special chocolate cake

this cake was made as a kind of celebration gift for my dad for finishing a very difficult and draining project . the cottage cheese frosting is a result of an experiment, the reason being simple: i asked my mum to buy cream cheese but she didn’t remember and just got cottage cheese. and since it was saturday  evening and i felt much more like relaxing at home that going out to hunt for cream cheese somewhere, i decided to give it a try. it has nice grainy texture but is not very sweet (you could add more sugar if you prefer, but the cake itself is quite packed with sugar), it has a sour tingle to it too, watching nicely with the cake and ripe strawberries.

‘if you insist, even though there is not much sense still. but okay. well.’ he halted there, his hand raised and stopped in the mid-air. ‘i used to like strawberries. when i was a kid they were my favourite and i could eat only strawberries for days and days. not that anyone allowed me. but i would pretend to eat other food and then throw it away so i could eat more strawberries.’ 

‘it is not really the season now, well, but i am sure i can arrange something.’ she nodded eagerly, wondering how to get hold of strawberries immediately.’

‘oh yes’ she said, remembering her own words. ‘sorry. i just need to ask the cooks for a favour, or someone of the kitchen staff. i don’t care too much who. i need fresh strawberries for tomorrow.’ 

‘fresh strawberries?’ lisa exclaimed, surprised. 

‘i know it’s not exactly the right time, but i would do whatever was possible to help someone. and alexander said he liked strawberries. sometime. in the past.’ 

‘you think it will be, like a key? a trigger to something?’ 

she nodded at that. 

‘i think he’d like them simple. no desserts, no fancy cakes. hmm… just strawberries.’

‘oh, strawberries! i didn’t think you would do that.’ 

‘of course i would’ she replied and grinned at him. ‘now, dig in.’ 

‘thank you, sun’ he said before picking the biggest fruit, moving his hand clumsily to put the strawberry into his mouth, but she stopped him delicately. his hand was slightly shaking. 

‘describe it.’

chocolate cake with cottage cheese frosting recipe


1 ¼ cup flour
160 g soft butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ tbsp. salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup cocoa
1 cup milk

cream the butter with sugar, then add eggs, one at time, until they are well incorporated
whisk dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add simultaneously with milk, mix on lowest speed until the batter is smooth
put into a greased pan, bake in 180 for 1 h or until a toothpick comes out clean
cool down


cottage cheese frosting

400 g cottage cheese
50 g powdered sugar
30 g cocoa
vanilla essence

rub the cottage cheese through a sieve
add sugar, cocoa and a splash of vanilla, mix until incorporated (it will not be smooth, there will be small lumps)


assemble

cut the cake in two layers
spread half of the frosting and add some chopped strawberries, cover with the other layer and spread the rest of the frosting evenly
decorate with strawberries to you liking