Oreo Victoria Sponge Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Birthdays

It's R's birthday! My beloved R, and the joy of my life, Happy Birthday you beautiful wonderful man!

Well, it was, this month. Birthdays is this day you know, the day when you set out to achieve your purpose in life, dressed in your finest birthday suit. The day when years later, you realize the love with which you were created, lovingly and fearfully carried, and raised to be what you are today. The day when one day, much later, you'll go up to your mom, and say, "How did you do it?!"

It's a beginning of a new year. You almost recreate yourself. Tell yourself, this, THIS year is gonna be it. May be you settle down the next day with a "May be the birthday dinner was too heavy, still can't move."  And it's okay.Tell yourself that this is the year that matters, you'll finally take it in your hands. Your career. Your relationships. Your hobbies. The blog that you started a couple of years ago, and are yet to update. The camera you so lovingly bought, but just didn't find the time to capture what you once saw you could. Your life.

Birthdays are also awesome, primarily because there's a lot of cake involved. And it's all for you. You get to eat it all. Well some of it at least. At 12 midnight, you are smooshed with cake by your friends, joined in by family. In the afternoon, should you take the day off work, you are smooshed by another cake by another group of friends. Should you not take the day off work, there's officemates. They'll smoosh you. And may be, a super awesome friend will bake you a Oreo Victoria Sponge Cake topped with Chocolate Cranberry Ganache.

Which I did.

A dense yet light Victoria Sponge, with black crumbs of Oreo cookies mushed with that magic frosting between them, coated with Rich Dark Chocolate Cranberry Ganache and a little extra dripping off. It was beautiful. It was just beautiful. May be because it was baked with a lot of love. May be because it had Oreos and Chocolate Ganache. C'mon now that'll make anything beautiful.

Oreo Victoria Sponge Cake topped with Chocolate Cranberry Ganache

Makes one 8-inch round cake, plus enough leftover for 6 muffins

You need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• One package of Oreos
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 2.5 cups granulated sugar + 0,5 cup more for the frosting
• A bit more than 3/4 cup butter
• 1+1 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• A bit of vanilla extract
• 1 small carton of Amul cream
• 2 large bars of Bournville Dark Chocolate. I used the Cranberry version. So worth it.

The How:

Make the frosting first:

• Mix together the cream, sugar, vanilla and salt.
• Heat till the mixture boils.
• Turn the heat down to low, and add the chopped up chocolate.
• Let that stay, stirring it infrequently.
• Turn off the heat when the chocolate is all melted.
• Mix well, and put in a glass bowl.
• Let it cool, then refrigerate.
• Your frosting is ready. It's totally okay to "taste" it. By taste, I mean eat spoonfuls.

Now for the cake!

• Cream the butter and sugar.
• Add the eggs. Add the vanilla.
• The trick to a perfect Victoria Sponge is the fluffiness. So beat the hell out of it. Use an stand mixer. Beat it for a good 4-5 minutes on medium speed.
• While that's happening, remember what Nigella does. Put the Oreos into a bag, and crush it with a rolling pin. Just hammer away till there are no chunks left.
• Add the cookie crumbs to the batter.
• Sift together the flour, salt and the baking powder.
• Put in one spoonful at a time. Turn the speed down.
• Add the milk and incorporate it well.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven.
• Put this mix in a greased tin, and bake at 160 celsius for about 40 minutes.
• Once the oven pings, just let it be. Let it rest in the heat.
• After at least 15 minutes, check with a toothpick. If need be, bake for another 5-10 minutes.
• Your house at this time should smell of dreams, hope and happiness.
• Take it out of the oven, and let it cool. Turn it out onto a rack or a plate. Let it cool completely there. Because if it doesn't, the frosting you so lovingly thickened by cooling will melt on the cake itself.
• You may have extra batter left, so spoon that into the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes.
• The next day, coat the entire cake in the ganache, by spooning it out, and smoothing it. Reserve the rest of it. Refrigerate the cake of the rest of the day.

The cake, frosted once, about to be chucked into the fridge again

• That evening, or the next day, give the final coating of the ganache. Refrigerate till you serve it.
• Your absolutely gorgeous birthday cake is ready!

Serve, slice it and eat it. (Or have the frosted muffins, if you gave the cake away). You'll love it.

And thank your mum and dad :)