This year I turned 24. For my birthday, I decided to combine it with two other of my friends who have their birthdays a few days apart. We decided to rent a boat and have all our friends join us for a big party; it was absolutely great. Instead of ordering a cake, I decided that I wanted to make one for us instead! Since we were going to be on a boat and swimming in the sea, I thought a beach theme would be fitting 🙂

Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 5/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium or large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 cup boiling water

**NOTE: I doubled the recipe to make 2 big cakes 

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease 2 cake pans of the same size.
3. In a large bowl, mix the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking power and and salt.
4. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla into the same bowl and mix for three minutes on medium speed.
5. Stir in the boiling water last. TO NOTE: The batter will be very thin. 
6. Pour equal amounts into two separate cake pans.
7. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

Buttercream Frosting / Decorations:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 9 cups powdered sugar (You can add or lessen depending on your preferences)
• 4-6 tablespoons milk (Varies depending on how you want the consistency)
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Digestive Cookies
• Chocolate shells
• Edible tiny silver beads

Preparations:

1. In a bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and the butter becomes lighter in color.
2. Add in the powdered sugar and mix on low speed at first, then increase to medium speed and continue mixing for another 1-2 minutes until the mixture starts to come together.
3. Add in the milk (start with 2 tablespoons and add a little more if needed).
4. Add the vanilla extract and salt.
5. Continue mixing on medium-high speed for another minute or until everything is well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Put some of the white frosting on top of one of your cakes and top it with the other.
7. In the bowl with the rest of the frosting, add blue food coloring until you get a shade of blue you are happy with.
8. Once your frosting is to your liking, top the whole cake with it and smooth out.
9. Crush some digestive cookies until they become sand-like and decorate the bottom and top of your cake with it.
10. Place your chocolate shells on top of your cake in the center.
11. Place your silver beads all around the cake.
12. ENJOY!