Hello My dear, dear readers.
I have some of the most exciting news to share with you all, I can hardly believe it 🙂 I have a huge smile from ear to ear. I keep thinking it must be a mistake. Its a moment when words fail you and you just have to say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Ok lets start at the beginning before I get to carried away, so many years ago I started my book ‘A Piece of Cake’, even before I began blogging. It was something I felt I had to do in my life. So I began one recipe at a time -one step at a time, keeping very quiet and not telling anyone really about it, just incase I was wasting my time and it never saw the light of day. I just kept plodding away on it. After a year and a half of testing, writing, styling and shooting, I lay the book out and sent it off to some publishers.
With the help of Random House NZ I was able to publish it, they took on the distribution in New Zealand, while I am distributing over here in Australia. It has been going very well and I have got it into a lot of stores, who have all received it very well. And I owe each and everyone of them a huge, huge thank you for helping realise my dream. As well as a huge thank you to everyone who has brought one this far. I still have a long way to go, but dreams aren’t meant to be easy are they?
So…… about 6 months ago I sent three books off to Spain to enter one of the biggest cook book awards in the world, The Gourmand World Cookbook award. I just have received an email which said
Congratulations!!! You are the winner for the Best Pastry Cookbook in New Zealand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you believe it? Well I couldn’t, still can’t. My friend said to me you realise your an award winning author, ahhh how cool is that!! I have an award winning book. That is the coolest thing ever!!! An award winning book!!!!!!!
When I started I never even thought it would be published let alone win an award. Its amazing how things in life happen, you just have to keep plodding away with what you love. I’m so glad I never gave up even when I was thrown curve balls and could have done something easier. I really feel like its been worth all the work I put into both making it and now distributing it. I still have lots of work to do, but hopefully this award makes it a little easier to get my book out there.
So what happens next, now my little book, yes my book! Will go up against some amazing books who took out the same prize from their different countries to compete to win The Gourmand Best in the World. This is announced in Yantai, China, in June, so please keep your fingers, toes and anything else you can cross for me.
Now on to this cake, I have been saving this cake for the perfect moment and I think I found it!!! Don’t you? It’s kind of fitting as this was a second option I was toying with to use as the cover for my book. Yes thats how long I’ve been holding on to this recipe for 🙂 I hope you enjoy it xxxx
Oh and if you would like to get a copy of my award winning book 🙂 you can buy it from me, right here.
Happy baking xxxx
- CAKE
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cup oil
- 1 cup hot coffee
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- FROSTING
- 200g butter
- 500g dark chocolate
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Sift the cocoa, baking powder, flour and baking soda together, then stir through the sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, coffee, eggs, milk and vanilla essence. Add to the dry ingredients, and stir until combined. This mixture will be quite runny. Pour into a lined solid 20cm round cake tin that the mixture won’t leak out of. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked.
- To make the icing, place all of the ingredients into a saucepan and heat until the butter and chocolate have melted. Set the mixture to the side to thicken for two hours. Whisk it a couple of times during this time. Ice when the cake has cooled.
Wow, congratulations!! Also very inspiring. Best of luck for June 🙂
Thank you Lou xxx
Hi Sophia
How fantastic to have all your hard work and talent recognised and your beautiful book awarded with such distinction!
You must be so pleased and yes, I think I can see your smile from here 🙂
ha ha
Always G
Thanks for your continued support throughout it all G xxx
I have followed your blog for a while and always delighted in seeing the gorgeous pictures that you post. I am not the best cook in the world, but always like photos to follow, and you put the most lush pics ever. Congratulations on your award, you so deserve it!
Thanks Kaitie!! You are too kind!
You don’t have to be the best cook in the world, just enjoy it:) My friend had never baked in her life before I met her, now you can hold her down she is always baking, so I hope you will give some of the recipes a try and not be put off, they are pretty easy. Let me know if you need any tips I would be more than happy to share anything I know. Thanks again for both following me and your beautiful comment. xxx Sophia
Wow! Double congratulations on your book and your award. Fingers crossed you will take it all home in June. This is a gorgeous cake and if it is any indication on the rest of the recipes in the book there is no doubt in my mind that you should have no problem winning the final prize.
Thank you so much Lynn! Please keep your fingers crossed for me it would be so wonderful.
xxx Sophia
BRAVO! You clearly deserve everything that comes your way, so cheers CHEERS! to you!!!!
Thanks Chrissy!!!
My dear Sophia,
It is joy itself to see you grow in leaps & bounds and be rewarded for all your hard work & dedication to your ideas and self. Jai and I wish you all the very best in whatever you do & wherever life takes you….
Many warm thoughts & thank you for sharing your yummy recipes…
Sarita
Thank you Sarita and Jai!!! Thats such a beautiful and kind thing to say. I feel like you have given me a great big hug from the other side of the world 🙂
A great big hug is absolutely right! Shine on….
Congratulations! I really like your stories and your recipes. I just don’t like to bake. My mother loved baking like you. I gave your mother a Copy of my mother’s original recipe for Rhubarb/pineapple pie. Again, congratulations and I hope you continue to win awards.
My husband and I met your mom and dad on a cruise.
Gerry
Hi Gerry,
Yes I remember meeting you when you all got off the ship 🙂 you were helping mum with all the bags. I do have your recipe still its tucked away for save keeping:) Thank you so much for the kind words. How are you both going?
Donated your book as a raffle prize at the Cancer Fund’s Biggest Morning Tea at Brisbane Airport last week. A good promotion opportunity! I am looking forward to being able to tell the lucky winner of your success in the World cookbook competition in China. Good luck! Sheryle and I are doing a Julie and Julia and working our way through the book and sharing our efforts.
Hey Hilary,
I’m so glad the book will be a raffle price for the Biggest morning tea, it suits it so well. And you have put it to such a good cause 🙂
Thats awesome you and sheerly are doing that, I hope your taking lots of pics of the final product?
Hope your well, please keep in touch and let me know how the baking is going.
Sophia xxx
I tried the frosting but it came out quite runny, not at all stiff enough to apply to a cake like the one on the photo. I am thinking a cup of water is way to much to add.
Hi Rentia,
It will be super runny when you first make it, if you leave it for a few hours and whisk it ever so often it will thicken up. Sometime I get a bit impatient and place in in the deep freeze for a bit. It’s the best frosting ever it just takes some time. Hope that helps
Sophia
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks!
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