The Ride Called Motherhood

Recipe: Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Motherhood is like a roller-coaster ride... for a lifetime! It's full of ups and downs.... 

From the highs of being pampered in pregnancy and the patient 9-month long wait to see your cuddly little one to the extremely intense and unforgiving pain on the D-day. 

Finally after all that you are so happy and thankful to see your little baby and hold him and take care of him.

Before long your bubble of joy bursts as you can't take any more sleepless nights after about 10 in a row... and your ears keep ringing all the time after hours of relentless screaming/crying by the little one... Even small things like having the time to pursue a hobby or even grocery shopping seems like a luxury.

But then the happiness associated with watching your little one grow, give you the cutest toothless smiles, learn new things and play is surely unmatched... Amazingly enough, as you learn to love your child unconditionally, you discover new things about yourself too...

And as you are basking in the content thoughts of doing the best you can for your little one, then suddenly there comes the battery of criticism and opinions from total strangers as well as near and dear ones! Of how you are not doing enough... followed by clicking of tongues and shaking of heads.... 

These highs and lows do not stop... as the child grows, there are different kinds of them..... One day your eyes are brimming with tears of pride as your 3 year old just gave his favorite packet of candy to a poor needy child on the street. And at another moment, you are probably wishing you could disappear into thin air as your child throws a really nasty tantrum in a very public place which is full of people you know and you are not sure how to take control of the situation.



The lows are definitely low. Most of all, I still dread the labour pains and hate the unwarranted criticism..... But somewhere along, I just wanted to take the plunge and experience the miracle of birth and the joys of a little baby cradled in my arms once again... I guess even though the ride isn't easy, the highs of motherhood easily outweigh the lows...

The best part this time though is watching my 6 year old son's reaction :) I remember when I told him  that I have a baby inside me and that he needs to keep it a secret for sometime till the baby gets a little bigger, he tried his best... But in fact he got excited and whispered to everyone he met that there was a baby the size of a dot growing inside his mom! His wonder and amazement at this is so entertaining...

I enjoy listening to his inquisitive mind. Sometimes he asks me interesting questions like "Shouldn't men be giving birth to boy babies and women to girl babies?" Now that's a point to ponder !

Even cuter is my 2-year old niece who asks me every now and then 
"Ammai-de vayittil baby inda?" (Do you have a baby in your stomach?)
When I say "inde" (yes), she immediately plants a kiss on my stomach for the little one.

I really hope their joy and excitement lasts even after the baby comes out!


The other day when my son declared that he loves to cook and wants me to teach him how to bake a  chocolate cake, I thought he was just saying that because he wanted to eat some cake batter... But as days passed, his persistence surprised me... Does a 6 year old really want to spend his evening mixing cake batter instead of playing outside with his friends? He did! I guess he did inherit some of my chocolate-loving genes. Plus, right now I need to enjoy this period. 

A nice way to relax and not worry too much about the oncoming new addition to the family as well...

This is a really easy recipe. And a very common one too... It was introduced to me by one of my friends many years ago. And ever since, this chocolate-y, moist, softness has been a favorite. 



HERSHEY'S PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CAKE 
from Hershey's Kitchens

I pretty much follow the recipe, so I'm not retyping it here. Just click the link above for the recipe.

I do reduce the sugar from 2 cups to 1 and 1/2 cups (what's the fun if a chocolate cake doesn't have a 
hint of bitterness?) 

I always bake it into a single cake. But the baking time of 35-40 minutes as mentioned in the recipe never worked for me.  I need to bake it for at least 1 hour and 10 minutes at 180 degrees C.

So sit back, don't let the ride tire you or scare you (in case you haven't ventured into it) and enjoy some chocolate cake....

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Behind the Scenes

All the dishes posted in this blog have been cooked by me. Some of the recipes are mine and some of them adapted / borrowed in which case, the link to the original source is provided.

I am also the photographer and the author behind this blog.

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