowly whisk the eggs into the mixture. Return to heat, and bring just about to a boil, then simmer for two minutes more. Remove from heat, then stir in the coconut, oil, and extract.

This can now be used as a regular coconut cream pie filling - poured into a baked shell, covered with plastic wrap, and chilled until firm.
It may be baked as a crustless coconut cream pie - pour into a greased pie dish and bake at 325◦F for about 30 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

I divided my pie filling mixture among twelve paper-lined muffin cups with an unbaked chocolate crumb crust on the bottom. I sprinkled a little extra coconut on top. Then I baked them for about 20 minutes until set.

To make Easter baskets: Cool the miniature pies, then peel off the paper linings. Place a few jelly beans, candy eggs, or chocolate eggs in the center of each. I used dried fruit to look like eggs. Pipe some melted chocolate onto parchment paper to resemble basket handles, then stick into the pies once hardened. Use white chocolate to make a few bunnies as well.

Hot Cross Spiced Fruit Muffins

Hot Cross Spiced Fruit Muffins

1 cup butter or hard margarine, softened

1 ½ cups granulated (white) sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups buttermilk

4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup raisins

1 cup glazed mixed fruit, chopped

Desired icing or frosting (or icing sugar mixed with enough water or milk to make a thick, pipeable icing. Add a pinch of cinnamon, citrus zest, or a dash of vanilla, almond, or lemon extract for flavor, if desired)

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line muffin cups.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla, then the milk.  Stir in the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the raisins and fruit. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool, then pipe crosses on each muffin with the icing. Makes 36 muffins.

Hot cross buns are traditionally served around Easter time - particularly on Good Friday, which is what the crosses represent. They tend to be a sweet, spiced bun with fruit, usually raisins or currants. I have made a few variations on the traditional buns in the past, here are the links: {Hot Cross Biscuits}, {Hot Cross Muffins}. I have also made Chocolate Hot Cross Buns, but that was back before I began blogging.

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Here is a quick batch of Easter cupcakes I made the other day. They are a simple spice cupcake base with cream cheese frosting. I colored half of the frosting a bright yellow, and half of the frosting purple. Then I carefully spooned the two different icings on opposite sides of a large piping bag fitted with an open star tip. This creates swirls of icing with both colors. Depending on how evenly this is done, you could end up with one color slightly dominating the other, but that is perfectly okay. Here yellow seems a bit more prominent but it was also the darker color in the mix. After piping a swirl on each cupcake, I garnished them with some Easter bunny candies I found in various spring colors. I tend to make an Easter cake with a different flavor and design each year, so that will be coming soon. This is just a little sweet treat to bring on some Easter spirit. 

Lemon Chick Cookies

It's easy to make cookies look like chicks, even without a cookie cutter! The lemon cake mix also makes the cookies yellow like chicks without any additional ingredients, and provides a nice flavor as well.

Lemon Chick Cookies
2 packages (two layer size) instant lemon cake mix
2/3 cup oil
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
sprinkles, dried fruit, chocolate chips, coconut, or candies to decorate

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line baking sheets.
Mix together the cake mix, oil, and eggs until well blended. Mixture will seem quite dry at first but will come together and will be quite stiff.
Roll the dough into balls - large balls for the bottom of the chick and smaller balls for the head. Stick the two together, just touching each other, and place cookies a few inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Decorate as desired to resemble chicks. I used small round red sprinkles for the eyes, an orange sprinkle for the beak, and toasted coconut for the feathers on top of the head.
Bake for about ten minutes until just beginning to brown. Allow to stand on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to firm up. Makes about 30 chicks.
Alternately, the cookies may be decorated as chicks with icing once cool. 

Valentine Cookies, Desserts, and Suppers

One more Valentine's-themed post for this year. Here are some nicely decorated heart shaped sugar cookies for valentines day. They are both plain sugar cookie with pink sprinkles. One of them has a vanilla drizzle and the other has crushed pistachios. 

Every Valentine's Day I like to make one main, fancy, and very chocolaty dessert. I also like to make some side treats for snacks, such as cookies or truffles. And if I can, I like to make a savory item or two with a Valentine's theme - such as heart shaped biscuits or pizzas. Here are some titles of Valentine's foods I have made from previous years. The posts can be searched in my search bar.

DESSERTS: 
Brownie Dessert
Strawberry Truffle Tart
Valentine's Day Parfaits
Chocolate Fruit Nutella Cups
Berried Treasure Bar Cookies
Heart-Shaped Cake
Lovely Cheesecake

TREATS:
Heart Truffles
Valentine Truffles
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Chocolate Cake Cookies
Box of Chocolates
Kiss Cookies

SAVORY:
Tomato Heart Appetizers
Bruschetta
Valentine Biscuits
Heart Pizzas

Chocolate Collar

Chocolate collars are simple garnishes to wrap around cakes and other desserts. They are surprisingly easy to make and add a touch of elegance (not to mention an extra dose of chocolate) to any dessert. Chocolate collars can be made in a wide range of sizes, flavors, designs, and even different shapes. They can be plain chocolate or sport different shapes and symbols, and even inscriptions, and can be made from just one type of chocolate or several types of chocolate. They can form the outside of a dessert to hold cream fillings, or can simply make a different outside of a cake aside from the typical frosting. 

Here is the general procedure for making a chocolate collar:

1. Cut a strip of parchment paper of the desired height and length (a large enough diameter to go around the cake or dessert). It helps to leave an inch or so on either end as a tab for easier handling.
2. Place this strip of parchment on another piece or any work surface you don't mind getting chocolate on. Tape the strip down.
3. Melt or temper the desired type(s) of chocolate until just smooth.
4. Pour, pipe, drizzle or spread over the parchment in the desired pattern. 
5. - For a smooth, plain collar, use one type of chocolate and spread it evenly over the entire length of parchment.
   - For a lacy collar, use one or more types of chocolate, place in a piping or plastic bag, and drizzle over the collar in random patterns and loops, being sure to cover enough of the parchment to give the collar stability.
   - For other designs, including writing, you will likely need to pipe on the shapes in one type of chocolate, let it set for a minute or two, then spread a different type of chocolate over the entire strip of parchment to cover.
6. Let the chocolate set for only a few minutes. You want it to be set so it doesn't run, but still pliable to be able to form.
7. Carefully wrap the collar around the cake or dessert, it should stick to the frosting. Leave the parchment paper on. Leave the chocolate to set for at least an hour before removing it. It can also be chilled, but will be brittle and should be cut with a hot, sharp knife.

I used a chocolate collar to decorate my puzzle cake. It was my first time making one, but not my first time trying out some chocolate work. To make mine, I used about an ounce each of dark and white chocolate, and piped it in random polka dots of various sizes onto the parchment. Then once this set, I covered this with four ounces of milk chocolate. I also spread the top of the collar in waves, instead of creating a smooth top edge.

Graduation Hat Cupcakes

Since it is still graduation season, I decided to share another graduation treat I actually made five years ago for my brother when he graduated. At the time I was really only just beginning to really get interested in the culinary world. Since then, my creativity, skills, and photography have vastly improved. 

I found this idea for graduation hat cupcakes online. It is a similar idea to the brownie graduation hats I made this year and last year. First I baked a batch of vanilla cupcakes, removed the paper liners, and turned them upside-down. Next, I coated graham crackers with melted chocolate and allowed them to harden. You really only see one side of the cracker, so it's not necessary to coat both sides, but you can if you'd like. Next I placed the graham cracker on top of the hat with a tassel fashioned from fruit leather strips (in this case I think it's artificial flavoring since the tassels are blue) and attached it with a blue candy coated chocolate. I cannot remember if I needed to use a little extra melted chocolate or some frosting to ensure the cracker and tassel remained attached to the cupcake or not, but it would not hurt. It would also add a little more sweetness, since cupcakes are meant for frosting, and without it these are a tad bit dry, especially after a few days. Don't refrigerate them unless it is really hot (do if the tassels begin to melt like these did) to prevent them from drying out further.

Again, these cupcakes can be color-coordinated to match school colors. If you are using a white cake batter, a little food coloring may even be added to color the cupcakes, though I don't really like the idea of dyed cupcakes. I think they look better in natural colors. You could however, use a chocolate cake batter, and that way the graham cracker would match. If you can purchase chocolate covered graham crackers already, use those as this saves time. Alternatively, you could coat the graham crackers with frosting or fondant, and that way they may again be any color you wish and can match school colors. And of course candy-coated chocolate pieces and fruit roll-up strips are easily found in a variety of different colors.

Chocolate Shell Cake

This is a chocolate shell cake I made to celebrate the start of summer vacations! It is the rectangular chocolate cake recipe I featured yesterday. Then I made a quick mocha chocolate icing, not a buttercream but a bit of a thicker icing that looks shiny and spreads easily over stiff cakes. I coated the top and sides of the cake and used a hot knife to smooth it out, then I used a cake comb to create some wave patterns in the icing, though they are difficult to see here. I used a bit of a darker chocolate icing to pipe two different shell borders, one around the top and one around the bottom. I also added a few stars on the side of the cake and a few flowers on top of the cake. Then I used some chocolate shells (and seahorses and whatnot) to decorate the rest of the cake and give it a bit of a beach-like feel. To complete the look, I also added a few sprinkles of brown sugar around the edges to resemble sand. Graham cracker crumbs would also do the trick.

Chocolate shells can be found from many chocolatiers and grocery stores as well. They usually come in boxes of chocolates and include different shapes of shells - clam shells, conch shells, snail shells, and sometimes some sea animals as well. You can purchase some good quality and some cheaper chocolate shells. The box I had had a mixture of different types of chocolate - milk, dark, white, which made for some pretty shells that taste good too.
Happy Summer!

Newspaper Cake

This is a newspaper cake I made to celebrate the success of the local highschool newspaper. This may not sound like a huge deal, but this year's newspaper committee managed to publish ten issues within the ten months of school - one issue per month. This may seem low when compared to daily newspapers, but for a paper based around school news and student's writings and artwork, this is quite impressive. Considering past years have had two or three submissions over the entire year, I think this year deserved a cake. So I whipped up a quick marble cake with a butter frosting and a chocolate fudge frosting. I made a star border around the top, which I thought was most appropriate for a newspaper cake, and a rope border around the bottom. At the top is the newspaper name in bold and the logo, and below are three article titles with some little pictures. Congratulations to an awesome newspaper committee!

My 2014 Birthday Cake

This is my birthday cake for this year. If you want to see reasons and debate with regards to why I cannot make my own birthday cake, see posts around June 4th from 2013 and 2012. Anyway, this was the cake my parents decided to make for me this year, which was a complete surprise that had been planned for months that I didn't really get any say in.

This is a chocolate pound cake baked in a bundt pan from one of my (many) chocolate recipe books. It then has the typical chocolate ganache glaze I have recently been turning to more and more lately, as it is so quick, easy, and delicious. Then the top is decorated with some light purple buttercream (my favorite color) and the piping "Happy Birthday Rebecca" in white buttercream. 
Honestly, this is a quite large cake. I didn't realize it was pound cake until my mother told me though - it isn't really heavy and dense. And the crumbs I got to try from the pan yesterday were fluffy, chocolaty and delicious. You can never go wrong with some chocolate ganache, and I appreciate the use of real butter in the buttercream frosting. Buttercream and chocolate ganache are something I could eat by the spoonful. My only slight criticism is perhaps the cake is a little dry due to the fact that is was not completely covered in frosting or ganache - but that's not typical for bundt cakes anyway. And I suppose it allows you to eat a larger slice of cake without being overoaded with sweetness (not that that would be too much frosting for me - there is never too much frosting for me).

Thanks Mom and Dad for another great birthday cake! It wouldn't have bothered me at all to make my own cake, but I suppose sometimes it is nice to sit and relax and have someone else cater to you. It is delicious and definitely gives a nice dose of chocolate (a necessity to suit my tastes). 

Put A Smile On Cake

Here's a quick example of what can be done with some leftover cake pieces and a little imagination!

Step One: Stick the cake pieces together into some sort of shape.
Step Two: Frost the cake. I simply used milk chocolate for this.
Step Three: Decorate as desired. Candy is quick and works well - no piping involved. Smiley faces are always welcome. Some extra garnish around the plate never hurt either.
Step Four: Stand back and admire. Take a picture if you'd like.
Step Five: Enjoy, or give to somebody else to brighten their day! 

Why buy a cake when it is this w\quick and easy to decorate one yourself? Well, I suppose that's assuming you have some leftover cake you baked on hand in the first place ;) 

Easter Cupcakes

Happy Easter Everyone!
In lieu of an elaborate Easter cake, which is what I normally make every year, I decided to go with some simple Easter cupcakes this year. I have already done bunny cakes, a chick cake, and a basket cake, but I have never done them as cupcakes, and I had a few more ideas up my sleeve as well. I made some red velvet cupcakes, as I have already made several carrot cakes and chocolate cakes, and red velvet is I flavor I have never made before; for which I will definitely be sharing the recipe soon. Then I made some cream cheese icing, which is a classic pairing for red velvet cake. Cream cheese frosting is a bit softer and more difficult to pipe with, but it is a good flavor for spring, and a good choice if you don't need to pipe borders or anything. Next I went to town on the decorations. 
Clockwise, starting from "12 o'clock":

• Bunny Butt cupcake with green icing in a grass tip and white icing in a star tip. If you don't get it, just search bunny butt cupcakes or cakes and you'll see many similar, but more elaborate, creations.
• Bunny cupcake using white frosting, candy coated chocolates, and frosting coated thin cookies as ears.
• Bird's Nest cupcake with chocolate cream cheese frosting in a grass tip, yellow piped chicks, and candy coated chocolate eggs.
• Chick cupcake with yellow frosting in a swirl tip and candy coated chocolate eye and beak.
• Egg Nest with green grass tip piping and candy-coated chocolate eggs.
• Lamb cupcake (not Santa) with white frosting in an open round tip and candy eyes and nose.
• Easter Basket cupcake with chocolate cream cheese frosting piped in a basket weave design and chocolate eggs. If you have a piece of licorice on hand, use it for the basket handle (I didn't have any).
• Easter Egg with white frosting and candy and sprinkle decorations.
• Happy Easter cupcake in the center with green icing base and yellow piping.

I made two of each cupcake, but only one Happy Easter cupcake. Pictured here are all of the "better halves". I also have individual pictures of each, so if you want to see a close-up, let me know.

More Nerdy Cupcakes

Along with the nerd cupcakes I made the other day, I had to decorate a few special ones for particular reasons. So instead of the swirl design with nerd candies and chocolate glasses, I made three of a different design. I just tinted some of the marshmallow frosting light blue and piped it.
The middle cupcake is pretty self-explanatory. I mean, MATH RULES, doesn't it? (For those of you who don't believe me, I'll send up my twelve page paper outlining a great deal of the mathematics involved in cooking and baking.)

The two outer cupcakes are physics cupcakes. 
Physics = applied mathematics ∴ PHYSICS ALSO RULES. 
Anyway, the cupcake on the right is meant to mimic the Doppler effect, which is basically the change in frequency of a wave as the observer and the source are in motion relative to each other. Simple examples of this include sirens and train whistles, which are examples of sound waves. The cupcake is a pretty simplified version of the model for this effect, but it works. Maybe some of you thought it was a target or a spiderweb, which I suppose would also be an accurate depiction.
The cupcake on the left is just an example of a sound wave or frequency wave, probably a beat frequency or such. It also mimics the pattern we see on heart beat charts and recording programs. So these two cupcakes focus on the topic of sound and waves and frequencies. Neither of them are elaborate, since I just used the same materials I was using to make the nerd cupcakes, as they were the star of the show. 

Nerd Cupcakes

Here are some cupcakes I made for two friends of mine who share the same birthday. They are both nerds, and wouldn't be insulted if I said that, and they both wear similarly-styled, large, black-rimmed glasses. Therefore, these cupcakes are decorated with orange and blue Nerds candies, and glasses. To make the glasses, I first printed off the outlines of many of these glasses on a piece of paper. I placed a piece of waxed paper over this. Then I simply melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips, put them in a plastic bag, and piped the outlines of the glasses through the waxed paper. This could be done free-hand as well, as it isn't a very difficult shape to do. Some turned out better than others, but the form is really a sideways eight, an infinity sign, or two circles. I put these in the refrigerator briefly to harden, then peeled them off the paper. 

The cupcakes are a confetti mix, which my friend baked. The frosting is a new recipe I tried. I stepped away from my classic buttercream and tried a marshmallow frosting. This recipe I will share tomorrow. I piped it on the cupcakes using my large open star tip, which is really easy and makes one simple, pretty swirl. Then I sprinkled the candies over top, which tended to roll everywhere, except stick to the frosting! I stuck a pair of glasses in each. I really like how the fancy cupcake wrappers match the colors of the candies. 

Chocolate Buttercream Prinzregenten Frosting

I wish I could give you an exact recipe for this frosting, because when I made it for this torte, it turned out amazing. Very rich, very chocolaty, and the perfect frosting for this torte if I do say so myself. I am not even sure is even I could duplicate this frosting, as I simply eyeballed amounts. However, I will try to give some guidelines to follow. It is nothing fancy or special, just simply delicious.

Ingredients
soft margarine
unsweetened cocoa powder
icing sugar
2% milk
vanilla

Put a little margarine in a small bowl, and mix in some cocoa. I used quite a bit of cocoa, because I really like chocolate. Use about a tablespoon or two of margarine, and as much cocoa as you can while still being able to stir the mixture. Stir in some icing sugar alternately with some milk, until you reach your desired amount or desired "shade" of icing. For example, for a darker chocolate flavor like I did, use a greater proportion of cocoa and less icing sugar. Stir in a splash of vanilla.

To assemble the torte: One cake layer, spread gently with a layer of frosting, repeat for all four layers. Pipe borders or rosettes around and on top of the cake if you wish. Heat a little additional frosting in the microwave briefly to warm it and thin it, then drizzle it over the cake.