This past Saturday was my best friends birthday.

“M” and I known each other for over 20-plus years - more if I really count, but then that means that I’m old, as in really old and who wants to be reminded of that?

“M” and I meet in junior high school. It was at the bus stop and the new kid in town and she approached me and asked me what my name was, simple as that, straight to the point and fearless. Turned out we had a lot in common. After that we pretty much became inseparable, we lived in the same street, only 10 houses away from each other. Summer were spent by the pool, at first splashing, and then as we got older trying to pick the cool boys up. She has been there thru my first kiss, my first boyfriend, my first heartbreaks, my freaked outs, my many moves around the city and then out of the country. We have lived together, we have traveled together, we have each other’s backs. She has witness all of my failures, my success and everything in between. And she has always been there, a steady beacon to my chaotic life. I cannot image my life without her in it. It just would not make sense.

While we live in different cities, she is the kind of friend that we only need to talk once in a while, and when we do, is like catching up from where we left of the last time. I trust her with all of my secrets and know that we will grow old together, sitting in a rocking chair, recalling all of our past and still looking forward the future.

She is funny, smart as a whip and beautiful inside and out. She is a woman that is full of flair, finesse and style.

And this cake reminded me of her.

This weeks cake is a simple cake, that when done can stand up to the most complicated cakes out there and still kick butt - proving once more that it does not need to be an over the top production, simple is ALWAYS better. It is delicate and paired with this rich milk chocolate ganache only enhances it’s buttery flavor.

The book did not have any pictures so, we were pretty much were free to use our imagination in how to decorate it and thinking about my best friend, made me go the route of a simple, delicate way, but full of flair.

As always I followed the recipe, except that I replaced the vanilla with almond extract, instead of using all milk chocolate in the ganache, I replaced 100 grams of it with 60% cacao chocolate, to make it not so sweet and to give it a nice balance of flavors.

The cake came together pretty fast and it baked fully at the 30 minute marked. For once I had not issues when it came time to split it in half - I used my handy cake divider and had two equal slices in not time. If I do it again (most likely), I would do some extra ganache, mainly because I realized that I was not going to have enough to really fill the cake – and I love a cake that has quite a bit of filling between the layers.

I used some of the left over fondant from my cake decorating class and made some daisies to give it a punch. I think it turned out better that I expected and thus far, it is one of my favorite cakes that I have done for the group.

Verdicts:

Tom: “It’s much better than I expected, I love the chocolate, its not to sweet and not to strong, and the cake carries it well. It’s very crumbly and I do wish it had more filling in the middle”

The little man: “It’s really good, like dad say, I like that it’s soft”

As for my take, I also like it. I love the almond flavor of the cake and how it paired up with the chocolate, but then anything that has almond will always get my vote. Would I change anything to it, probably not. Like Rose mentioned this is a pretty good “GO TO” recipe because the cake can hold any flavor, works well as any sized and the end results are pretty great.

So “M” here is to you, I may not be there for your birthday this year, but as always, the best part in a birthday is that piece of cake. Here is yours.

If you want to check out the rest of the group take on this week’s cake choice, visit us here.