Suffering. Death. Resurrection ....

Choc chilli cake

400 g sugar
2 large eggs
250ml milk, at room temp

200g cocoa
200g soft buter
2 t baking powder
1 t bicarbonate of soda
2 cups flour
1 t fresh ginger, finely grated
1 t chilli powder
310ml boiling water

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a spring-form 24cm tin. Combine all ingred except chilli and boiling water, in a bowl.
Mix with an electric beater on slow speed until mixture comes together, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Stir the chilli into the boiling water and slowly add it to the mixture, beating all the time. Pour mixture into tin, it will be quite runny.
Bake for about 50 minutes and when cool, ice with a chocolate icing/ganache.

A friend talked with me about the process Jesus went through, encouraging me that in my journey of suffering and the death of things in this journey, I would be resurrected a new person, new life even. I had never seen the similarities or compared them to myself before but now as I look at the cross, it reminds me of what Jesus went through and how that is affecting me.
These blogs are making me write down the things that have bought life to me, amidst the death and pain.
The chilli cake has been a hit since I’ve found it. I love baking and I love making people guess what’s in it – the secret ingredient. You can taste the hint of chilli mostly at the end of eating a slice. It’s good, very good.
Mostly I look like I’m doing pretty good to outsiders, I am pretty positive and am still living life, like someone suggested. But there is a hint of chilli. Like the cake, there is something mysterious.
Another great story in the bible is the one where the 2 disciples were walking back to their town after Jesus had died, talking about their loss, their pain of losing their friend. Jesus comes up behind them and they start sharing their story, not knowing it was him with them. They ended up inviting him for a meal, they were previously stuck in their sorrow, thinking of themselves, but ended up opening up their circle of pain to him. When they discovered it was him, they were filled with joy and ran all the way back to their other friends in the town they’d come from and shared the rest of the great, great story with them. What was pain and agony, became joy and a good ending. I like this explanation of that story. Telling our stories help us and help others and we find joy. We need to keep telling them.
Enjoy the cake sometime.