Events

ICAN Club is 8!

It's hard to believe that we have celebraed our 8th anniversary. Over this period 409 sessions in adults' group have been held, more than 3,000 people visited ICAN Club. We have had Skype sessions and person to person talks with people from 21 countries, there are over 400 people in ICAN Club's Facebook group. 

We also have young learners groups, for children aged 8 to 11, 11 to 13 and 14 to 16. The young learners who joined our English speaking Club at the age of 5 are already 13, speak English fluently and are a way ahead of their peers in autonomous learning, information search, communication skills and cross-cultural awareness. It's really moving to see their throwback pictures and remeber how they struggled to recognise letters or to say their lines in the film we were making.

And the most important schievement is the warm, friendly relations among our members, parents and children, and also with our partners in other countries, which extend beyond the Club, and also personal and professional growth of each member due to impoved command of English and the continous support and creative idea sharing.

Thanks to those, who joined our celebration, to those who joined us on Skype (David Catherall, Jason R. Levine, Ivan Serbolin, Gull Memon and Mel Regers) and sent greetings in other ways. Thank you, the participants, for the cute gifs and beautiful flowers, which are still smiling at me, reminding me the moments of fun and happiness.

I also extend my gratitude to the staff of Imaguru Startup Hub for their professional approach and also good will in offering us a more spacious room.

Now the cake recipe.  

ICAN Club Birthday Cake

In my cookery book, the recipes have the names of the friends, who shared the recipe with me. So, why not to call this cake ICAN Club Birthday Cake? 

It is extrmely easy to make. Preparation time is about 15 min or less. Baking time is about 30-45 min. Finishing  time is about 15 min. It is recommended that you bake this cake the night before the event to let it soak up the cream.

INGREDIENTS 
for 10 sevings (To make the size as in the picture double everything)

Batter

Eggs: 2 or 3
Sugar: 1 cup
Sour cream: 1 cup
Honey: 1 tablespoonful
Baking powder: 1/2 teaspoonful
Flour: about 1/2 a cup (the batter should be no thicker than for pancakes).
Cocoa powder: 2 tablespoonfuls
Wholnuts (shelled and crashed): 1/2 cup or more
Raisins: 1/2 or more

Cream

Butter (soft, not melted; room temperature): 300 gr/10 oz
Sweetenedcondensed milk: 1 tin

Icing 

Sour cream: 3 tablespoonfuls
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Butter: 50 g/ 2 oz
Cocoa powder: 2 tablespoonfuls
Soda: a pinch 

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare the baking tin (oil the tin, line the bottom with a baking parchment, and oil it well too).

2. Pre-heat the oven 180 C/ 350 F.

3. Make the batter:

3.1. Beat the eggs and the suger.
3.2. Mix in the sour cream and the honey. Add flour and mix well.
3.3. Add the cocoa powder to the nuts,  mix well. Add them to the batter.
3.4.  Add raisins and mix the batter well. 
3. 5. Pour the batter into the tin and put the tin into the hot oven. 

Baking time is about 45 min. You can know the cake is ready, if you punch it with a wooden cocktail stick (a toothpick or a match can also be used), and it comes out dry and clean.

4. Make the cream: beat the butter with the condenced milk. You can start beating with a wooden spoon and then whisk.

5. When the cake is ready, tranfer it from the oven, take out of the tin and remove the baking paper when it is hot. 

6. Let it cool slightely and then cut into two layers. Separate them and let them cool down completely. You can use the wire rack to speed up the process.

7.When the cake is room temperature, spread the cream on one layer, cover with the other one and put the cake into the fridge to set.

8. Make the icing. Put the butter and the sour cream in a pan and melt them on a low heat. Mix the cocoa powder with the sugar and add to the butter and sour cream misture. Stir well and bring to boil on gentle heat. Add a pinch of soda before removing from heat.

9. Let the icing cool down to room temperature, but make sure it does not set. Take the cake from the fridge, transfer to the serving dish and pour the ising onto the cake. You might wish to do that in two runs if the icing is too fluid. Put the cake back into the fridge in between. 

10. You can decorate the cake with candles, suger ornaments, whipped whites + sugar, pieces of walnuts and raisins. 

Store the ready cake in the fridge before the serving time.

Enjoy!