Nov 25, 2009

Last Cake, Next Cake

The Catalan pinch cake was not a unanimous hit with the bakers. Raymond gamely gave it a true, although he said that when he read the recipe, his first reaction was, "Yuck. Why would anyone want to make this?" Then he reported that it looked unappealing and tasted unappealing. Vicki, as of this writing, has tried the recipe twice, and is determined to get it right on the third time. Her first she described as a "Catalan pinch meteor crater cake" and her second as "even naughtier." You've got to give her a gold star for perseverance. But Gartblue thought it was a "pleasant, light cake" that you can even eat for breakfast. What's not to like about a breakfast cake?

The FEATURED BAKER this week is Faithy, who not only loved the cake, but also made really adorable little pinch cakelets (pinchlets?) in cupcake pans--each with parchment wings.
She also has a stunning picture of the cakes in the oven (which, I must say, looks admirably clean). I'm pretty sure that I remember reading someplace that these pinch cakes are often sold in Spanish bakeries as individual cakes wrapped in parchment, so either Faithy read that too, or she just thought it up on her own.
Faithy, who lives and bakes in Singapore, is amazing. She started baking only a year ago, after getting a new oven, and she has poured herself heart and soul into her new avocation. She's absolutely fearless, and loves to tweak recipes to suit her taste. (Remember, Faithy is the one who made the pumpkin cake into her 20th anniversary cake covered with white fondant). She had no misadventures while baking this cake except that a mosquito bit her leg while she was standing around for the 20-minute mixing period. By the mention of the word "mosquito" at the end of November, it's pretty obvious that she doesn't live in Minnesota.

Next week is the Pure Pumpkin Cheesecake, and I'll tell you ahead of time that it's excellent! I hope you give it a try.
If you're planning on making the fruitcake, you might want to start thinking about soaking the fruit in rum because the rum-soaking period is supposed to be about a week.
I'm going to be gone this week (Thanksgiving in Las Vegas!), so won't answer any email until next week. We're going to be eating Thanksgiving dinner at Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurant, Las Vegas branch.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Whether or not you make the pumpkin cheesecake, I hope that your Thanksgiving days will be filled with good fellowship and good food--especially good food.

12 comments:

faithy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
faithy said...

Thanks for featuring me!

Happy Thanksgiving Marie (& Everyone)! Enjoy your week in Las Vegas and have a great vacation!

I'm still undecided if i should bake the fruitcake. Nobody else won't be eating it except me! I'm the only one i know that likes fruitcake! :(

faithy said...

Gosh..sorry...i keep typing it all wrong. I meant to say nobody will be eating the fruitcake, except me. :)

Mendy said...

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Congrats to Faithy. She is obviously a real artist with the way she makes her cake sculptures.

Hanaâ said...

Looking forward to making the pumpkin cheese. Just bought cream for it yesterday.

I was in Vegas a couple weeks ago, for business. If you have time (and a chance to read this), check out J.J. Boulangerie or Le Notre at the Paris hotel. They have amazing French pastries. My favorite: millefeuille. Dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant Lupo, at the Mandalay Bay, was awesome. His pumpkin soup is to-die-for. One of my friends recommended Thomas Keller's "Bouchon" restaurant as well as this Asian-fusion restaurant "Tao" (at the Venetian), but I didn't have time to check those out.

Alpha Baker Joan said...

Congratulations Faithy! What progress you are making and such independent approaches you have! I have only been at it for about a year also, so am always interested in your posts. Best, joan

PAM said...

Have a great time in Vegas. If you want to go to a professional pastry shop where they sell lots of molds, and hard to find ingredients check out Chef Rubber. Everytime I go to Vegas I stop in there and drop a bunch of money. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Anonymous said...

You read about the cupcake form of this cake in the header to Rose's recipe.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

My favorite thing to do on vacation... shop at specialty kitchen stores and restaurant supply warehouses. Call me crazy!

:)
ButterYum
Oh, and I bring home pounds and pounds of pasta.

Jenn said...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Patricia - I think you are among those who would not call you crazy (my Xmas wish list for the last couple of years have consisted of baking equipment and gadgets, :).

faithy said...

Thanks Mendy & Joan for your kind words! :)

Patricia, I understand how you feel..cos that's what i do too..always checking out for baking supplies when i am on vacation!

Marie, i forgot to add that my oven is clean cos i have a cleanliness-freak husband (on the borderline of being OCD..hahaha) who expects everything to b sparkling clean & in place. And I can't have my stuff lying around..everything has to be kept in their proper place after using. LOL! It kind of rubs off on me too i guess after being married to him for 20 years! :)

And yes, i think the first paragraph of the recipe said something about cupcakes..that's what gave me the idea to make them into cupcakes! :) I didn't come up with my own. It's from Rose! :D

Louise said...

I want to join last cake next cake but I do not know how to set up the blog - one of the requirements. I have a MAC. Can anyone give me the website which will tell me how to set up the blog? thanks!