Making the accordian cake.

My Mama was turning 80, and the family wanted a special cake to celebrate the occasion. 

My loving husband suggested an accordian cake, as my Mama has played this instrument for as long as I can remember.  I have fond memories of Sunday afternoons, Mama making music on the verandah.

There were going to be about 90 guests at the celebrations, so I needed a decent sized cake.  The only cake tins I had that were perhaps big enough were roasting dishes.

The recipe is one I use for all my family celebration cakes. It cuts easily for shaping, and keeps well, and is moist on the day.  It’s been used for pyramids, treasure chests, monsters, rainbows, safari, volcanos, and lego cakes.

About 15 years ago, a neighbour gave me the recipe.  It’s Chris’ Aunty’s from Canterbury Chocolate Cake Recipe.  The only modification I have made is the addition of the spices.

This recipe is for one cake only:

Dry ingredients

3 Tbsp cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

300 gm flour

200 gm sugar (soft brown if there is any in the pantry)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Wet ingredients

250 ml oil

3 eggs

250 ml milk

3 Tbsp golden syrup

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 Deg C, line baking tin with paper.

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Mix wet ingredients together.  Beat well with a spoon until combined.

Combine wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Mix well until smooth.

Pour mixture into pan

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean.

As I only had roasting dishes, I made one mixture for one cake, and cooked it for 20 mins, as it was longer and thinner.  I needed more cake, so doubled the mixture and used the other roasting dish. This took about 30 minutes to cook.  I left them to cool overnight.  I wasn’t sure it the cake would be big enough. 

Cake decorating became the all day Saturday task for me, so I got up early, layered the cakes with icing in the middle.  Then I carved the cake to be the same size.  I used fondant to create an aged accordian look – I wanted the cake to look like Mama’s accordian

I enjoyed painting the gold and silver dust for the accents.  I agonised over how to lay out the spacing for the 48 chocolate drops.  My amazing husband worked out the spacing pattern, and my son used a pin through the pattern to mark the placement, and then popped in the chocolate drops.

I finished the cake at about 6 oclock Saturday night, and discovered the box I had put aside to transport the cake, had been cut up, and made into an aeroplane by the urchins!  Fortunately one of my neighbours had a banana box I could use.  

 

The cake survived the 1 and 1/2 hour car journey with minor incidents, which were repaired before the celebrations on Sunday. 

Over 100 people helped celebrate my Mama’s 80th, and there were only few pieces of cake left, so there was enough.