tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88820707182797318332024-03-12T17:10:21.069-07:00*Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-50580832891197402072011-05-19T18:09:00.000-07:002011-05-19T18:09:54.422-07:00Last CakeThis two-year project has come to an end. It began on May 31, 2009, with the Spice Cake with Peanut Buttercream, and ended on May 15, 2011 with Zach's LaBomba. In that time, I made 90-plus cakes, and liked them all. More importantly, I made some wonderful baking friends. I learned about your families, your quirks, and your aspirations (just as you learned about mine). We've seen weddings, births, job changes, house hunts, and other life-changing experiences. And every week, I got to read your blogs, and summarize your reactions to the cake of the week. Just like I'm going to do now. <br />
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Everyone liked this cake. More importantly, nobody complained about this cake. Remember all the whining about the Apple Charlotte? I do, because I was maybe the biggest whiner. But this cake--we took it in our stride. A two-day cake? No problem.<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/05/zachs-la-bomba.html">Lois</a>, for example, thought that although "there were pages and pages of things to do," "there was nothing terribly complex in the methods used (no hot sugar flung about the kitchen)." See? This is how blase we've become: if there's no hot sugar flung about the kitchen, it's a candidate for the Q&E list. <br />
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<a href="http://lolasartisticendeavors.blogspot.com/2011/05/hcb-zachs-la-bomba-last-cake.html">Lola</a> was so taken with the idea of this cake that she made it early--and she made it twice. She "prepared this several weeks ago for a dinner party. It was so exciting to make and serve that [she] made it again the next week for other guests." Two days of baking, stirring, whisking, separating, beating, pureeing, straining - this translates into "exciting to make"? Yes, if it's a "glorious dessert" that's "such a star when it is completed." <br />
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Despite a weekend for <a href="http://www.eatsndrinks.ca/2011/05/16/zachs-la-bomba/">Kristina</a> that included a trip to the ER with her husband's torn calf muscle, and her own migraine, she "just didn’t feel right missing out on baking this one with the rest of [her] baking buddies." With all of her experience, Kristina also breezed through this one: "The first step was to make the cake base. This is a flourless chocolate cake, with egg yolks and whites beaten separately, each with sugar, melted chocolate is added to the yolks, then the whites (meringue, by now) are folded into the yolk/chocolate mixture. Doesn’t sound all that complicated, when you say it like that." "Delicious," says Katrina. She also wants to try an (even) easier variation: "....use this basic recipe, minus the bottom crust and top glaze, just as a mousse/pudding type dessert in custard cups or sundae glasses." <br />
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I wasn't the only person for whom La Bomba was Last Cake. <a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-05-16T00%3A52%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=7">Nancy B.</a> also celebrated her cake graduation. (If you haven't checked out her <a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/05/roses-heavenly-cakes-all-of.html">post</a> entitled "Rose's Heavenly Cakes--All of 'em!"), do it now. It will impress you with the scope of this project, and make you want your very own cake graduation. Nancy finished this cake with her usual aplomb. But I'm a little worried about her brother and his family who have served as the tasting panel for every cake--what are they going to do without their weekly fix?<br />
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<a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/05/hcb-zachs-la-bomba.html">Jenn</a> may be the only one who actually used the recommended (and "very expensive") Valrhona Manjari chocolate, although she did have "issues" with it separating, with the "cocoa butter oozing out." Unfazed, she started over, and this time all was well--except for her camera running out of battery life. Verdict: "This is really good. Very rich and chocolate-y. It's a tad too rich for me and I can only eat a small piece - which is not necessarily a bad thing. Hubby loves it, he said it's really good." As you probably know, <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/05/hcb-continuation-lets-finish-book.html">Jenn is going to be continuing the Heavenly Cake Bakers</a>, doing the 21 or so cakes she's still missing. If you're missing some too, join in! You probably won't have the same 21 left to do, but she's building in lots of Free Choices, so you can finish your missing cakes too.<br />
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<a href="http://thesugarwaltz.blogspot.com/2011/05/1099-zachs-la-bomba.html">Jane</a>, our ambitious blogger who's set herself the goal of finishing RHC in one year, made her La Bomba a few weeks ago, and has already made three or four more. No lazy one-cake-a-week schedule for her! It would be an understatement to say that she liked this cake, which she calls The Bomb: "I'm eating a slice of this cake (I need to be careful or it will be the whole cake) while I am writing this and I am getting goosebumps with every bite that I eat. One of my roommates and I just stared at each other and shook our heads and then stared at the cake. Totally speechless."<br />
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Poor <a href="http://sarahthebear.com/blog/?p=1456">Sarah</a>. She took La Bomba to a pool party, where it totally outclassed "the Betty Crocker brownies and Costco pies that are standard pool party fare." It "tried to fit in," she swore, really it did, but "with the very first slice, everyone knew it was different." Will Sarah's neighbors continue to invite her and her hoity-toity cakes to the pool parties? Will someone sabotage her silicone? Stay tuned to her blog, which will continue, and see what further adventures await Sarah the Bear.<br />
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<a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/05/zachs-la-bomba.html">Jennifer</a>, AKA Evil Cake Lady, has been with us from the beginning, and will continue along with Jenn's "Straggler's blog." Luckily for Jennifer, she was enough of a straggler to get the benefit of Zach's (yes, the Zach of "Zach's La Bomba") permission to use a hand mixer to mix the sabayon. Although she will not develop of one perfectly toned arm from hours of whisking, she did get the benefit of the quicker, easier sabayon. She also found a cup of black lacquer glaze in her freezer (how many people have spare pints of black lacquer glaze?), so her cake--with two major shortcuts--was almost Quick and Easy. And did she like it? "The dessert is indeed a showstopper and a perfect way to show your friends exactly how awesome your baking skills have become."<br />
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Indeed, we are all awesome. So universally awesome that I can't bring myself to pick a <b>FEATURED BAKER</b> this week. Instead, a heartfelt tribute to <a href="http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/">Rose</a>: writer, teacher, mentor, friend. Baking from one of Rose's cookbooks is a little like taking piano lessons from oh, say, Mozart, with the added benefit that Rose is alive. <br />
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Although it's clear from her books that she's a way better baker than you'll ever be, it's not her goal to let you know that. She wants to teach you everything she knows so that you will become the best possible baker that you can be, given your talents and limitations. And when you stumble along, Rose/Mozart doesn't point out your stumbles. She applauds your accomplishments. In the end, you bake something--a whole lot of somethings if you cook your way through a cookbook--that you would have thought was way beyond your capacities. Thanks, Rose. I can't wait for the next cookbook.<br />
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Although I just titled this post "Last Cake," there will always be Next Cakes too. Most immediately, there is the Barcelona Brownie Bar, Jenn's pick for the May 23 baking project. I've made these several times after my original BBB post of October 12, 2009. I hope you make them too--they're wonderful, with or without the ganache. The following week, Jenn et al. are set to tackle the chocolate raspberry trifle. Oh, that is so good!<br />
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But even if you don't bake along in this project, or any other project, I assume if you're reading this you've got some interest in making cakes, especially RLB cakes, and that you'll have plenty of "Next Cakes" in store for you. Bon appetit and adieu!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-47114930971508815152011-05-15T00:01:00.000-07:002011-05-15T12:00:28.306-07:00Zach's La Bomba<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kjplrMBqooBBhDN9T6Fxlzfsq9yudLZLdiDV8lYRQTzFgkRClCIAjlxJxkJKwhGZ8YJu5Z8uQ8OLx352-4T7a2gZvfMFueFDWVKdTXDr9UxR7IWOY_l1riX157lWipp1fxN2yDDUjRVE/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+95.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kjplrMBqooBBhDN9T6Fxlzfsq9yudLZLdiDV8lYRQTzFgkRClCIAjlxJxkJKwhGZ8YJu5Z8uQ8OLx352-4T7a2gZvfMFueFDWVKdTXDr9UxR7IWOY_l1riX157lWipp1fxN2yDDUjRVE/s400/05-14-11+Cake+95.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
I was in a petulant mood when I went to Whole Foods on Friday morning. It was the third grocery store I'd gone to in my search for blackberry tea, and I was irritated at myself for spending so much time tracking down an ingredient that was, after all, only going to flavor 1/4 cup of liquid. I was sure the tea wasn't crucial, but I wanted to find it. And I didn't really know how I felt about making the last cake in this project. But I found the tea--at least I found black raspberry, and I decided that was close enough. <br />
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And I also found some nice chocolate: a hunk of Callebaut and some Cordillera 59% discs (it's a chocolate I'd never heard of--made in Colombia and very good).<br />
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When the nice young woman at the checkout counter was ringing up my purchases, she looked at the chocolate, cream, and blackberries, and said, "It looks like you're making something fancy." <br />
"I am," I allowed.<br />
NYW: "What is it?"<br />
Me: "A sort of chocolate-blackberry mousse cake."<br />
NYW: "That sounds amazing!. Where did you get the recipe?"<br />
Me: "Rose's Heavenly Cakes. It's by Rose Levy Beranbaum...I don't know if you're familiar with her,..."<br />
NYW: "Of course I am. She's famous! Is the tea for this too?"<br />
Me: "Yes--I've been looking all over for it."<br />
NYW: "You'll have so much fun making this. I know it will be fabulous!"<br />
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Her enthusiasm helped remind me of the general awesomeness and fabulousness of the project and the cakes and the bakers, and I was actually whistling a happy tune by the time I got home.<br />
A good thing because I spent the rest of the afternoon making the blackberry mousse and dirtying every pot, pan, and bowl in my cupboards. The mousse is made in two parts: the blackberry sabayon and the rest. A sabayon, kissing cousin to the Italian zabaglione, is characterized by beating a lot of egg yolks and sugar over simmering water.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTwCzy0n8f46dIObw4wzuSrCylEuG1bVqadPvT2Qrcqd-nGf-cqY1OvOL6gxL8g3nU4OPhGot9H7fyveKr6FGEJN9uQaOedvpNamzH9U9Cz3a8b6JA65HcZ-m8UgBAvqdsMB2KFXktSNt/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTwCzy0n8f46dIObw4wzuSrCylEuG1bVqadPvT2Qrcqd-nGf-cqY1OvOL6gxL8g3nU4OPhGot9H7fyveKr6FGEJN9uQaOedvpNamzH9U9Cz3a8b6JA65HcZ-m8UgBAvqdsMB2KFXktSNt/s400/05-14-11+Cake+10.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Since this involves about 10 minutes of constant whisking, if you made a sabayon every day, your whisking arm would probably become quite toned. <br />
This sabayon also contains the elusive blackberry tea (one-quarter cup; drink what's left in the cup), some chocolate, and a little cream.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwtUzC5WNnb9gs2EP3B2cE82F1psHgod6M3tZ0Nep29Vo099q0rcwkjBjrrzMMh8KslFi9VPhNwD8e0tJ3_2_Tv97kCmnEieuKh2SlL1B3iyzP0P5VLq8URJFYpZeVSpGQIY9eU7u6RrnV/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwtUzC5WNnb9gs2EP3B2cE82F1psHgod6M3tZ0Nep29Vo099q0rcwkjBjrrzMMh8KslFi9VPhNwD8e0tJ3_2_Tv97kCmnEieuKh2SlL1B3iyzP0P5VLq8URJFYpZeVSpGQIY9eU7u6RrnV/s400/05-14-11+Cake+14.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Put the sabayon aside to cool, and on with the rest of the mousse. The first step to making a smooth blackberry puree is to whirl the blackberries in the food processor.<br />
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See all the seeds whirling about? That means that the next step is one of my least favorite things to do: pressing the berries through a sieve so the puree becomes seedless. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1X6muIYl6gnkU4r7MhiOcewrblo3eSxXavzK6DbMoaoeUy-xW54EP8Xc_c-FMmRh6Rn0lqe7qWRVrvZN1Gc4_NJ0PPIq_woYG6cNrzCNeb1z9SK1SvWxZQBnicyKRqgjoXBmxBUDH-eLY/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+24.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1X6muIYl6gnkU4r7MhiOcewrblo3eSxXavzK6DbMoaoeUy-xW54EP8Xc_c-FMmRh6Rn0lqe7qWRVrvZN1Gc4_NJ0PPIq_woYG6cNrzCNeb1z9SK1SvWxZQBnicyKRqgjoXBmxBUDH-eLY/s400/05-14-11+Cake+24.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Heat the puree with gelatin.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegcddjZV5TXXJQ6KjLw0lLKA0OeW_3bDcycmRN7Pow6zRJ8XTiAwxsxh6zgHddSBPsyQFRumIR38oVxPzUOTmBOQrmYkK8IWn4svulBmKnTfLd80eRVfrccFB7KeP0YsPrXWn-CdYhtX4/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+25.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegcddjZV5TXXJQ6KjLw0lLKA0OeW_3bDcycmRN7Pow6zRJ8XTiAwxsxh6zgHddSBPsyQFRumIR38oVxPzUOTmBOQrmYkK8IWn4svulBmKnTfLd80eRVfrccFB7KeP0YsPrXWn-CdYhtX4/s400/05-14-11+Cake+25.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Melt more chocolate in more cream.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7M1icVLgTpT99Cl61ZZPgy5lkq0MmcupFj7r1Bi3LV7xi4MdRip5ptsBmDDOFofl7DSbPRMnPviIpiXTAx5lSnMj-XzFsgA7SH-c5O5aOo78mdUiN36V_V2vPTvUUyGRb3Nl-K_OiHrJu/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+28.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7M1icVLgTpT99Cl61ZZPgy5lkq0MmcupFj7r1Bi3LV7xi4MdRip5ptsBmDDOFofl7DSbPRMnPviIpiXTAx5lSnMj-XzFsgA7SH-c5O5aOo78mdUiN36V_V2vPTvUUyGRb3Nl-K_OiHrJu/s400/05-14-11+Cake+28.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Whip still more cream.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_k2wOKT2IjQldefxwbp2M2xHQ4Jvr3loBsTJ-gIiBDvGZu3ZgTK7f0bmRx-3erzZQ-G1xudfhWTXAWBrMzqJc1li9fw9vLRLhWK043gVXWRnXuCWchEx-auVxumlw2cmSruHLztw2uzY/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+32.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_k2wOKT2IjQldefxwbp2M2xHQ4Jvr3loBsTJ-gIiBDvGZu3ZgTK7f0bmRx-3erzZQ-G1xudfhWTXAWBrMzqJc1li9fw9vLRLhWK043gVXWRnXuCWchEx-auVxumlw2cmSruHLztw2uzY/s400/05-14-11+Cake+32.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Then mix everything, including the sabayon, together, and pour it into the purple silicone mold that you've borrowed from Woody.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HdYz2Mq5z7DhdX1E9jGi11KplPDeirV0UARQ5l8Fou1pZm9ODBPMXZgyHM4CqbOqvFCOY0cQkFQChdz9-OxjU1oN6JTiFCuHzuUIsay6xcmtcRXUjP69LvkfJqK4VJDZdQSSYxLpnJBd/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+42.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2HdYz2Mq5z7DhdX1E9jGi11KplPDeirV0UARQ5l8Fou1pZm9ODBPMXZgyHM4CqbOqvFCOY0cQkFQChdz9-OxjU1oN6JTiFCuHzuUIsay6xcmtcRXUjP69LvkfJqK4VJDZdQSSYxLpnJBd/s400/05-14-11+Cake+42.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Put it in the freezer, and you're done for the day. Simple enough, right? I was trying to figure out why it took me so long when it really wasn't that complicated. I realized that there was a lot of cooling time involved. Also a lot of recipe reading--I must have read every paragraph two or three times. I didn't want to have to admit screwing up my final cake!<br />
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<b>Day Two</b>:<br />
Woody said he'd come over to watch (over) me as I completed My Last Cake, so I waited until he finished his Saturday t'ai chi class before making the cake. Nothing to it! Just a little flourless mousse cake. Woody discombobulated me by suggesting that the instructions in my book were wrong. "I think the oven rack should be in the middle, not the lower third" he said. <br />
"Woody! Are you saying that Rose is wrong?" I was shocked. <br />
"No, I'm just saying you should check the actual book--not the proofs you're using." <br />
I sighed my martyr sigh and checked the "real" book. Ha. The recipe says that the rack should be in the lower third. I kept it there and started chopping and melting more chocolate. How much chocolate is in this cake? I count a total of 11 ounces plus nearly 2 ounces of cocoa for the glaze. Chocolate has become a staple in my house now, along with butter and cream.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8T6AEIuXQdI82CYlHJU9ioqEl1JGPkrYNrdBoEWTc8ITgcVhgGNjkpnmW6GZEQFtMSncM5QqqfB3CImcel9hqOJ8YeV8fns6t6lQAQVKgQ4yYSAxoYLUfi1vDsFO31DCqsk853N_ujM_d/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+43.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8T6AEIuXQdI82CYlHJU9ioqEl1JGPkrYNrdBoEWTc8ITgcVhgGNjkpnmW6GZEQFtMSncM5QqqfB3CImcel9hqOJ8YeV8fns6t6lQAQVKgQ4yYSAxoYLUfi1vDsFO31DCqsk853N_ujM_d/s400/05-14-11+Cake+43.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
My last picture of the miraculous transformation of sunny yellow egg yolks into this creamy mixture:<br />
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I love it when that happens. For some reason, it amazes me more than the transformation of egg whites into meringue.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDe1z6I4CIS37rKulBbfDs6msTxd9uVquNuqZ5BLYrVUZmX7uIbyUlqZUwNZaf4aS9pGVghb0Qfbmpb_ypf0duZU7VtUZD7EF03W3XVVK_Hha0omfgDSatyjoDEfzQboX2DzczEVNg4wq/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+54.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDe1z6I4CIS37rKulBbfDs6msTxd9uVquNuqZ5BLYrVUZmX7uIbyUlqZUwNZaf4aS9pGVghb0Qfbmpb_ypf0duZU7VtUZD7EF03W3XVVK_Hha0omfgDSatyjoDEfzQboX2DzczEVNg4wq/s400/05-14-11+Cake+54.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
The egg-yolk/chocolate mixture is pretty solid, so it takes some muscle power to fold the egg whites into it, but it ends up being a smooth batter that pours neatly into a parchment-lined half-sheet pan.<br />
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Done in just 12 minutes. To satisfy Woody, who is always complaining that I don't take sufficient notes from my baking, I cross out "15," and write a big "12" in the margin of the book. He beams. I expect him to start calling me grasshopper.<br />
We take a break while the cake is cooling and watch Rose on Martha Stewart's show. We like the part where Rose gives Martha permission not to measure the vanilla.<br />
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Back to work. I've done a lot of searching for the right-sized circular object to use as my cake template. It turns out to be a lid from a set of Ikea plastic storage bowls.<br />
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I ask Woody why we have to make so much cake to get one lousy circle. He doesn't really know, but after I taste it, I stop complaining. It's really good--moist and seriously chocolatey. I don't mind having all those scraps.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFrHktE0UN9ERMBI1lmJsc88P5IHcG82osnfYk2dwVeM6W5cGKeaZ19rvxqa-r08X39tyxMsk27YLNiHfp2Y6WKfOixCu9d1EOewiESzw3Tjm_pofrf6NEfY7CQBFjIlo529GP8sxw0T4/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+66.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFrHktE0UN9ERMBI1lmJsc88P5IHcG82osnfYk2dwVeM6W5cGKeaZ19rvxqa-r08X39tyxMsk27YLNiHfp2Y6WKfOixCu9d1EOewiESzw3Tjm_pofrf6NEfY7CQBFjIlo529GP8sxw0T4/s400/05-14-11+Cake+66.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>More waiting while one of the cake rounds cools and firms up in the refrigerator, so it must be time to make the final component: the black lacquer glaze. Of course, this is the fourth time we've made the lacquer glaze, so it's not quite so wondrous as it was the first time. It turns out just about perfect, and all I have to do is let it cool.<br />
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Woody, bless his heart, has brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate the successful completion of the project, but he refuses to let me break it open until I finish making the glaze. I think he's afraid I'll get too snockered to do it.<br />
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The front pages of the cookbook finally fall off. They'd been hanging by a thread for the last month or so, and finally gave way. I hated to use my real book for all these recipes--I like the way it's still in pristine shape.<br />
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Cheers! Here's to Rose, Rose's Heavenly Cakes, and all the Heavenly Cake Bakers!<br />
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The frozen mousse came out of the mold without a hitch.<br />
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Just a few remaining steps--pour the cooled glaze over the bombe. It seems extra glossy this time.<br />
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I think I'm being unusually careful, but it still turns out that there are a few spots that I've missed. Oh well. If I wanted perfection, I'd pay somebody else to do it. <br />
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There's more waiting until we can cut into the cake and try it. As usual, I'm impatient, and can't wait the full two hours, so the mousse is still a little frozen. If you eat slowly and patiently, there's time for the outer edges to warm up so the mousse is the proper consistency. But it's still delicious even if it's frozen--like a fabulous grown-up fudgsicle. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKV89QX7zzmNU1TMkhnXtiUOFT3xq9UeBSBimueUkLYDgBAVZED6kqifCky9Fj8ta5o9b-Abg1UcyNfBVXLBcCJuop_hXy36QdGUxyKwMlQIxyESRMMGXntca2gfb1lEzg9QA_dqZDEUjX/s1600/05-14-11+Cake+108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKV89QX7zzmNU1TMkhnXtiUOFT3xq9UeBSBimueUkLYDgBAVZED6kqifCky9Fj8ta5o9b-Abg1UcyNfBVXLBcCJuop_hXy36QdGUxyKwMlQIxyESRMMGXntca2gfb1lEzg9QA_dqZDEUjX/s400/05-14-11+Cake+108.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
Wow--what a great cake to end with! Although it's time-consuming, it's really not difficult (transferring the glazed cake to the platter was the hardest thing about it). And such great flavors--the thin layer of cake on the bottom tastes like pure chocolate. The mousse is more subtle, both in flavor and texture; the marriage of blackberries and chocolate is one made in heaven; and the rich cocoa glaze adds a third dimension. It's a good thing I broke my one-piece rule long ago. <br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b>:<br />
Jim: "I like the slight berry taste with the chocolate, and the different chocolate flavors. And it was also very pretty. The glaze stayed shiny without the hair dryer."<br />
Karen: "Really rich, but really, really good."<br />
Woody: "Rapturously good--that means it's uplifting. A fitting finale to two years of baking."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-10644866555773458232011-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:38:43.647-07:00Last Cake, Next CakeI enjoyed reading about your Free Choices when I was in France, and Jenn did a terrific job of keeping the group organized and writing her mid-week roundups. She was prompter than I am this week, I must say.<br />
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The white cupcakes--the last entry from the Baby Cakes chapter--are everything a cupcake should be: tender, not too sweet, and just the right size for biting into. As <a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/05/whie-velvet-butter-cupcakes.html">Lois</a> said, "I wasn't looking forward to this recipe - white cake, white frosting, how special can it be? I could not have been more wrong." <br />
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What made reading your reviews of this "plain white cupcake" so interesting was the variety of frostings you chose. I suggested Rose's Golden Neoclassic Buttercream, or one of the variations thereof, to give you an extra recipe to cross off your list (page 299), but many of you, including <a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/05/white-velvet-cupcakes.html">Jennifer</a>, "rebelled."<br />
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In fact, Jennifer rebelled two ways. She frosted some with a brown sugar buttercream which she found in her freezer and realized, to her horror, that she'd had it sinced 2008! She wasn't that horrified though; she ate it and pronounced it "still pretty good." She frosted the others with lemon curd left over (only from January of this year), and discovered that the freezer had been less kind to the lemon curd than to the buttercream. Moral: eat your lemon curd while it's fresh.<br />
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<a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/05/white-velvet-cupcakes.html">Vicki</a>, on the other hand, was quite obedient, making the Golden Neoclassic Buttercream, which she described as "probably the easiest time I've had making a buttercream." She did flavor hers with lemon oil, which gave it "a faint lemony taste," so I guess she did veer a little from the buttercream straight and narrow.<br />
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<a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/05/rhc-white-velvet-butter-cupcakes-with.html">Nancy B</a>., already in a celebratory mood as she posted her next-to-last cake, covered her cupcakes with colorful sprinkles and baked them in festive orange and yellow cups. She too had good luck with her buttercream, finding that it went "much smoother" than her attempt made earlier in the bake-through. Nancy also noted the efficient symmetry of this recipe: "This cake and frosting is a nice pairing, too, because the cake needs 3 egg whites and the buttercream takes the 3 yolks."<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/05/whie-velvet-butter-cupcakes.html">Lois</a>, who thought the cake would be too plain, had the same opinion about the frosting, but was won over by her "new favorite, golden syrup," which "imparts a sweet, toffee flavor to everything it touches."<br />
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<a href="http://thesugarwaltz.blogspot.com/2011/05/1199-white-velvet-cake-with-milk.html">Jane</a>. our new go-getter baker, who's determined to finish the book in a year, baked Miss Irene's Strawberry Cake along with her white velvet cupcakes (if you're going to pack 90+ recipes in a year, necessity commands you to double up on your cake baking). She topped the cupcakes with milk chocolate ganache. And she's already up to Cake #12!<br />
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<a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/05/hcb-white-velvet-butter-cupcakes.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a> had some Golden Neoclassic Buttercream stashed in her freezer from when she used it to frost Mini Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, so all she had to do was thaw it. With that speedy route to the frosting, and the fact that the cupcakes are on the Q&E list, this became "the fastest cupcake made in Knitty Baker's history." She dolled them up with strawberries--so they don't have the makeshift look that you might expect from the fastest cupcake in history.<br />
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One cake left to bake..., but we have a new baker. (I checked with Jenn, and she said "the more, the merrier). <a href="http://seattlepastrygirl.blogspot.com/2011/05/white-velvet-butter-cupcakes-with.html">Seattle Pastry Girl</a>'s first entry is pretty as a picture, with her swirly frosting and her purple <a href="http://www.fancyflours.com/Quins-Jumbo-Neon-Confetti-3-oz-jar/productinfo/5750BCJN1/">quins</a>. (I had to look it up). Welcome, SPG!<br />
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<b>FEATURED BAKER</b> status goes to <a href="http://breadbabies.blogspot.com/2011/05/heavenly-cake-bakers-white-velvet.html">Katya</a>, even though (or maybe because?) Katya bakes cupcakes even though she doesn't like to eat them. In one short blog post, Katya not only posted a picture of mouth-watering cupcakes topped with apricot buttercream, but she also managed to sneak in two great anecdotes: 1) that the last time she made these cupcakes for a bake sale, it led to a proposal of marriage from some reality TV show construction workers and 2) that her sister "told [her] she was on a health kick, then ate two." For this short and sweet post, Katya wins not only the FEATURED BAKER award, but also the Ernest Hemingway Award for Brevity in Blogging. <br />
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Our next cake is my last cake, and the cake Rose suggested we end with, the famous, or infamous, Zach's La Bomba. It's another of Rose's multiple-component, 7-page recipes (our last one was the Apple Charlotte). The hardest thing to find may be the silicone bombe mold, which does not seem to be made any longer. (I borrowed Woody's). Fortunately, a glass bowl will also work. It didn't occur to me that blackberry or black currant tea would also be hard to find. When I heard rumblings about it being inaccessible, I checked out some grocery stores--sure enough, it wasn't available in either one. If I can't find it, I think I'll just make a cup of black tea and let a few blackberries steep in it.<br />
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DON'T FORGET--THE MOUSSE MUST BE MADE AND FROZEN AT LEAST 8 HOURS AHEAD!<br />
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Although this will be my last cake, wonderful Jenn, aka Knitty Baker, will carry on. I believe she has 20-some cakes to make before she's done, and I think her plan will be to include fairly frequent free choices, since the participants aren't all going to have the same cakes left to bake. If you plan to continue participating, please leave a comment to that effect, or let Jenn know.<br />
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Here are a few pictures from our trip to France. Jim took thousands--literally--of pictures, and I've culled a few from the thousands. My feelings won't be hurt if you don't want to look at someone else's vacation photos.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUUwM6q_BZyvcpQ3_8vCQzhYwF-3Bda3RfyS8QjiUmiyqZsNk000ACZML_4X0RVYgQb2cYsMGLZxUD1Fa_-DI-FKOr2Or0f2oJPW6zNfymFfLyrjMKAGgSQ0-jeQisL4YcFATf9nfr-OV/s1600/04-22-11+France+25.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUUwM6q_BZyvcpQ3_8vCQzhYwF-3Bda3RfyS8QjiUmiyqZsNk000ACZML_4X0RVYgQb2cYsMGLZxUD1Fa_-DI-FKOr2Or0f2oJPW6zNfymFfLyrjMKAGgSQ0-jeQisL4YcFATf9nfr-OV/s400/04-22-11+France+25.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>Our back yard in Brittany.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXB5CQdw9Zn1NOCOU74vDfT-Y6r98g_KFUv_w6ec8tQLQH1nWbEfL_KJFyzkx9nEMhyphenhyphenWIDjoJe1oQNkF-Bz1cE840QKXiTg85Dq_0yGjEFgfyvdIiVH222BgPhaNfTKh7mZh9UT8lFmrAk/s1600/04-25-11+France+81.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXB5CQdw9Zn1NOCOU74vDfT-Y6r98g_KFUv_w6ec8tQLQH1nWbEfL_KJFyzkx9nEMhyphenhyphenWIDjoJe1oQNkF-Bz1cE840QKXiTg85Dq_0yGjEFgfyvdIiVH222BgPhaNfTKh7mZh9UT8lFmrAk/s400/04-25-11+France+81.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>Flowers are everywhere...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ezAW3IG0WktQKkut8QW3R9snfG2XxBGlg-8IpW8re6zjpk-3GcGszCl-gf5Ax6cVRzaPj7uiuN-_WXStGvCXTMhaE-H94C17QJHC7yhFMjRM8Z0qZLXTWdPJz3MTaNbAgUGBOiU9EDtu/s1600/04-27-11+France+129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ezAW3IG0WktQKkut8QW3R9snfG2XxBGlg-8IpW8re6zjpk-3GcGszCl-gf5Ax6cVRzaPj7uiuN-_WXStGvCXTMhaE-H94C17QJHC7yhFMjRM8Z0qZLXTWdPJz3MTaNbAgUGBOiU9EDtu/s400/04-27-11+France+129.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>Dinner after market day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBBPle0oP_iAl3zvPmBlD-TLfgUrQ3Z5ah15uhv44h_cjD5BhFB3Znz7mvzPvTuwnFM5wxxo_Oh1vg4t57zY-CwqHwWeWb_tIxSJcPlUvIS1mJtvXqapoaH9uQU3EJoux7mIwe708oH9D/s1600/04-29-11+France+04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBBPle0oP_iAl3zvPmBlD-TLfgUrQ3Z5ah15uhv44h_cjD5BhFB3Znz7mvzPvTuwnFM5wxxo_Oh1vg4t57zY-CwqHwWeWb_tIxSJcPlUvIS1mJtvXqapoaH9uQU3EJoux7mIwe708oH9D/s400/04-29-11+France+04.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>The house between the rocks.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPArzN4U1jH2_TegMO1OJH_pTf8zvvyt58b2GhgQDecr7n90yqzDosm840dz3qCoF-hd2GEuWZhKLyhLBhdC9JyfmZZD8KxB4sOuzVQsAIbCScxFKmMvJPgArkJ9rHNMxCCEvQwHI1Rgtr/s1600/05-02-11+France+08.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPArzN4U1jH2_TegMO1OJH_pTf8zvvyt58b2GhgQDecr7n90yqzDosm840dz3qCoF-hd2GEuWZhKLyhLBhdC9JyfmZZD8KxB4sOuzVQsAIbCScxFKmMvJPgArkJ9rHNMxCCEvQwHI1Rgtr/s400/05-02-11+France+08.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>In the window of a Paris Chocolatier: 37 euros for this wedding souvenir!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubyooWOg8DyL29e6WWmsSzBj6QXpYoP2p4tGiw5uB_bv-ehFsrc5Rg-Ba0vq35tiJjqKI9UVt6geVAkt6g1wYs_EzlklyA5UZGrYGWAlm1F4X00ytiUf0ivs-h9XaJpzBaJx2PO16rMWU/s1600/05-03-11+France+23.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubyooWOg8DyL29e6WWmsSzBj6QXpYoP2p4tGiw5uB_bv-ehFsrc5Rg-Ba0vq35tiJjqKI9UVt6geVAkt6g1wYs_EzlklyA5UZGrYGWAlm1F4X00ytiUf0ivs-h9XaJpzBaJx2PO16rMWU/s400/05-03-11+France+23.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>Pierre Herme's shop (you're not allowed to take pictures inside)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmoAOKh5FCRPfLcMaK8uetDDPSuwJS4-yWK19xlBnSJ9QrW3Z9Cl09N1gbEZKhMqZ94cZuTOnQ3ic-m-LrFBplOhdnyO2QSIJO_WJv2MkzvaWImb8iUW4u9hyphenhyphenjRe4VWNG9yiqwPYJEEhT/s1600/05-03-11+France+33.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmoAOKh5FCRPfLcMaK8uetDDPSuwJS4-yWK19xlBnSJ9QrW3Z9Cl09N1gbEZKhMqZ94cZuTOnQ3ic-m-LrFBplOhdnyO2QSIJO_WJv2MkzvaWImb8iUW4u9hyphenhyphenjRe4VWNG9yiqwPYJEEhT/s400/05-03-11+France+33.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>A little Pierre Herme snack.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeVFRas4XQcbmthERPG5b9VkM_nr6lqHQDHzJZXpQdwRlMjuCR9LqKR4X_D8K-GU7Fj0dn7PeD3UmzSD45nl5NMCk05KqC3d1zRJP67fcQN1f9_2uocP0DVy4IzrvweKCV9DNSyO7yB0g/s1600/05-03-11+France+64.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeVFRas4XQcbmthERPG5b9VkM_nr6lqHQDHzJZXpQdwRlMjuCR9LqKR4X_D8K-GU7Fj0dn7PeD3UmzSD45nl5NMCk05KqC3d1zRJP67fcQN1f9_2uocP0DVy4IzrvweKCV9DNSyO7yB0g/s400/05-03-11+France+64.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div>Poilane Boulangerie.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-88564796397712514672011-05-08T19:50:00.000-07:002011-05-08T19:50:13.739-07:00White Velvet Butter Cupcakes with Raspberry Neoclassic Buttercream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ysUqixgYI44MFtsNSzBF8-wSnblPtq9IC6YU468ad2KYB5noqzELztmHCJBkfzLL74EwCFlr_Ibhj_v5O2mX8007OMFUc9ao6xDT2NuaxstwrkSBaOrSfsPwhrSUH-9yf7fO2u0g4jeG/s1600/05-08-11+Cake+44.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ysUqixgYI44MFtsNSzBF8-wSnblPtq9IC6YU468ad2KYB5noqzELztmHCJBkfzLL74EwCFlr_Ibhj_v5O2mX8007OMFUc9ao6xDT2NuaxstwrkSBaOrSfsPwhrSUH-9yf7fO2u0g4jeG/s400/05-08-11+Cake+44.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
This little cupcake with its decadent frosting was the perfect treat to counter the wonderful French pastries we've been eating for the last two weeks! The all-American cupcake, light, rich, and buttery, can hold its own against any <i>mille feuille</i> or <i>macaron</i>. And the buttercream! Made with French butter, this fantastic icing could make a Frenchman bid adieu to <i>creme Chantilly</i>!<br />
Well, that might be an exaggeration, but the Buttercream Framboise is pretty darned good (as we say in Minnesota).<br />
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I got some very cute tulip parchment liners from <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/tulip-muffin-papers-brown-set-of-24">King Arthur</a>. Mine are brown and gold. Apparently you can make them yourself because they're just squares of parchment, but that didn't occur to me, so I bought them.<br />
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The cupcakes are so simple to make that there are no process pictures to speak of. Just add butter to flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; then mix in egg whites, milk, and vanilla. I usually buy whole milk for cooking, but I only had skim milk. It worked fine, and allowed me to convince myself that I was baking low-fat cupcakes.<br />
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I should have been worried about the buttercream, but I somehow knew that it would work out, as it did. I spent about ten minutes letting the Lyle's Golden Syrup drip out of the jar until I got exactly 85 grams. Jim was sure I'd have to open another jar, and I was equally sure that I wouldn't. Stubbornness won out. Drip by drip, I got my 85 grams.<br />
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This is my <a href="http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=319534">Isigny butter</a> from Normandy. I got it on sale before I left for France. If I were being true to Brittany, where I just vacationed, I should have bought its famous butter, which is excellent, but it's the only butter in France that's salted. I wanted unsalted butter, so I had to go to Normandy. But if you want delicious caramels made with salted butter, you should go to Brittany post-haste. <br />
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The last time I made this buttercream with butter, egg yolks, and Lyle's Golden Syrup, it turned out very yellow, and it confused people, who expected it to be lemon. I decided I'd head that confusion off by adding raspberry puree, but the frosting, without raspberries, turned out to be creamy-looking, rather than lemon yellow. I don't think it would have been confusing, but I added the raspberries anyhow.<br />
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And then, dear readers, I got out my piping equipment. Yes. Those of you who have followed my adventures in cakedom know that I have always hated piping, decorating, and anything that might come from Michael's. But apparently I've had a sudden change of personality, because my piping bag started calling to me.<br />
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Top each frosted cupcake with a single red raspberry. It's as pretty as anything you'd see in Paris. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_cnVJYFnl9J8F1zBfcVKtCEDA9sIrAMZmDoXa7H5-kvqv8T8vmByl6LYekKxm2RLi-4_5rqzMtBPtUcuzE6OHSMXHngkQRwc8RNfitMuDcOqrLEKoC_JN0wLBnCwtIDgdgqzdhPHFG-6/s1600/05-08-11+Cake+40.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_cnVJYFnl9J8F1zBfcVKtCEDA9sIrAMZmDoXa7H5-kvqv8T8vmByl6LYekKxm2RLi-4_5rqzMtBPtUcuzE6OHSMXHngkQRwc8RNfitMuDcOqrLEKoC_JN0wLBnCwtIDgdgqzdhPHFG-6/s400/05-08-11+Cake+40.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ70VQBcTCfBZeIQL2k1xqc9T0QJNur_F15rtPUcHIJJpdEQKBk38EIEsO5QtRdrMUQDeLIzBlce0y7hyphenhyphenIGmoBSZ89GoSGml_l-WJ-xw3_X3-ULAqjW8XptOYvMcJoWzGWyqVU-1thGhQ/s1600/05-08-11+Cake+41.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ70VQBcTCfBZeIQL2k1xqc9T0QJNur_F15rtPUcHIJJpdEQKBk38EIEsO5QtRdrMUQDeLIzBlce0y7hyphenhyphenIGmoBSZ89GoSGml_l-WJ-xw3_X3-ULAqjW8XptOYvMcJoWzGWyqVU-1thGhQ/s400/05-08-11+Cake+41.JPG" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
And not just pretty, but tasty too! The cupcake's crumb is lovely--soft and delicate; and the taste is pure. <br />
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I was going to give all these cupcakes away today, but I'm having a dinner party tomorrow. I've already planned chocolate pots de creme as dessert, but I'm going to offer a plate of cupcakes too: a dual dessert party. Who can complain about that? Not Jim or I, the only people who have tasted them so far. We both loved the delicious flavor and crunchy edges of the cupcake, and the tart smoothness of the buttercream. I think these cupcakes can hold their own, even against chocolate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-53145433501095021242011-04-20T13:18:00.000-07:002011-04-20T13:18:22.204-07:00Last Cake, Next CakeI don't know whether we have a large contingent of coconut-haters, or whether people were feeling buttercream fear, or whether nobody could find coconut extract--whatever the reason, the turnout for the Southern (Manhattan) Coconut Cake with Silk Meringue Buttercream was a little sparse. Those who persevered, however, were rewarded with a showstopper of a cake--the kind that makes people gasp (really!) when they see it. And I think almost everyone substituted something, so--as we should know by now--a missing ingredient or two never stopped a determined baker.<br />
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Last week <a href="http://bakedtoorder.blogspot.com/2011/04/heavenly-cake-baker-southern-coconut.html">Alice</a> just got an honorable mention in the mid-week roundup because she'd baked the wrong cake. This week, the wrong cake turns into the right cake, so we learn that she substituted chocolate ganache for the silk meringue buttercream. The cake was good, and the ganache was good; but she concluded, "I should have listened to the professional because once it set up, the ganache was way too heavy for the tender crumb of the coconut cake." Alice, where is your Tomboy?! You don't want to miss that cake.<br />
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<a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/04/southern-manhattan-coconut-cake-with.html">Jennifer</a>, who describes this as a "furry yellow cake," did almost everything by the book except that she substituted Baker's coconut for the shredded unsweetened stuff that was supposed to be in the frosting. Also, and more daring, she didn't mix the coconut in the frosting because she thought it would make it hard to frost (how right you were)--she just sprinkled it all over the icing.<br />
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<a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/04/southern-manhattan-coconut-cake.html">Vicki</a> found a creative way of compromising with the people in her house who don't like coconut. She filled and topped the layers with the coconut buttercream, sans shredded coconut, and served that to the coconut-haters. She toasted coconut for the coconut lovers, and sprinkled that on the individual slices. She "doesn't much trust [herself]" around this cake.<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/04/southern-coconut-cake-with-silk.html">Lois</a> couldn't find coconut extract and the only kind of dried coconut they have in her Polish groceries is dessicated coconut. She didn't let that stop her--she tried to rehydrate the dried coconut, but got most of the coconut flavor from the coconut milk, which she did manage to find. <br />
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Monica, as dedicated a photographer as she is a cook, wanted to take pictures of her coconut cake in natural light, so she left a note on the cake threatening poor Tom with certain death if he dared to cut into the cake, or even touch it, until she could get back home and take photographs. Fortunately the pictures were taken, the cake eaten, and no one died. Like Jennifer, Monica omitted the coconut from the frosting and sprinkled it atop. <br />
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<a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/04/rhc-southern-manhattan-coconut-cake.html">Nancy B.</a> managed to locate "the elusive coconut extract," and baked hers in cupcake form. Opinions on the cake were mixed, depending mostly on how people liked coconut. As Nancy said, "Do you realize how many people have an aversion to coconut?" In exciting news, Nancy said that if she makes two different cakes on the Free Choice weeks, and blogs about the one cake that she has already baked but hasn't written about, she will finish at the same time I do. Yay for us!<br />
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<a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/04/southern-manhattan-coconut-cake-two.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a> went off in a different direction. She's already made the cake once, so she decided she'd try Hector's recipe for coconut curd, and combine that with whipped cream for her cupcake frosting. She topped the cupcakes with some curd, and then stirred the rest into whipped cream for the frosting. Then she decorated the whole thing with toasted shredded coconut. "Hubby loves it and said it's very coconut-y. I'm not a big fan of coconut dessert myself, but this one is really good."<br />
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I'm not sure I've ever made a brand new HCBer a <b>FEATURED BAKER</b>, but I'm making an exception for <a href="http://thesugarwaltz.blogspot.com/2011/04/699-southern-manhattan-coconut-cake.html">Jane</a>. No, this is not because her cake looks so delicious (although it does), or because she has such a happy smile in the picture of her standing by her KitchenAid (although she does), but because she's decided to make all the cakes in <i>Rose's Heavenly Cakes</i> in one year! And she's already made six--the latest being the Coconut Cake. It's a good thing Jenn is keeping this Bake Through going! <br />
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Speaking of that, Jenn has volunteered to keep the "Last Cake, Next Cake" feature going for the next few weeks when I'm out of town. If I can get an IPad connection, I'll be checking out her LCNC myself. I love to see what everyone bakes. Check <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/">Jenn's website mid-week</a> and see what she's got posted. Just go to the right side of the page, and look for "Knitty Baker."<br />
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Finally, if you get the Hallmark channel where you live, be sure to watch <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/marthatv">Martha Stewart's show</a> on Friday. Rose is her special guest, and will be showing Martha how to make the whipped cream cake. It should be interesting to see these two dynamite women together! By the way, there are lots of Martha Stewart slots on the Hallmark channel, so be sure that you get the right one. It's scheduled to air between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. EDT, but it's on at noon in the Minneapolis area. I've got it set to record, and Woody and I are going to watch it when I get back from France. Hanaa, do you want to see it too?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-78547330084431462011-04-17T19:39:00.000-07:002011-04-17T19:39:10.308-07:00Southern (Manhattan) Coconut Cake with Silk Meringue Buttercream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmk4iZIAnOgF3xJfO9O6j7Ds9UQtrZ046Nz1LepZ-__JMlL2TUm0rKxvC6fWLCqzT0cTF6NyInn3OMm_vAhQ6-7BA7EZT9P56N_BmA9NijLBbk4MgZpxs_2Sg4f7rL-UAPNsx96fnj1enW/s1600/04-17-11+Cake+46.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmk4iZIAnOgF3xJfO9O6j7Ds9UQtrZ046Nz1LepZ-__JMlL2TUm0rKxvC6fWLCqzT0cTF6NyInn3OMm_vAhQ6-7BA7EZT9P56N_BmA9NijLBbk4MgZpxs_2Sg4f7rL-UAPNsx96fnj1enW/s400/04-17-11+Cake+46.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Jim is usually pretty good-natured about following me around the kitchen with his camera, and cleaning up the kitchen too. Today he said, "I love Rose's cakes, but they use too many hard-to-find ingredients and use way too many pans!" His relative grumbliness may have been because the ingredients and pans were for a coconut cake, and coconut is on his list of foods he does not like to eat. Along with cilantro and avocado. But he had to admit that this cake turned out to be a beauty.<br />
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I have gradually figured out the obvious: the cakes themselves are never difficult. It's just the level of folderol that goes along with the cakes that makes them hard--that, and tracking down the necessary ingredients or pans. In this case, once I had the egg whites separated and weighed, and the coconut milk whisked together, the cake almost made itself.<br />
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The only thing that was hard to find for the cake itself was the coconut extract--it must be natural, not fake! I couldn't find any natural coconut extract, so I settled on the expensive fake stuff, which smelled much better than the cheaper fake stuff.<br />
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The cakes came out of the oven before 11:00, and I thought maybe I'd be done with the whole thing by noon. Of course, that was optimistic. Maybe delusional.<br />
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On to the first component of the frosting: the coconut-flavored creme anglaise. Not difficult--just a matter of cooking egg yolks with hot coconut milk (something that would never occur to me to do on my own).<br />
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The creme anglaise needs to cool. Should I put it in the refrigerator and start in on component #2, the Italian meringue? Or should I have another cup of coffee and work on the crossword? Those choices are why I never finish the cakes before noon. Also, I just made an Italian meringue last week, and they always make me hold my breath.<br />
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The last bit of sugar syrup hardened before I could pour it into the meringue, so I microwaved it to get it to pouring consistency. I discovered that if you heat it for more than a few seconds, it crystallizes into a lump that is definitely not pouring consistency. Luckily, as I've discovered many times before, Rose's recipes, precise as they are, allow for errors.<br />
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Is there really a pound of butter in the buttercream? Along with the half-pound in the cake? When did I start keeping spare pounds of butter in the freezer for such exigencies? <br />
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The coconut creme anglaise is much runnier than I thought it would be, and the whole mixture starts to curdle. But now I know that buttercream often goes through a curdling stage, so I ignore it, and, sure enough, it smooths out. I could not find frozen coconut. I used a finely grated unsweetened coconut, but it tasted very bland, so I supplemented it with ordinary Angel Flake coconut. <br />
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With all the added coconut, the smooth and creamy buttercream became difficult to manage. I banned Jim from taking more photographs of my struggles with icing. It took me a long time to finish, but I finally decided it was good enough. I topped the cake (and tried to side it) with some coconut chips that Woody gave me months ago. <br />
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This seems like a cake to have for a baby shower, or a big summer party. It's pretty, and festive, and very good. I wish I'd been able to find the frozen coconut, and the natural coconut extract, but I think the pound and a half of butter may have disguised any sub-par ingredients. The Southern (Manhattan) cake went over well in Southern (Minneapolis).<br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b>:<br />
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Jim: "I like the cake, but I still don't like the coconut texture. The really finely grated stuff is okay, but I don't like the big chips. I know you had issues with the frosting, but it turned out looking great."<br />
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Karen: "I like the cake's texture. It's somehow meatier than some of the other cakes--not so delicate. It's not heavy, but not too light either. It's one of my favorites, and I've tasted a lot of them. Also, I want to go on record as saying this is a gorgeous cake."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-4843537507748206002011-04-13T15:09:00.000-07:002011-04-13T15:09:58.575-07:00Last Cake, Next CakeWe were all crazy about our little Tomboys. I don't know why I waited so long to put this on the baking list, but all I want to do now is bake it again. And I'm not the only one.<br />
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According to <a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/04/miettes-tomboy-with-vanilla-mousseline.html">Lois</a>, this is "without a doubt the best chocolate cake in the book." (And that's really saying something).<br />
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Likewise, <a href="http://passionatepastry.blogspot.com/2011/04/heavenly-cake-bakers-miettes-tomboy.html">Shandy</a> thought it was "the perfect size dessert and one of the BEST chocolate cakes I have yet baked."<br />
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<a href="http://www.eatsndrinks.ca/2011/04/11/miettes-tomboy/">Kristina</a> "absolutely loved this cake. Soft, fudgey, moist, and delicious. The mousseline’s not necessarily my favourite buttercream, but it compliments this cake well. This is definitely on the “will bake again” list. I might just have to see how it does in a larger size for a party cake, too."<br />
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The cake was a "big hit" to <a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/04/rhc-miette-tomboy.html">Nancy</a>'s group of tasters: "lovely chocolate flavor, very moist, no criticisms there."<br />
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<a href="http://lolasartisticendeavors.blogspot.com/2011/04/roses-miettes-tomboy.html">Lola</a> made it for a ladies' lunch, and described it as "a lovely cake which is delicate and full of flavor at the same time.... [I]t was delicious and a perfectly charming cake to serve to my girlfriends."<br />
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<a href="http://yjdesserts.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/miettes-tomboy/">Raymond</a> pronounced the Tomboy "rich, dense and moist with an intense chocolate flavor and it keeps well for several days without getting dry." It's a "little gem." <br />
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But Raymond was more "on the fence" about the vanilla mousseline, which proved problematic for some bakers. It wasn't that Raymond had problems making the mousseline. "All worked out fine." But, although he thought it was "delicious," he also thought it didn't deliver "that hit of vanilla flavor I was looking for." Next time, he promised to use vanilla sugar and a vanilla bean as well as the vanilla extract and hopefully that will give me the vanilla flavor that I am after to pair with this intense chocolate cake."<br />
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Things did not go perfectly in the mousseline department for <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/04/rhc-miette-tomboy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a> and <a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/04/miettes-tomboy.html">Jennifer</a>. In fact, they both despaired at times of ever coming up with an edible frosting. Read their posts for how not to give up on frosting, even when it's curdling, separating, and all the other sins that mousseline is heir to. It even drove Jenn to ladylike cursing: "$*%&^ $&#*%&!"<br />
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In the end, though, they were both successful. Jennifer described hers as "a delicious cake with an intriguing mixing process, bold in flavor and moist as they come with a silky, buttery, vanilla frosting. This Tomboy is welcome in my house anytime." And Jenn "felt really good to have a successful mousseline." Not to mention the fact that the cake is "so moist and chocolate-y. This chocolate cake is now one of my favorites in the book" (This is starting to sound like a theme, isn't it?)<br />
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By the way, we were all curious about the technique for making this cake, which is unlike any of the other cakes in the book. Any scientists out there care to explain why it works?<br />
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<a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/04/miettes-birthday-baby.html">Vicki </a>may not know why it worked, but she knows that it does, and that it's a great cake for your grandchild's birthday. And that is why she's our FEATURED BAKER this week. Not only did she make the Tomboy for her youngest granddaughter's first birthday (adapted somewhat for a little one who doesn't tolerate much dairy), but she also baked up an orange chiffon and a whipped cream cake. Rose's cakes have never been presented with so many sprinkles. As Vicki says, "Here's the best review of Rose's cakes: the kids at the party loved them all. Kids can't be fooled." <br />
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Honorable mention to <a href="http://bakedtoorder.blogspot.com/2011/04/heavenly-cake-baker-southern-coconut.html">Alice</a> and to <a href="http://theamateurbaker.blogspot.com/2011/04/devils-food-cake-with-midnight-ganache.html">Faithy</a>, who both baked from the book but were on somewhat different schedules. Alice thought we were baking the coconut cake this week--if you want to preview that, check out her blog. And Faithy thought it was time for her to make the Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache. <br />
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Finally, <a href="http://whiskedandstirred.blogspot.com/2011/04/blogging-hiatus.html">Maria</a> will be missing from action for a while. She is looking forward to being a "bionic blogger" after her hip replacement. Have a speedy and uneventful recovery!<br />
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Our next cake before my own two-week hiatus is the Southern (Manhattan) Coconut Cake with Silk Meringue Buttercream. This, like Miette's Tomboy, has intrigued me since I first laid hands on the cookbook, but it somehow never made it in the rotation before now. This is a nine-inch layer cake, so it's going to feed a crowd. Lucky you if you've got egg whites in the freezer--the cake takes six of them. No worries if you don't, however, because the butercream takes five yolks (and two more whites).<br />
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The cake calls for several different coconut flavors: canned coconut milk for both the cake and the frosting, coconut extract for both cake and frosting; oiptional <a href="http://www.superglossary.com/Definition/Liquor/Coco_Ribe.html">CocoRibe</a>, and fresh or frozen coconut. Rose recommends fresh or frozen coconut so the frosting won't be too sweet. You can also sometimes find packaged unsweetened coconut at the grocery store, and I imagine that would do in a pinch. <br />
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We are going to France for two weeks, first <a href="http://www.maisondegranit.com/">staying in Brittany</a>, and then finishing up in Paris. While I'm gone, Jenn has volunteered to write the "Last Cake, Next Cake" summaries. Thanks, Jenn!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-8179880775116326842011-04-11T17:15:00.000-07:002011-04-11T17:15:58.815-07:00Miette's Tomboy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2DH7k2sxuEAcV8sM9c_Jc9QnLLf-I5_835m4teFBLr2AZbdG5zMqz502iy7gxLNfOz01LevAF5xJ0irmTJ86RJ3PTn_DXHRJyoKit4CqVZQE4wDkndRcxVO_Ztz9wSV98NDkZR1APrdU/s1600/04-10-11+Cake+39.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR2DH7k2sxuEAcV8sM9c_Jc9QnLLf-I5_835m4teFBLr2AZbdG5zMqz502iy7gxLNfOz01LevAF5xJ0irmTJ86RJ3PTn_DXHRJyoKit4CqVZQE4wDkndRcxVO_Ztz9wSV98NDkZR1APrdU/s400/04-10-11+Cake+39.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I want this to become my signature cake. I don't want anyone to think of it as "Miette's Tomboy," (sorry Miette), but as "that chocolate cake that Marie makes." This is, I think, the best chocolate cake in the book so far, and if anyone complains that it's dry, I'll think that they live in an alternative universe where "dry" means "moist and delicious."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUE1gLZEXSWtMiE7c5cX965kmk1PcjuwjzwImoPVoNQM1NQ6YzLs_ulet_zCIDDk7DcD2KRL8A_GQ5Xro6JdIAwGr4YDp4ZauuFDUEb4XZFPwdBxpdrlDYV3ERd6y4YHKoxOhf88G7M21x/s1600/04-10-11+Cake+04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUE1gLZEXSWtMiE7c5cX965kmk1PcjuwjzwImoPVoNQM1NQ6YzLs_ulet_zCIDDk7DcD2KRL8A_GQ5Xro6JdIAwGr4YDp4ZauuFDUEb4XZFPwdBxpdrlDYV3ERd6y4YHKoxOhf88G7M21x/s400/04-10-11+Cake+04.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
In most of Rose's chocolate cake recipes, the chocolate taste comes from cocoa melted in water. In this recipe, there's cocoa, but it's mixed in with the other dry ingredients, and an additional shot of chocolate comes from semisweet chocolate melted in water, and added to the egg, oil (no butter in this cake) and buttermilk. <br />
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Everything mixes up into a thick, shiny, glossy batter.<br />
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And the finished cakes are also dark and glossy. I used two 6 x 2-inch pans, mostly because I couldn't find a pan that was three inches deep. I was very pleased to have two layers and not to have to cut the thick cake into three layers, so I was just as happy my search hadn't been successful.<br />
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After the cakes cooled, there were no more excuses for putting off making the mousseline. There are plenty of bad things that can happen when you make mousseline, and I'm proud to say that I've now been baking cakes long enough that most of them have happened to me: curdling, separating, texture too thin, texture too thick, etc.<br />
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None of those things happened today, perhaps because I actually used my Thermapen to make sure everything was around 70 degrees.<br />
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Butter softened (and refrigerated until it was 70 degrees).<br />
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Egg whites beaten to stiff-peak stage.<br />
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Sugar syrup heated to 248 degrees and poured into the meringue. I was explaining this frosting to someone, and she asked if I was making candy or frosting. It's hard to explain this whole hoo-ha over buttercream to a non-baker. Anyway, every step went smoothly--smoothly enough that I was inspired to get my cake decorating kit, such as it is, to attempt the decoration.<br />
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I didn't have a #26 tip, but I figured what I had was good enough. This prompted Jim to start his ode to Hanaa's cake decorating abilities: "You should have seen her, Sarah. She really knows what she's doing. She's so fast and and skillful--it's just fun to watch her." Sarah said, "Uh, dad, maybe you should tell mom she's doing a good job." "Oh right, great job, Marie. Like I was saying about Hanaa...." Sarah kicked Jim under the table and he quieted down. I was baking the cake for her birthday, and I think she saw her happy family gathering deteriorating before her eyes.<br />
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I'll be the first (maybe the second) to say my piping's not as good as Hanaa's, but remember this is my first attempt. And if you looked at the cake at just the right angle (unfortunately not the angle that any pictures were taken at), you'd say it didn't look half bad. <br />
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With a pink candle and a pink rose, it was enough to make Sarah happy, and that was good enough for me. <br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b>:<br />
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Sarah: "So good. The vanilla adds a fantastic flavor to the icing. One of the best cakes I've ever had, and I'm saying that without hyperbole."<br />
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Jim: "I love the nice deep chocolate flavor and color of the cake."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-37956748139983056082011-04-06T14:58:00.000-07:002011-04-06T14:58:46.111-07:00Last Cake, Next CakeThe Karmel Cake. Is it a true Plain Jane that has no business being in a cookbook that features the likes of the Chocolate Apricot Roll with Lacquer Glaze or the Pumpkin Cake with Burnt Orange Buttercream? Or is it the ugly duckling that turns out to be a beautiful swan? That is the question the Heavenly Cake Bakers answered last week.<br />
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I thought that the ingenious Bakers might look askance at this single-layer unadorned cake and would find some ways to prettify it. But most people kept it simple.<br />
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<a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/04/hcb-karmel-cake.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a>, however, couldn't quite resist finding some way to make it cute, so she used her new butterfly cakelet pan. The little butterfly cakes are cute all right, although they pretty much refused to budge out of the pan. Also, Jenn's husband decided they had a "weird" taste, so the Karmel cake, cute or no, may not be repeated there.<br />
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<a href="http://lolasartisticendeavors.blogspot.com/2011/04/roses-karmel-cake.html">Lola's</a> husband also failed to rave about the cake. He said it was "okay, but he has preferred other cakes that I have made." <br />
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This less-than-enthusiastic reaction was decidedly a minority view, however.<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/04/karmel-cake-with-coffee-cream.html">Lois</a>, for example, found nothing "plain about the finished product," and (after making two cupcakes for home consumption) sent it with her husband to his workplace, where it was devoured in record time.<br />
<a href="http://www.eatsndrinks.ca/2011/04/04/karmel-cake/"><br />
Kristina</a> sent hers to work for the same reason. When she asked her husband whether to leave the cake at home or take it to work, he said, “Take it to work. If you keep it here, I’ll eat it and get fat.” <br />
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<a href="http://yjdesserts.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/karmel-cake/">Raymond</a> was ecstatic about the cake: "The rich and butter taste of the caramel really shines through here and every mouthful is an explosion of rich and mellow caramel flavor. No tame flower this, but a full flavored gutsy cake with a nice crumb and a strong structure to back it up. You will definitely savor every bite of this cake."<br />
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As was <a href="http://breadbabies.blogspot.com/2011/04/heavenly-cake-bakers-unadorned.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FEkbUr+%28Second+Dinner%29">Katya</a>, who loved the cake's "unadorned simplicity." "I considered dressing up this cake for the camera, but I decided that its rigorous simplicity demanded simple presentation. We ate it just like this, and it was complete in itself. The Karmel Cake, which is also a caramel cake, is a butter cake made with a milk/brown-sugar caramel in the batter, which gives it a subtle depth of flavor and a crunchy brown crust."<br />
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<a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/04/karmel-cake.html">Jennifer</a> added this to her "List of Cakes that are Good for Breakfast," which I must say sounds like a very useful list to have. She added, "This lovely caramel cake was a snap to prepare, and just as easy to eat. It had a lovely moist, soft crumb, with the caramelly flavors taking this cake further down the road of awesome than my beloved yellow butter cake." Cakes that are "Further down the road of awesome" would also make a good list.<br />
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In fact, some people weren't even planning to make the cake because of its plainness. When M<a href="http://www.sweetbitesblog.com/journal/2011/4/4/hcb-karmel-cake.html">onica</a>, for instance, saw the recipe, she wasn't "wowed" by it at all. But after eating it, (and eating it some more), she decided that "hidden in its simplicity ... is a stand out cake. It does not even need frosting or cream or anything - ...I recommend to eat it plain because sometimes plain is good for the soul - this is one of those times."<br />
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<a href="http://theamateurbaker.blogspot.com/2011/04/karmel-cake.html">Faithy</a> wasn't planning to make it either. (Full disclosure: her change of heart may have had something to do with a veiled threat about Woody chasing her down with his tai chi sword). She was glad she did, because "even with my slightly burnt caramel bits, the cake turned out great." <br />
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People loved the caramel taste; if anything, they would have preferred more caramel. <a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/04/rhc-karmel-cake.html">Nancy</a> would have liked a punchier caramel flavor, though she thought the cake was "nice and moist," and her nephew called it a "really excellent" cake. Nancy would like to experiment with the sugar, maybe trying the recommended Muscovado. (I think Hanaa's insistence on using dark brown sugar may be contagious.)<br />
<a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/04/karmel-cake.html"><br />
Vicki</a> loved it, but also thought the caramel flavor was a little mild: "If there was a way to ramp it up even more, I'd definitely go for it." She recommends Haagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream (melting) as a perfect accompaniment.<br />
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None of you will be surprised to hear that <a href="http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/04/hcb-karmel-cake.html">Hanaâ</a> is this week's <b>FEATURED BAKER</b>. I can't tell you how much I admire her fearless attitude toward baking. "Let's pipe 'Happy Birthday Rose' on the cake!" is just one of her many spur-of-the-moment ideas. And her curiosity knows no bounds. Unlike some people (yours truly, for example), who just want to turn out an edible product and stave off disaster, Hanaâ wants to know how everything works. And then she wants to improve it. She is also warm and fun and supportive.<br />
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Our next two weeks are also butter layer cakes. When we finish the coconut cake, we'll have completed with the "Butter and Oil Cakes" chapter. <br />
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Miette's Tomboy is a smallish cake. It calls for one 6 x 3-inch round pan. These are not easy to find. Fortunately, you have the option of using two 6 by 2-inch pans, which is what I'm planning to do. If you do this option, the cake "will be slightly less dense and fudgy." But I can live with that. If you don't think that the purpose of the flower nail is to make a chiffon layer cake, you can probably duplicate the pretty pink rose that's in the center of the cake. Otherwise, you can eat it without a rose.<br />
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The Southern (Manhattan) Coconut Cake is, on the other hand, a largish cake--it serves 16 to 20. Unless you're planning to cut the recipe in half, or even less, this would be a good cake to take to the office--or offer up at the end of a big party. This cake doesn't just require packaged coconut--it's supposed to have fresh or thawed and towel-dried frozen coconut. I've never seen frozen coconut in a grocery store. In the other hand, I've never looked. The buttercream also calls for CocoRibe, but since it's optional, I think I'm going to ignore it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-63633781219162503992011-04-03T16:43:00.000-07:002011-04-03T16:43:47.709-07:00Karmel Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SI7MUkSsxfrIjoyO-_Y0WoysvO7gDPLCqJSz2NBjT-ti_qd11SAzuDilE2d0VS8MUNajYyueJ04YO591y_25moYdrpgQmHvjnsBCiWuUTp0KaUGaqsxdxwNlbbrAqYWrynyVvjW9WATn/s1600/04-02-11+Cake+57.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SI7MUkSsxfrIjoyO-_Y0WoysvO7gDPLCqJSz2NBjT-ti_qd11SAzuDilE2d0VS8MUNajYyueJ04YO591y_25moYdrpgQmHvjnsBCiWuUTp0KaUGaqsxdxwNlbbrAqYWrynyVvjW9WATn/s640/04-02-11+Cake+57.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
If you've checked Rose's blog recently, you know that she had a birthday, so when the Minnesota Three (Hanaâ, Woody, and me) got together for our recent Bake-a-Thon, we knew we had to turn the Karmel Cake into a birthday cake. Fortunately, Hanaa is an ace cake decorator; otherwise, the cake might have looked a little sad.<br />
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Were it not for the first step of making the caramel, this would be just about the Quickest and Easiest of the Quick and Easy cakes. I didn't have the preferred Muscovado sugar; when I got my bag of light brown sugar out of the cabinet, however, Hanaâ said, "I like dark brown better, so I brought that along." Woody gave her the evil eye: "The recipe says LIGHT brown," he announced. When I told Hanaâ that dark brown sounded good to me, Woody realized he was stuck with a couple of lawless woman, and gave us permission to use one-third dark brown. <br />
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I stirred, and Hanaâ took the caramel's temperature. She wouldn't let me stop stirring until it reached 238. <br />
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The caramel had to cool for an hour. Fortunately, both Hanaâ and Woody brought treats, so the hour passed quickly.<br />
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Hanaâ provided a piece of her version of the <a href="http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/hcb-devils-food-cake-with-midnight.html">Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache</a>, which she made with a whipped cream filling and homemade triple berry jam. Delicious! I noticed that it looked like a Hostess Ho-Ho and told Woody that he and Rose should work on making a version of the Ho-Ho for the new cookbook. Woody seemed less pleased with this idea than I was. <br />
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He's experimenting with making gluten-free ganache, so he brought a White Velvet cake with a coconut cream ganache. Good--but not as good as the original.<br />
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Hanaâ also brought some <i>baghrir</i>, or yeasted Moroccan pancakes, that she's <a href="http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/baghrir-yeasted-moroccan-pancakes.html">written about on her blog</a>. They look like big crumpets, but they taste more like pancakes than crumpets. She topped them with melted butter and honey with orange water. Not your ordinary breakfast pancakes, but they could easily become your recipe of choice--they're pretty addictive. <br />
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After downing several thousand carb calories, we waddled back to the kitchen, and whipped up the Karmel cake batter: so easy!<br />
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And it comes out of the oven so beautifully brown, smelling sweet and delicious. After the cake cooled, I made whipped cream. Instead of flavoring it with coffee (Hanna doesn't like coffee), I added some caramel left over from the Sticky Toffee cake, and, for those of us who do like coffee, sprinkled some espresso powder on top of the caramel cream. Hanaâ said, "Oh, we should decorate the cake--but I didn't bring my toolbox." "I have a pastry bag and decorating tips," I said. "You can use them," I added craftily. Hanaa looked doubtful: "You? You have decorating things?" Hmmpf. I'm always being misunderestimated, as a certain ex-president used to say. <br />
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Look at that girl go! Not only did she pipe "Happy Birthday, Rose," but she also did a border, adding a few little leaves. She knows what she's doing in the kitchen. <br />
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We decided that we'd put three candles on the cake--one for each of us to blow out. And we each made a wish on Rose's behalf, which we can't tell, of course, because it's a well-known fact that if you disclose a wish that you make on a birthday candle, it can't come true. If my wish is any example, however, Rose is going to have a very good year.<br />
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Woody had been talking about his tai chi sword, which he happened to have in his car. He had never tried it for this function before, but it turns out it's quite good for cutting cakes. <br />
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Even though it was cake #3 for the day (#4 if you count the pancakes), I still loved it. I thought it was just about perfect, although Woody pointed out that it had some tunnels in it. This occurred because I overmixed the batter, according to Woody and Hanaâ, who both have more information floating around in their heads than is good for them. (Certainly more than is good for me).<br />
<br />
It's basically a very good butter cake, but with the added pizzazz of caramel flavor. The slight crispiness of the crust adds to the uniqueness of this cake. (Eat the cake soon after it's done in order to experience this crispy extra, though--it doesn't last to the second day). <br />
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And happy birthday, Rose! I hope your birthday cake in Hope was as good as your birthday cake in Minneapolis.<br />
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<br />
<b>TASTING PANEL</b><br />
<br />
Woody: "It tastes better than the cake I brought. Definitely a good caramel flavor. But Rose wouldn't like the tunnels."<br />
<br />
Jim: "It'a really good cake. I especially like the flavor. The crunchiness gives it a special effect, unlike any of the other cakes."<br />
<br />
Hanaâ: "I'm surprised at how much caramel flavor is in the cake--more than in the cream."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-14116222439338357082011-03-30T14:42:00.000-07:002011-03-30T14:42:30.768-07:00Last Cake, Next CakeI believe I started my last post--on the Orange Glow Chiffon Cake--by noting, rather smugly, in retrospect, that I still read the recipe directions pretty carefully. Not carefully enough to see that I was supposed to use unbleached AP flour instead of bleached. And not carefully enough to remember to insert the rose nail in the batter until after the cake was already in the oven.<br />
<br />
I was glad to see I wasn't alone: not the only one in this group of careful, thorough, excellent bakers to have trouble reading. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one to end up with a nearly perfect cake despite a less than perfect attention span.<br />
<br />
What really tickled me is that I wasn't the only one to forget the rose nail--when the whole point of this cake is that the rose nail allows you to make a chiffon cake as a layer cake, and not in a tube pan. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/03/hcb-orange-glow-chiffon-layer-cake.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a>, usually as meticulous as they come, did just what I did: "I had already taken out my flower nail before starting the cake, but had somehow forgotten about it (it was hidden behind the the book). And only after the cake's been in the oven for 10 minutes I remembered the flower nail. What to do? I quickly open the oven door, grab the pan and stuck the flower nail in the middle of the cake anyway." Her cake sunk a bit, which she blamed on the tardy nail insertion, but, according to Woody, the cake is bound to fall.<br />
<a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/03/orange-glow-chiffon-layer-cake.html"><br />
Vicki</a>, also careful (and determined--remember when <a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2009/11/catalan-salt-pinch-ufo-cake.html">she baked the Catalan Pinch Cake four times</a>, trying to get the eggs to behave?), did the same thing: "The cake mixed up quite easily and I popped it straight into the oven forgetting the flower nail. Five minutes into baking and more than five swear words later, I shoved it into the batter hoping the whole thing wouldn't deflate." (It didn't).<br />
<br />
Like me, <a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/03/orange-glow-chiffon-layer-cake.html">Jennifer</a> "glossed over" the fact that the layer cake, unlike the Bostini, called for <b>un</b>bleached flour. No harm done. No, any harm that befell her cake was due to a bit of a cock-up on the cooling front (to paraphrase a character in The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin). You can see what happened when you look at her photo captioned, "Bakers of the world: do not do this."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/03/rhc-orange-glow-chiffon-layer-cake.html">Nancy</a> also missed the part about unbleached flour and just did the cake flour version of the Bostini base; she attributed that little error to her cake's ending up with a "concave bottom." Nancy also recommends not using Seville marmalade in the whipped cream--delicious on toast, but not sweet enough to sweeten the cream. Even so, she liked the cake, finding it "nicely flavored and well balanced with the orange whipped cream." <br />
Of course, if you don't have a flower nail in the first place, this cake isn't going to work.<br />
<br />
At least, that was <a href="http://lolasartisticendeavors.blogspot.com/2011/03/roses-orange-glow-chiffon-layer-cake.html">Lola</a>'s conclusion, after she tried to make do with a two-inch metal decorating tip instead of a flower nail. Or maybe it was her cake strips--she says she's been having trouble with them. Whatever happened, the cake didn't. Or at least not as a cake. Undaunted, however, she translated the messed-up cake into a trifle, where it looked beautiful.<br />
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There being no Michael's outlet in Poland, <a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/03/orange-glow-chiffon-layer-cake.html">Lois</a> opted to make cupcakes, as in the Bostini recipe, topped with the True Orange Whipped Cream. Lois has sent so many offerings to Ed's office that she figures "the Polish Air Force will think that Americans are dedicated bakers."<br />
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<a href="http://www.eatsndrinks.ca/2011/03/28/orange-glow-chiffon-not-layer-cake/">Kristina</a> had the flower nail, but, when she saw that her springform pan was only about two inches high, realized that it wasn't going to work for this high and handsome cake, so she simply baked it in a tube pan, a la The Cake Bible's version of the orange chiffon cake. She too is taking the rest of her cake into the office. (Is there a luckier group of co-workers anywhere than those who work with The Heavenly Bakers?)<br />
<br />
But I'm making it sound like everyone had problems with something, when that's not at all the case. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://bakedtoorder.blogspot.com/2011/03/heavenly-cake-baker-orange-glow-chiffon.html">Alice</a>, for example, didn't think she much cared for chiffon cakes. But now she figures she "just hadn't met the right one before." She liked this one so much that, after feeding it to her friends and neighbors, she promptly baked another one. " Yes, that's right...I made two orange-glow chiffon cakes within about 5 hours of each other."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://passionatepastry.blogspot.com/2011/03/heavenly-cake-bakers-orange-glow.html">Shandy</a>, who posted both about this cake and the devil's food cake, "loved the cake, and loved the true orange whipped cream!" Shandy also had some nice things to say about the rest of the Heavenly Cake Bakers: we are "captivating, in-depth, enthusiastic, imaginative, and open to new ideas." <br />
<br />
Like <a href="http://sarahthebear.com/blog/?p=1437">Sarah</a>, for example. She's not a lover of orange desserts, which always "remind her of Flintstones chewables." Or, as she put it, she was just not "feelin' this cake." Still, she went ahead and made it. And ate it. Even though, while she found "the texture was glorious," "the flavor [was] not great. Again, not the cake’s fault. My palate was simply not designed for the combination of orange and sugar on that level. Just the thought of a creamsicle sends chills up my spine." What?? How can you not like a creamsicle. Oh well, Heavenly Cake Bakers are not judgmental either.<br />
<br />
Our <b>FEATURED BAKER</b> this week is Raymond, who can wax rhapsodic over chiffon cakes more than anyone I know. He has yet to meet a chiffon cake he doesn't like, and thinks he likes this one the best of all. As he says, "It is light and delicate, almost like an angel food cake, with a bright and lively flavor of orange. It needs no adornment and can most definitely stand on its own. While I like it as a snack cake and to pair with a cup of tea in the afternoon, it can certainly hold up as a fine dessert when paired with the orange cream." <br />
<br />
Dear Bakers, only five more scheduled cakes and two Free Choice weeks. And we will then have baked our way through the entire book (except, as Woody never tires of reminding me, the Wedding Cakes chapter). Woody, maybe you can talk Jenn into baking a wedding cake. But not me.<br />
<br />
I am looking forward to next week's Karmel Cake, however. This cake as "soft textured and deeply flavorful." Well, that sounds good. And it also gives us another chance to perfect our caramel-making skills. Warning: the instructions say that "the mixture will look slightly curdled." Since none of us like to see things that looked curdled, it's good to know about this possibility. And the batter looks very simple once the caramel's been made.<br />
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The two cakes after the Karmel Cake are both from the "Butter and Oil Cakes" chapter; after they're done, we'll be done with that chapter too.<br />
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I'm always glad to be a baker, but this week I'm proud as well. This Saturday, April 2, there will be many <a href="http://bakesaleforjapan.com/bakesale-for-japan-map-and-directions">Bake Sales for Japan</a>. <a href="http://bakesaleforjapan.com/bakesale-for-japan-map-and-directions">Jennifer</a> has written about this on her blog, as has <a href="http://scratch.typepad.com/scratch/2011/03/bake-sales-for-japan-bake-shop-or-just-donate.html">Rachelino</a>. <br />
<br />
If there's no Bake Sale for Japan where you are, you may still be able to find a way to participate. <a href="http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/">Hanaa</a>'s employer is having a similar bake sale, and she's contributing to that as well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-57249394739647793692011-03-28T09:28:00.000-07:002011-03-28T09:28:00.659-07:00Orange Glow Chiffon Layer Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrwRrJ8mpecKEr3b_dTkdc4bjAsszIdrgvYhyphenhyphenqWLyA1cmH87uNTbcBEVBm8gP5AJaeeFJzF9r00LYp2x68F6Hqr9KeCGam3WC0Hvk5Eqtn-HMipVW_ZE2nBX5VIGZLjYka-0yTQ7pvh4O/s1600/03-27-11+Cake+43.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrwRrJ8mpecKEr3b_dTkdc4bjAsszIdrgvYhyphenhyphenqWLyA1cmH87uNTbcBEVBm8gP5AJaeeFJzF9r00LYp2x68F6Hqr9KeCGam3WC0Hvk5Eqtn-HMipVW_ZE2nBX5VIGZLjYka-0yTQ7pvh4O/s400/03-27-11+Cake+43.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I loved this cake in its supporting role in the Bostini (because in my opinion the star of that show was the pastry cream sauce), so I was curious about how it would be on its own. I was also curious about the flower nail (since I didn't even know if it was a "flour" or "flower" nail--the book uses both terms), but not too worried since Hanaa was going to supply the nail. Then Hanaa caught a cold and bowed out of the team baking project (hope you're feeling better, Hanaa!) and I decided it was time to get my own. Jim volunteered to make a trip to Michael's to pick one up--only after we both googled "flower nail" did we figure out exactly what it was. And Jim, who nearly suffered an acute anxiety attack when he walked into Michael's and saw the aisles and aisles of "stuff," as he referred to it, somehow zoomed straight to the flower nail and was able to exit the store without hyperventilating. After that, everything was easy.<br />
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I have been at this quixotic cake project for nearly two years now, and, while I think I should be able to make cake in my sleep, I still read the directions pretty carefully. The technique for this one is easy: mix all the ingredients except the egg whites until you have a thick, yellowish batter.<br />
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Then beat the egg whites until you get a meringue with stiff peaks.<br />
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And fold the two together.<br />
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I almost forgot to insert the rose pin. I had the cake in the oven for about 20 seconds when I remembered. I screamed a ladylike scream, grabbed the cake out of the oven, and inserted the pin.<br />
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No harm seemed to come to the cake. It came out of the oven looking perfect (were it not for the odd nail-like thing sticking out of the center).<br />
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After cooling in the pan for an hour, it came out of the pan, still looking good.<br />
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By this time Woody had arrived. He was very impressed with how level the cake was. He had been expecting it to sink. He also had lots of ideas for photographs: "Let's take a picture of the cake in the snow!" Jim looked at him as if he had just started speaking in tongues. But finally he agreed.<br />
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Woody did not drop the cake in a snowbank. And, after I whipped some cream with orange marmalade, I served the cake with a dollop of the cream and a dollop of some blood orange curd that Woody had brought along. (Woody always brings samples of his latest projects--he's a great person to invite to your house!) <br />
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Yes, the cake stands beautifully on its own. Although the whipped cream and the blood orange curd were great accompaniments, it didn't require accompaniments. It's delicate and flavorful, with a great texture and a perky, natural orange flavor. And that closes the "Sponge Cake" chapter--we started on June 8, 2009 with the Torta de Las Tres Leches and have made all the other sponge cakes in the chapter, including various angel food cakes, which I believe I've finally figured out how to bake. The orange chiffon cake is a great way to wrap up this varied and delicious assortment.<br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b>:<br />
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Sarah: "I love it! With the orange curd and the marmalade whipped cream, it seems very British--like something you'd get for tea at a high-toned tea shoppe." (I'm sure she said "shoppe" not just "shop.")<br />
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Woody: "It turned out very well. I'd like to know how you got it to stay so level." <br />
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Jim: "Chocolate's always my favorite, but this is excellent. It's nice and moist. A good way of picking up some Vitamin C."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-25637072589110905512011-03-23T12:36:00.000-07:002011-03-23T12:36:37.071-07:00Last Cake, Next CakeAnother round of catch-up cakes. As usual, most people go to the Quick & Easy list for their Free Choice. Nothing wrong with that--as <a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/03/rhc-no-bake-whipped-cream-cheesecake.html">Nancy</a> (who did not choose the No Bake Whipped Cream Cheesecake from the Q&E list) said, "I am finding these multi-component cakes more of a struggle to tackle, probably in some combination of cake-of-the-week fatigue and a higher stress level from other stuff than usual. After the bake-along winds up..., I'll need a long break from recipes that need more than a couple of components, especially if one of them involves beating sugar syrup into egg whites." Well, we all have our particular bête noire: for some of us it's Italian meringue; for some it's piping.<br />
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<a href="http://bakedtoorder.blogspot.com/2011/03/heavenly-cake-baker-tiramisu-free.html">Alice</a> gets extra credit for veering away from the Q&E Route since she's new enough to the group that she still has most of them on her To Bake List. Instead, she opted for the tiramisu instead of the red velvet cake because it was "more of a challenge." It was her first attempt at ladyfingers. Most of you will sympathize with her struggles. <br />
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Both <a href="http://yjdesserts.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/she-loves-me-cake/">Raymond</a> and <a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/03/they-all-love-me-now-cake.html">Vicki</a> baked the "She Loves Me" cake, which Vicki aptly renamed the "They All Love Me Now" cake, since we all know the way to anyone's heart is through their cake-eating stomach. "Simple and very satisfying," says Raymond. "Straight to the top of the Make Again List," says Vicki.<br />
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<a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/03/yellow-butter-cupcakes.html">Jennifer</a> also did one of the satisfying yellow cakes, in the form of Yellow Butter Cupcakes topped with leftover white chocolate lemon buttercream. What a great thing to have leftovers of! So much nicer than, say, tuna casserole. After "falling off the baking bandwagon" for a few weeks, Jennifer is back (and a force to be reckoned with, judging from her <a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/03/coming-soon.html">teaser photo</a> of the Devil's Food Cake). <br />
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<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KnittyBaker/~3/Q2XxDGdB5SI/hcb-free-choice-mini-vanilla-bean-pound.html">Jenn</a> posted an even mini-er version of the Mini Vanilla Bean Poundcakes, turning the little cakes into cupcakes. Although the book's version of these cakes isn't frosted, Jenn thought it would be "fun" to make buttercream. She tried Lyle's Golden Syrup in neooclassic buttercream, "flavored with orange flower water and orange oil." Exotic! If that wasn't enough, she "took a bar of Green & Blacks white chocolate [she] had in the freezer and grated some over the cupcakes. The topped with little pink non pareils for more cute effect."<br />
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<a href="http://whiskedandstirred.blogspot.com/2011/03/whipped-cream-cake.html">Maria</a> was amazed by the simplicity and flavor of the Whipped Cream Cake. If you haven't looked at her photo yet, check out her version of "dessert paradise," the whipped cream cake topped with strawberries and figs, mixed with jam and a bit of Chambord.<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/03/english-gingerbread-cake.html">Lois</a> went in a different direction from these choices with her English Gingerbread cake, figuring it would be a good dessert for her st. Patrick's Day dinner. (Yes, she assures us, "the Irish make gingerbread too"). She was especially pleased at being able to find Lyle's Golden Syrup--"it took three stores, but it was worth it."<br />
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I've just changed the "Next in the Oven" section to list all the upcoming cakes. As you can see, we'll be finishing up with Zach's La Bomba cake on May 16. Rose said this would be a perfect cake to end the project with (except, of course, those of you who want to keep on baking with Jenn) because it would be a culmination of everything we've learned along the way. We'll also have two Free Choice weeks in a row, since I'll be in France for those two weeks. <br />
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But before we get to La Bomba, let's just concentrate on making the Orange-Glow Chiffon Layer Cake. Here in Minnesota, where we've just had a spring snowfall topped with gray skies, we need some glow. For those of you who've made the Bostini, you know how good this cake is--and it will be fun to try it as a layer cake. Especially topped with orange marmalade whipped cream. If Hanaa gets her way, there will be some chocolate worked in somehow. <br />
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Coming up: the Karmel Cake (both caramel and Karmel), topped with "a cloud of Coffee Cream." Rose, what are you doing to me? I'm afraid to step on the scale.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-49419830303101083642011-03-20T19:40:00.000-07:002011-03-20T19:40:18.078-07:00Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxB7Ogr6bzaTM4e7jqKlGxCC2-UIJuLhF5TYmEFbA_bfE5vjmQP12q18ynPYOzjY0lFsY8kUhSZwd7UzOiGX5I7SwA1bZqnxcWCMmtaIooG3Njp37UjjGiPKBzcVpONjhV_iAp2f4sej8J/s1600/03-20-11+Cake+38.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxB7Ogr6bzaTM4e7jqKlGxCC2-UIJuLhF5TYmEFbA_bfE5vjmQP12q18ynPYOzjY0lFsY8kUhSZwd7UzOiGX5I7SwA1bZqnxcWCMmtaIooG3Njp37UjjGiPKBzcVpONjhV_iAp2f4sej8J/s400/03-20-11+Cake+38.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The chocolate tweed angel food cake is the only cake I've made that was an <a href="http://heavenlycakeplace.blogspot.com/2010/01/chocolate-tweed-angel-food-cake.html">utter failure</a>. So I decided I'd better use this Free Choice week to redeem myself. I have made one plain angel food cake that turned out great (for Angel Food Cake Any Way You Like week), but the tweed version still eluded me. Now that I've made three angel food cakes, I can say that they are very, very easy. From now on, I'll make them whenever my stash of frozen egg whites needs to be used up. Unfortunately, I must have used that stash for something else, because I rooted around in the freezer and found a lot of interesting--mostly unlabelled--stuff (is that veal stock or chocolate ganache?), but no frozen egg whites. So I cracked eight eggs. Now I have eight egg yolks.<br />
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The first time I made an angel food cake (the failure), I was worrying about never having done it before. The second time I made it (the non-failure), I was worrying about the failure. It took the third time for me to figure out that it's just a lot of beaten egg whites with flour, sugar, and flavorings whisked in. This time--because it's chocolate tweed--the flavoring was grated chocolate.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyDxn668u_mB1o7NWkbSq1-WPDd4QdCB_AJAlHZnZfGrp4R1Z5xHwbZvJDSPyllOLi-puIXp54-6gTckvhKs2mZyypxn-Vr6C4GOe4BjNXyQsCQyj0gL7cl7XKX8ybyW14NTrj_6fpxr8/s1600/03-20-11+Cake+44.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyDxn668u_mB1o7NWkbSq1-WPDd4QdCB_AJAlHZnZfGrp4R1Z5xHwbZvJDSPyllOLi-puIXp54-6gTckvhKs2mZyypxn-Vr6C4GOe4BjNXyQsCQyj0gL7cl7XKX8ybyW14NTrj_6fpxr8/s640/03-20-11+Cake+44.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I went whole hog on Green Black's. For the cake, I used a deep 85% chocolate (I was supposed to use unsweetened). For the whipped cream, I used 60% chocolate with hazelnuts and currants (I was supposed to use plain chocolate and ground almonds). For a person like me--who tries never to veer from the recipe in the slightest--these minor changes were exhilarating. I felt like I was in college, sneaking out of the dorm.<br />
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Here's what I still don't get the hang of: you're supposed to "sperad a thin layer of batter onto the sides of the prepared pan to ensure smooth sides." I did this, but apparently I didn't do it well enough because I still had some holes and bumps on the sides.<br />
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The cake will "sink to almost level with the pan when done." Check. "The surface will have deep cracks, like a souffle." Check. I let it bake for another two minutes, just to be safe. I put the pan over a funnel and let it cool. The cake did not fall out of the pan. This means that it's a success, no matter what it tastes like.<br />
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My junior-sized, eight-cup angel food cake pan (for which I used half a recipe), is only one piece, so you really have to have faith that the cake will somehow extricate itself from the ungreased cake pan. Surprisingly, it did.<br />
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If you're feeling critical, you can look at this picture and see that the sides aren't smooth. If you're feeling happy, you can look at the picture and see all the grated chocolate. <br />
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I believe that this is the first time I've ever sliced an angel food cake into three tiers. And people say there are no thrills left after you're 65.<br />
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What could be better on a chocolate tweed cake than chocolate tweed whipped cream? Also known as chocolate-spangled whipped cream. <br />
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My only question now is what I'm going to do with all those egg yolks.<br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b><br />
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Karen: "It's really delicious, and I don't even like angel food cake. It tastes like real cake--it doesn't have that nasty artificial taste that angel food cake usually has. And it's just the right amount of chocolate. I didn't think I'd be able to finish it, but it was so good."<br />
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Jim: "Angel food cake usually tastes kind of gummy to me, but this cake has a nice texture. The little bit of grated chocolate adds a lot of flavor."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-52443750341604819472011-03-17T15:22:00.000-07:002011-03-17T15:22:10.404-07:00Last Cake, Next CakeBefore I get to the Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache, let me share a few pictures of our vacation.<br />
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Sigh. OK, that's enough! It's good to be home, it's good to be home, it's good to be home....<br />
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And it really was good to read about all of your cakes. It made me sorry I'd been in such a hurry to get rid of my two chocolate cakes.<br />
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This cake packed a powerful chocolate punch, so if you're just not that in to chocolate, you were probably not into the cake.<br />
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Examples of being into the cake--<a href="http://yjdesserts.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/devils-food-cake-with-midnight-ganache/">Raymond</a>: "The addition of the cognac cherries and golden syrup transform this simple cake from the ordinary to the sublime."<br />
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<a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/03/hcb-devils-food-cake-with-midnight.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a>: Be still my heart! This is the ultimate chocolate cake! The chocolate cake is fudgy and moist - like a really good brownie. And the ganache. Let me tell you! This ganache is a killer. <br />
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Example of not being into the cake--<a href="http://whiskedandstirred.blogspot.com/2011/03/chocolate-midnight-cake.html">Maria</a>: "Mine was dense (not good dense), dry and bitter (not luscious). The frosting was also disappointing.... I found [it] to be a little thin and the cocoa added too much bitter dryness. For those of you that know me, you know what a terrible sport I am and so.... I will take myself to the opposite end of the "Featured Baker" spot and sulk." (This doesn't sound like the writing of a "terrible sport," does it?) <br />
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The main variations that people made to this cake, not surprisingly, involved the cognac cherries. <br />
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<a href="http://www.sweetbitesblog.com/journal/2011/3/14/hcb-devils-food-cake-with-midnight-ganache.html">Monica</a> said goodbye to the cherries entirely--as just a needless distraction from the cognac.<br />
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<a href="http://lolasartisticendeavors.blogspot.com/2011/03/roses-devils-food-cake-with-midnight.html">Lola</a> substituted a "nice French Black Cherry fruit jam," since she had no dried cherries on hand. <br />
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<a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/03/dui-chocolate-midnight-cake.html">Vicki</a> spread strawberry jam on the cake she set aside for the kids; the other one, which she dubbed her "DUI cake," got the cognac cherries, but cut up and poured over the cake instead of being placed whole in the center.<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/03/devils-food-cake-with-midnight-ganache.html">Lois</a> used cherry brandy instead of cognac--seems like a good idea. As long as she was using the brandy for the cake, might as well pour a couple of glasses to drink. Cheers!<br />
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<a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/03/rhc-devil-food-cake-with-midnight.html">Nancy</a> did the cherries and cognac, but didn't add the extra corn syrup. And, as did some others, Nancy had some trouble with the ganache not setting: "It had been 7 hours sitting at room temperature but was still gloopy, to use a technical term." <br />
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There were also some variations in the chocolate. <a href="http://bakedtoorder.blogspot.com/2011/03/heavenly-cake-baker-devils-food-cake.html">Alice</a>--sort of accidentally--ended up with a wonderful whipped ganache after she got tired of waiting for her ganache to set and wondered what would happen if she beat the heck out of it.<br />
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Poor <a href="http://breadbabies.blogspot.com/2011/03/heavenly-cake-bakers-trader-joes-fail.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FEkbUr+%28Second+Dinner%29">Katya</a> all unsuspectingly bought "cocoa" at Trader Joe's, only to discover that she hadn't picked up cocoa powder, but had instead grabbed hot chocolate mix. But the cake was very forgiving--"it was still the right kind of gooey all-American cake.... It's a very solid base cake for all kinds of shenanigans."<br />
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Welcome back to <a href="http://shebakesthecake.blogspot.com/2011/03/devil-is-in-chocolate.html">Nicola</a>, who is also our FEATURED BAKER. When I don't hear from people for a while, I start to worry about them. But Nicola is back--with "the cake that finally made it past the deeply guarded barriers of procrastination." She also noticed the excessive tenderness that sent Rose back to the drawing board for another mixing method: "The cake itself ... is quite crumbly. There is no way you can sneak a piece of this cake. A friend dropped over to collect Chris for an early morning motorbike ride on Sunday and helped himself to a slice of cake. I knew this even before I lifted the lid on the cake plate because there were chocolate crumbs all over the floor." I hadn't really thought of it, but not being able to sneak a piece of cake may indeed be a drawback.<br />
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Next week is Free Choice Week. You all know the drill on this. Pick one of the cakes that the group has made but you haven't. There are so many good cakes out there. What will it be?<br />
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And after that, our final cake from the sponge cake chapter: Orange-Glow Chiffon Layer Cake, in which Rose and Woodyh discover that "using unbleached all-purpose flour and an ungreased, unlined springform pan changed everything." You will need a flat flower (or flour) nail. Fortunately for me, I plan to bake this cake with Hanaa, who not only knows what the nail is; she has one. If the idea of the chiffon layer cake isn't enough to tempt you, think about serving it with True Orange Whipped Cream.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-76234802087574958222011-03-13T18:00:00.000-07:002011-03-13T19:09:55.960-07:00Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzyowUfTMdTxgH7L98cnJg0ZMF5vYYRtRGWUD43_6kyiMA0YVMC4aLNumolI6GpQKPcCp5CczCfJoP5Q4gjnV7mWF7L0KI3qJ0tXryZ9NYifp_BY1hM-el5Uod31B1U_ZcTARaCiTHVFc/s1600/03-06-11+Cake+58.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzyowUfTMdTxgH7L98cnJg0ZMF5vYYRtRGWUD43_6kyiMA0YVMC4aLNumolI6GpQKPcCp5CczCfJoP5Q4gjnV7mWF7L0KI3qJ0tXryZ9NYifp_BY1hM-el5Uod31B1U_ZcTARaCiTHVFc/s400/03-06-11+Cake+58.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
This is the cake that I made last weekend (the Weekend of the Two Chocolate Cakes) and was the second of two that I attacked. At first, I thought I'd finish them both by 5:00 (the time the potluck party started--the one where I said I'd bring cake whether the hostess liked iti or not), but this little baby wasn't frosted at 5:00, and I was already committed to the raspberry cake anyway. This one was going to have to wait for Monday, when it would go into the office to feed some lawyers.<br />
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The dried sour cherries have been soaking in Cognac and Lyle's Syrup overnight. After I tasted them, I thought maybe I'd let them soak a little too long because the flavors you could taste were, in order, cognac, cognac, and cognac. Maybe a cherry-flavored cognac? They would be lovely on ice cream, or some flaming dessert, but I thought they might be a little much for an afternoon cake. I rinsed them and dried them.<br />
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More of that chocolate chopping! And lots of it. I was glad I'd cut the recipe in half; otherwise, I'd have to chop twice as much. No doubt you're impressed by my brilliant analytical mind.<br />
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I was determined to get the caramel right this time! I decided that my main problem lies in trying to make sure the caramel is sufficiently caramelized, which led me to leave it on the burner just a few seconds longer. By then, the thermometer would register above the correct number. This time, I decided, I'd be sure to remove the pan from the heat at 360--a full ten degrees lower than the proper temperature of 370. (No, I didn't take it off the heat at 192.4<br />
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I was overjoyed with the way it turned out. I kept looking around for little caramel droplets that I could lick up. I wanted to just stop right there, forget about the rest of the ganache, and eat up all the caramel sauce. But because I'm a mature person, I didn't.<br />
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Instead, I mixed more chopped chocolate into the hot caramel.<br />
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And then I added the dissolved cocoa mixture into the chocolate-caramel mixture, for an even more chocolate intensity. Truthfully, I was missing the caramel. If you were given your choice between a beautifully homemade truffle and a beautifully homemade caramel, which would you take? I'd be sad to miss the truffle, but I'd take the caramel.<br />
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And now it's time for the chocolate cake. Over the weekend, I used up all the 62% chocolate I had on hand, most of the white chocolate, well over half of my stash of cocoa, not to mention ridiculously large amounts of flour and sugar. And I was only baking small cakes! This cake starts out with a mixture of cocoa and unsweetened chocolate (or, for a "more mellow" flavor, cocoa and semisweet chocolate).<br />
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Half a cake called for one egg and one egg yolk. To make up for my egg yolk shortage, I called on my last quail egg. <br />
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The batter looked so light and delicious that I was a little sorry to add chocolate to it.<br />
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But after adding chocolate and beating for a few minutes, the batter looked even lighter and fluffier.<br />
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And it baked into a nicely textured chocolate cake. It was more difficult to judge doneness on these little cakes,, but they both turned out okay.<br />
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The ganache, after sitting around for about ten hours, was rich, dark, and spreadable. So good that I didn't want to use it all for frosting the cake--after baking all day, I deserved to lick the bowl, right? The caramel flavor was subtle. I wouldn't have minded a little less subtlety, but it was very good.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4zmV-j_6ZSi4O88VfRFBkgqt1iJb9vmcksDjTmn4iBas6JcUiqTd_zXz7rOy5vzen_vCYNkBA6z5SyorkxHpN1pX-S_ti7YIrPkQeP2WFg0OlAVMDipYfm-29knw08J7llENBXoWgSQx/s1600/03-06-11+Cake+41.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4zmV-j_6ZSi4O88VfRFBkgqt1iJb9vmcksDjTmn4iBas6JcUiqTd_zXz7rOy5vzen_vCYNkBA6z5SyorkxHpN1pX-S_ti7YIrPkQeP2WFg0OlAVMDipYfm-29knw08J7llENBXoWgSQx/s400/03-06-11+Cake+41.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
With the large amount of frosting between layers, the addition of plump cherries, and the fact that I didn't do a great job of centering the top layer, there was a huge gap between layers. This gap led to sides that weren't perfectly straight. I must say that I've found that people are not at all interested in hearing your monologue about all the things that are wrong with the cake--they just want you to shut up, slice into the cake, and serve them some. <br />
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So that's what I did. But first, I cut a slice for Jim because I didn't think I'd be bringing any cake home, and he feels very mistreated if he hangs around the kitchen photographing the cake and then doesn't even get to taste it.<br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b>:<br />
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Dianne: "Is this a Black Forest Cake? I really like the cherries and the chocolate together."<br />
Erika: "That's because she soaked the cherries in cognac. That's why I'm so tired now. It's from eating cognac in the middle of the afternoon."<br />
Rachel: "There's no more alcohol in cognac than in vanilla. I made vanilla once. I just put a vanilla bean in vodka."<br />
Wolanda: "You can test positive on a urine test from drinking vanilla or Nyquil."<br />
Julie: "Anyway, the cake is great. Are you serious that you want to give the rest of it away? I'll take it."<br />
[This is how conversation degenerates among criminal defense lawyers].<br />
Jim: The cake is delicious. I really like the alcohol-laden cherries, and the rich, rich chocolate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-68591313807214005922011-03-06T19:45:00.000-08:002011-03-06T19:45:55.716-08:00Moist Chocolate Raspberry Genoise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkTN2t4yu86DrwfK_UEONlC8ouNWSOC-cvdH25O8l-9LJp2p83QFBuLnxdQrpfSak86fCWUS_8KuYGDe96sYp8gTt1FJYsTA_oWK61_aHRGpcdvKeIsmJSeRnME8ZN_p3sj4vUHoKcfGC/s1600/03-05-11+Cake+50.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkTN2t4yu86DrwfK_UEONlC8ouNWSOC-cvdH25O8l-9LJp2p83QFBuLnxdQrpfSak86fCWUS_8KuYGDe96sYp8gTt1FJYsTA_oWK61_aHRGpcdvKeIsmJSeRnME8ZN_p3sj4vUHoKcfGC/s400/03-05-11+Cake+50.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Sometime in the middle of the week, I realized that I had to make two huge chocolate cakes this weekend, and had to write about them both before I left for Puerto Rico on Tuesday. I fretted about this for hours. I checked the recipes. The raspberry genoise serves 18; the devil's food cake with midnight ganache serves 20. How was I going to find 38 people to eat big hunks of chocolate cake this weekend? And how was I going to blog about both of them? Also, I hadn't replaced my food processor yet, and I always use Rose's food-processor method to make my ganache. Oh woe, woe is me.<br />
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Then I remembered my cute little six-inch pans, and I remembered I was going to a party on Sunday where I was supposed to bring wine, but I could bring wine and a cake, couldn't I? I called the hostess and told her I didn't care what she said, I was bringing a cake along with my bottle of wine. She seemed a little surprised about my vehemence, but said that would be okay. Now I could breathe easier.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58xeUtnuw8_MfSLTSpPsUeNk5vI2y01eC3Q4MLr4LP9Vvu4b0Rl4lwdgrL3baFQYHz3Rnt1m-NnA1J3-LHdQkG20PqKCDfW-iRzl_QHEeiuGrnbrAHdQ-RI-Z4OuayCEmtUW1zbydS0zW/s1600/03-05-11+Cake+04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58xeUtnuw8_MfSLTSpPsUeNk5vI2y01eC3Q4MLr4LP9Vvu4b0Rl4lwdgrL3baFQYHz3Rnt1m-NnA1J3-LHdQkG20PqKCDfW-iRzl_QHEeiuGrnbrAHdQ-RI-Z4OuayCEmtUW1zbydS0zW/s400/03-05-11+Cake+04.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Then my only problem was that I was baking two chocolate cakes--both in six-inch pans, both frosted with chocolate ganache--on the same day. I knew I'd get confused, and I did, but nothing too horrible happened. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTm5hjdytFK2dhdqjz2-pdn3uTfVahFPji9uOVmm2hoGe5dP4ff0dsy7i9z7RDwe_Wd8lB1ZheXB16O0LJoE8vNgnrJNunR4LBj0UrNJj7yTLeq6f0dlwPoeSmaCyA56rUxMo2WhGmCZw/s1600/03-05-11+Cake+05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTm5hjdytFK2dhdqjz2-pdn3uTfVahFPji9uOVmm2hoGe5dP4ff0dsy7i9z7RDwe_Wd8lB1ZheXB16O0LJoE8vNgnrJNunR4LBj0UrNJj7yTLeq6f0dlwPoeSmaCyA56rUxMo2WhGmCZw/s400/03-05-11+Cake+05.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Cake #1 started with the genoise. The first time I made a genoise cake, I wasn't too excited about it. It was so delicate it fell apart, and I thought that any cake that needed some hoity-toity syrup to be edible was too weak and fragile to be a bona fide cake. My ancestors, working in the fields, didn't put syrup on their cakes; of that you may be sure. But then I fell in love with the genoise cakes. Now I'm crazy about their flavor, texture, and versatility. I also love whipping those eggs. I actually forgot about the new chocolate genoise method that Rose wrote about in her blog, but I'm used to the old method by now.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpNExBMqbSS1j0IcNdbMua5as1M7oiVqGWsJw6FI1aglSXk53Dnnki76qpVDunZCoi8NggCl0ksq3M8W_qUAXjcl4N_m8JvFodD7-PJ60L7NhOdd7IWyy8-MjJcnYzHlxmoyeTPHRcDer/s1600/03-05-11+Cake+20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpNExBMqbSS1j0IcNdbMua5as1M7oiVqGWsJw6FI1aglSXk53Dnnki76qpVDunZCoi8NggCl0ksq3M8W_qUAXjcl4N_m8JvFodD7-PJ60L7NhOdd7IWyy8-MjJcnYzHlxmoyeTPHRcDer/s400/03-05-11+Cake+20.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The cakes rose to the tops of the six-inch pans. The cake was pale brown, but smelled like it carried a real chocolate punch.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqBWMbRUHnw0bor0Qcr87RiSMNdcoXfYFKt-UBpBWe3U5g5IjLxdVAvmQ7aYcGem2NuXH8H6w7m5-JdDIWvNk2nc2eR5iichX5p1nyJMpkRZWMGXndAZ_mawdUJdfsf6evahMtFMKgs-j/s1600/03-05-11+Cake+23.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqBWMbRUHnw0bor0Qcr87RiSMNdcoXfYFKt-UBpBWe3U5g5IjLxdVAvmQ7aYcGem2NuXH8H6w7m5-JdDIWvNk2nc2eR5iichX5p1nyJMpkRZWMGXndAZ_mawdUJdfsf6evahMtFMKgs-j/s400/03-05-11+Cake+23.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
On to the raspberry-chocolate ganache. Without my food processor, I had to chop the chocolate--a task I don't much like. The last time Hanaa baked at my house, I admired her efficiency and ease when she chopped chocolate, but admiring it isn't the same thing as adopting it. I chopped what seemed like a ton of mixed dark and white chocolates. I need to get that food processor. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOPJmenA61cbl6UM99jNFPq0X0y9ghXxERnSVQ50cjd-M5oqBNCR1hNLGyxwv9EzuKLb1nmqArHlEkTpqM5Fv5yctihhyphenhyphenq8mwY0nU6AIno876GXUPqkS1uGblUeuSqsmidpef4Mz5SaNK/s1600/03-05-11+Cake+26.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOPJmenA61cbl6UM99jNFPq0X0y9ghXxERnSVQ50cjd-M5oqBNCR1hNLGyxwv9EzuKLb1nmqArHlEkTpqM5Fv5yctihhyphenhyphenq8mwY0nU6AIno876GXUPqkS1uGblUeuSqsmidpef4Mz5SaNK/s400/03-05-11+Cake+26.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I used frozen raspberry puree instead of pureeing and straining frozen raspberries. Straining raspberries is one of my least favorite jobs in the kitchen. I would rather chop chocolate all day long than strain raspberries. And pouring the raspberry puree into cream really made me happy. If I were on a desert island and could have only three foods, raspberries would be one of the three. I just wouldn't strain them.<br />
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The ganache turned out to be smooth, rich, and chocolatey. At first I was afraid that the chocolate would overpower the raspberries, but on second taste, I decided that the raspberries weren't hidden by the chocolate; they enhanced each other. I suppose that's why the chocolate-raspberry combination is so popular--it works.<br />
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Just a little glug of Chambord can't hurt.<br />
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The cakes were small enough that I could cut them with a serrated knife into more or less even layers. <br />
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Syruping the cake with cocoa syrup cake next, and then filling the layers with ganache. Even after a few hours at room temperature, the ganache was too runny, although it was dark and smooth. I put it in the refrigerator to thicken it up. Then I did something else with Cake #2; consequently the ganache got too thick. I had one heck of a time frosting the outside of the cake. I banished Jim from the kitchen because he was taking pictures of me doing battle with the ganache (the ganache was winning).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SOycFPw-vYweoiaFmhhCyCEQRUdmyCuF4sXnu_O9QjtycHvM-VPwOZ_CnO0HecsORjt42S4FeDt7q-ueJyKuxD_lMsw7UuUlVbIOAihquEle_GihpKKXnSPbq_k6B0QIURQGYvWQJWOf/s1600/03-05-11+Cake+43.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SOycFPw-vYweoiaFmhhCyCEQRUdmyCuF4sXnu_O9QjtycHvM-VPwOZ_CnO0HecsORjt42S4FeDt7q-ueJyKuxD_lMsw7UuUlVbIOAihquEle_GihpKKXnSPbq_k6B0QIURQGYvWQJWOf/s400/03-05-11+Cake+43.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I called him back after the cake finally got frosted. He said, "Oh, it's cute!" I think he was surprised that it turned out looking like a cake. After I ordered him out of the kitchen, he'd thought that this cake was going on the Disaster List.<br />
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Despite the trouble I had with the refrigerated ganache, the cake really isn't hard to make, although there are a lot of steps. When you're baking another cake at the same time, it seems like it's more complicated than it really is. And the people at the party loved it. <br />
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Cake #2 (the cake for next week) is frosted, in the cake carrier, and ready to go into the office tomorrow. Cake #1 is a thing of the past. <br />
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I'm leaving for vacation on Tuesday, so there will be no mid-week post this week. I'll have next week's cake--the Devil's Food with Midnight Ganache--ready to post automatically on Sunday or Monday. Remember to check Rose's blog for the alternative method of mixing the devil's food cake if you want a slightly less tender, less crumbly cake.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-82969330768109590132011-03-03T15:15:00.000-08:002011-03-03T19:24:33.533-08:00Last Cake, Next CakeAt first I thought all the Heavenly Cake Bakers held some kind of grudge against Sticky Toffee Pudding. By the end of Monday, there were only about four posts, but, as of now, 11 prople have written posts and there is the promise of a 12th one by <a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/03/its-coming.html">Vicki</a>, who has been suffering from what her doctor dubbed the "18-day flu."<br />
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Bakers were divided: some had never heard of Sticky Toffee Pudding and were unaware that the British refer to dessert in general as "pudding," as in, "What's for pudding?"<br />
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<a href="http://breadbabies.blogspot.com/2011/02/sticky-sticky-toffee-with-lemon-peel.html">Katya</a>, one of our seasoned travelers (where are those pictures of Lisbon, anyway?) thought that Rose's version of this "extra-Brit" dessert was extra-good, though, as usual, she souped up her own, adding lemon and orange peel, sultanas and currants to her dates (which she claimed were past their prime).<br />
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<a href="http://www.eatsndrinks.ca/2011/02/28/sticky-toffee-pudding/">Kristina</a>, who grew up in New Brunswick, was familiar with pudding desserts, but didn't like them, especially Christmas puddings, and especially fruitcakes. But she liked this one, as did her co-workers. Kristina thinks the leftover sauce would be great on ice cream, and it's hard to disagree.<br />
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<a href="http://dessertsdivine.blogspot.com/2011/02/sticky-toffee-pudding.html">Lynnette</a> had never baked a pudding, but it's been "on her radar to try" for quite a while. She also recalled a favorite ice cream that was called sticky toffee pudding. Her conclusion: "What is not to like?"<br />
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On the other hand, the "sticky toffee pudding" moniker meant nothing to <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/hcb-sticky-toffee-pudding.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a>, who thought it just sounded like a spice cake, which she doesn't particularly like. But, making five cupcakes with one-third of the recipe, she actually ended up liking it quite a bit. (I'm waiting for Jenn to make 3/7 of a recipe sometime, just to challenge herself). <br />
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And <a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/03/sticky-toffee-pudding.html">Lois</a>, who lived in England for 18 months, had never run across sticky toffee pudding while she was there. It took another trip to the UK before she discovered the pudding's delights, and wanted to try this recipe so much that she made it in her daughter's tiny kitchen in Boca Raton. <br />
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As usual, our Bakers were quite creative in the pans and presentations. <a href="http://whiskedandstirred.blogspot.com/2011/03/sticky-toffee-pudding-20.html">Maria</a>, for example, used a square cupcake pan (that she just "HAD to have") and poured the rest of the batter into a festive pudding tin.<br />
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<a href="http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/hcb-sticky-toffee-pudding.html">Hanaa</a> made three cakes with the batter for this one cake: she used and 8 x 8-inch square pan, and two six-inch round ones. Hanaa used ginger ale instead of stout, and eliminated the creme fraiche and nuts, but the cake still played to an enthusiastic audience at her house.<br />
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<a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/02/rhc-sticky-toffee-puddings.html">Nancy B.</a> cut the recipe in half, but still ended up with enough for nine: nine cakelets made in her one-half cup ramekins. Nancy liked the way the "tang of the crème fraîche complements the sweet toffee sauce and cake very nicely."<br />
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<a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/02/sitcky-toffee-pudding.html">Jennifer</a> was enthusiastic herself. She concluded that "all four components come together in a synergistic rush of pure, delicious, cakey joy." I was with her until she said, "I almost wish we were having dark gray stormy days to go along with this cake as it would be so fitting." Sorry--I just can't go along with a wish for rotten weather.<br />
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<a href="http://passionatepastry.blogspot.com/2011/02/gutsy-cooks-and-hcbers-share-sunday.html">Shandy</a>, our <b>FEATURED BAKER</b> this week, has tasted Sticky Toffee Pudding, but had never made it before. I think it won't be the last time, though, because she sounds pretty enthusiastic: "As the fork tines slid into the cake, I knew making this recipe was worth every second." She was smitten with the date and stout mixture, and was crazy about the "moist, flavorful, lightly spicy cake." Her cake square, with toffee sauce, creme fraiche, and pecans, is every bit as pretty as the picture in the cookbook. Well done, Shandy!<br />
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It's been a long time since I've welcomed a new baker, but I'd like to introduce you to <a href="http://bakedtoorder.blogspot.com/2011/02/heavenly-cake-baker-sticky-toffee.html">Alice</a>, who makes her blogging debut with her individual puddings.<br />
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I felt I had to turn down the people who asked to start baking along because we were so close to the end of the project it didn't make sense to add people who'd only have a chance to bake a few cakes. But <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/">Jenn </a>has offered to keep the blog going for those of you who want to complete RHC but are not going to be able to finish when I do. We haven't worked out the details yet, but don't worry--if you still have 25 cakes left to bake, you're not going to have to bake them all in the next three months. More information on this later.<br />
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As I said last week, I don't know how I managed the schedule so that we're doing two chocolate cakes in a row, but that's just the way it is. Your friends who love chocolate are going to love you.<br />
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Next week's chocolate cake is the Moist Chocolate Raspberry Genoise. Remember how everyone was raving about the taste of the last chocolate genoise we made? If you missed it then, now is a good time to see what you missed. And if you made it then, you won't want to miss it. As usual with genoise cakes, Rose recommends that you make the cake a day ahead of time for best flavor. <br />
Those of you who have sworn in irritation at those annoying bits of white flour that don't quite get mixed into the genoise batter will want to check out <a href="http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2010/03/pellets_be_gone.html">Matthew's new mixing method</a>. Woody tested and photographed the results. He's now a committed fan of Michael's Method.<br />
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Another refinement from the original version: before you make the Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache, scheduled for March 14, you'll want to check <a href="http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2009/11/devils_food_cake_on_page_99_of.html">Real Baking with Rose</a> to get her update on the mixing method for this cake. She found that the cake was a "bit too tender," so she went back to her standard mixing method. Rose recommends the updated method, both for ease of preparation and for the best texture. Also note that the recipe calls for making the ganache at least six hours before using and the cherries at least eight hours ahead (or overnight).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-22571340476194430862011-02-27T17:15:00.000-08:002011-02-27T17:15:07.604-08:00Sticky Toffee "Pudding"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFBXtWCjB5s-zULVu6484qjP0Z32FrQHQqZfCASXQANvlVU0tC8lngQLXOFks-b8XzdfoNx9jPqyQ-JMG07dyH01FDyqA81Pu937BFxmb2pjTGsDB1TPzk_IDZX_6bcOTz0fezy7MeV0P/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+46.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFBXtWCjB5s-zULVu6484qjP0Z32FrQHQqZfCASXQANvlVU0tC8lngQLXOFks-b8XzdfoNx9jPqyQ-JMG07dyH01FDyqA81Pu937BFxmb2pjTGsDB1TPzk_IDZX_6bcOTz0fezy7MeV0P/s640/02-26-11+Cake+46.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I was not looking forward to making this cake. It looked like it was going to be cloyingly sweet, and I didn't think I'd ever be able to get rid of twelve pieces of way-too-sweet cake. But I ended up loving all the elements of the cake and could happily have eaten my way through the whole thing. If you too turned up your nose at this recipe and decided to pass it by, I implore you to give it a try.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZpOVO8LTnjQQQY6uPNyq_DFZgcmQLVAjOTviV1SsHo6TY_GZMIMcEG5gECR90hn74UX1dx7lmFQ3GtAcKjoT8aw68N7gf4ki_HuwoDatTGi89DanMMoY-5eJDkfU6orgiUUzq83OVRsvf/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZpOVO8LTnjQQQY6uPNyq_DFZgcmQLVAjOTviV1SsHo6TY_GZMIMcEG5gECR90hn74UX1dx7lmFQ3GtAcKjoT8aw68N7gf4ki_HuwoDatTGi89DanMMoY-5eJDkfU6orgiUUzq83OVRsvf/s400/02-26-11+Cake+01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
This is the first time a can of stout has been in the mise en place. Jim was happy to have an excuse to buy an eight-pack of Guinness.<br />
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To my knowledge, this is the first time I've ever poured beer in a saucepan and brought it to the boil. I'm absolutely certain that it's the first time I've ever added baking soda to boiling beer. As you might expect, the mixture starts to fizz.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRdqbkGx2-KBgFcrDlxABxDYDrvztSQL2flsZ-yW4dEjJ2asGaSRj_2cZhZGqcyHNq3iOagx94my8EMIIR_Z_5ErWFPsINVdkhqDsvlknpi9TbMYHiJWmT8sllah0VmN7WMqkxvC-_nvu/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRdqbkGx2-KBgFcrDlxABxDYDrvztSQL2flsZ-yW4dEjJ2asGaSRj_2cZhZGqcyHNq3iOagx94my8EMIIR_Z_5ErWFPsINVdkhqDsvlknpi9TbMYHiJWmT8sllah0VmN7WMqkxvC-_nvu/s400/02-26-11+Cake+10.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
After the dates macerate (my favorite word from last week) in the hot beer for a while, they're supposed to be put in a food processor until mixed to a brown slurry. My food processor chose this moment to give up the ghost. I thought about getting out my immersion blender, but then decided that I'd rather have bits of dates in the cake anyway. So I just chopped the softened dates, and was glad I did--the little pieces of dates added to the textural interest of the cake.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCv1yDCBHByl70sF2EpcxUdQLOlO9YF9oGOrOo4KqXDhtdj9ji1Min14uEHSlHOP99SMDnA2O6d065vuyVF3wZQ0LGkCy8_VHYwAOpXDTnZCp9z0CMFNpC3uCtXRQo35lclf2UcXZTepT/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCv1yDCBHByl70sF2EpcxUdQLOlO9YF9oGOrOo4KqXDhtdj9ji1Min14uEHSlHOP99SMDnA2O6d065vuyVF3wZQ0LGkCy8_VHYwAOpXDTnZCp9z0CMFNpC3uCtXRQo35lclf2UcXZTepT/s400/02-26-11+Cake+12.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The three eggs I broke into a bowl measured 142 grams. I didn't want to use another whole egg for eight measly grams, and I decided to call it good enough. Then I remembered that I still had a few of my darling quail eggs. (Don't worry folks; the sell-by date is not until March 2). One petite quail egg put me six grams over, so I scooped out a spoonful. There. 150 grams on the dot. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyiMqY23i5obMGQLNi_v_MGrH9BFogz6XtaJOry3QNFrBhclMdcn63-FforVI9BTbu2fr1_17tUAZGURZYiZe8_0htcxl-ocUnVAGsOsqcCOTgr2Cj9LsCRimhqNx4vt5AkcMn3UtsnvL/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+18.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyiMqY23i5obMGQLNi_v_MGrH9BFogz6XtaJOry3QNFrBhclMdcn63-FforVI9BTbu2fr1_17tUAZGURZYiZe8_0htcxl-ocUnVAGsOsqcCOTgr2Cj9LsCRimhqNx4vt5AkcMn3UtsnvL/s400/02-26-11+Cake+18.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I expect that the cake would have been slightly darker if I'd succeeded in pureeing the dates, but I like the date-studded looks of it. The batter didn't fill the pan one-third full. I looked through the ingredients to see if nothing was missing, but everything was accounted for. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIk-_kqO9Xq8QfPxUgmPBHtIk9SldVWFmvZAFHb-A6RIv5OJHMCo6CHRsgFnNC-As7ABtpnLkSQbcolRwgwGVINMBOsUshArIgFZjzn5m9q4nhc8Nx2zSQ-DlNH-NQMcExg3DB7cd6nFL/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+21.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIk-_kqO9Xq8QfPxUgmPBHtIk9SldVWFmvZAFHb-A6RIv5OJHMCo6CHRsgFnNC-As7ABtpnLkSQbcolRwgwGVINMBOsUshArIgFZjzn5m9q4nhc8Nx2zSQ-DlNH-NQMcExg3DB7cd6nFL/s400/02-26-11+Cake+21.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
While the cake was baking, I made the toffee sauce. Jim watched me mix the butter and brown sugar, and said, "That looks awfully rich." He sounded as doubtful as I felt. I said, "Wait until I add the cream." But I also added two tablespoons of lemon juice. The lemon juice was an addition of pure genius; its tartness cut the sugary sweetness of the sauce into something quite palatable. Downright delicious, in fact. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw85x1KNbuTFOmsZ_cpMuw36bokVuqDeMAqETpxx-m2DIHLYgg-5LFOkSd_Qbk3wUgp7vo9Y81buAIrup7OwcGvBTrwDegoNzXIi1b1Rh8-8Uc3NaD-N8bId12ljLj9GK0ftaN7h7Y_-0r/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+34.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw85x1KNbuTFOmsZ_cpMuw36bokVuqDeMAqETpxx-m2DIHLYgg-5LFOkSd_Qbk3wUgp7vo9Y81buAIrup7OwcGvBTrwDegoNzXIi1b1Rh8-8Uc3NaD-N8bId12ljLj9GK0ftaN7h7Y_-0r/s400/02-26-11+Cake+34.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Time to remove the cake from the pan. I was worried about this step because the pan-preparation directions had nothing about spraying the parchment paper or the sides of the pan. I'd been fretting about that ever since I noticed. I considered just spraying the pan, but then I remembered my baking mantra: "Rose has her reasons." <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSEjGZkAypQC4gC49neTm653hSJq5d8K_xbclWNpt_QxBQ7bokLWAerfejo5Rz-b1iK4eB6-xW6T53uMBviA8NsoUJdxrE1k1DbZ6bTrR3XyieA_58D36C_G6gWYvXTdY6dgd0bvJK_SO/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+37.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSEjGZkAypQC4gC49neTm653hSJq5d8K_xbclWNpt_QxBQ7bokLWAerfejo5Rz-b1iK4eB6-xW6T53uMBviA8NsoUJdxrE1k1DbZ6bTrR3XyieA_58D36C_G6gWYvXTdY6dgd0bvJK_SO/s400/02-26-11+Cake+37.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Indeed, the cake emerged from the pan with nary a mishap. It still looked thinner than I thought it should.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XHXYTHOR1xOjtEfE_EcbtAeLdoNnunroNkzqQvq4HRLVZN0CJcllziP8c-dwtDtW0EQ6daNXas_WLWdmU_5gW4QXTagQGFbvc7UBF8G00PRDS-cUoKrM5_faqddYklhx3swBNxFAc2Fb/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+41.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XHXYTHOR1xOjtEfE_EcbtAeLdoNnunroNkzqQvq4HRLVZN0CJcllziP8c-dwtDtW0EQ6daNXas_WLWdmU_5gW4QXTagQGFbvc7UBF8G00PRDS-cUoKrM5_faqddYklhx3swBNxFAc2Fb/s400/02-26-11+Cake+41.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
When I cut into it, though, I decided that the crumb looked okay. Too late, I remembered the cake-testing sheets that Woody had left at my house, and I didn't measure the cake's height. Sorry, Woody. Someday I may be more scientific in my approach.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EDB8m09XEy08L7P2mffYpwFdZxEnl4CO5EPAEed4LDdXHzfKOdvIbHnFANuzyf-sBkWRt92Ct98TXbfvBV-StSSpo7UT6AmVrEpUK7WmC-KoO5U2jjnxemfLrZs84vduV4BMudZYtnXT/s1600/02-26-11+Cake+49.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EDB8m09XEy08L7P2mffYpwFdZxEnl4CO5EPAEed4LDdXHzfKOdvIbHnFANuzyf-sBkWRt92Ct98TXbfvBV-StSSpo7UT6AmVrEpUK7WmC-KoO5U2jjnxemfLrZs84vduV4BMudZYtnXT/s400/02-26-11+Cake+49.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I can't resist another picture of the finished product. The effect on guests of cutting the cake, spooning the luscious toffee sauce over, dolloping the creme fraiche, and topping with toasted pecans is quite amazing. People are so impressed, and think you did so much more work than you actually did. Both the cake and the sauce are easy to mix up (the sauce, unlike a traditional caramel sauce, does not require taking its temperature); the creme fraiche is just taken out of its carton and whisked, and the pecans simply toasted and chopped. But when you put it all together, it looks like you're a kitchen ace. And all so good! The date-spice cake could be eaten out of hand, and the toffee sauce is amazing. The creme fraiche, along with the miraculous lemon juice, adds a little tartness, and the pecans make it perfect. <br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b>:<br />
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Pat: "Wow. This is delicious. This is really good."<br />
Myra: "Mmmm. I love this cake."<br />
Jim: "This is wonderful. It has a variety of nice flavors--delicious. One of my favorites so far."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-64090121030988564002011-02-23T18:00:00.000-08:002011-02-23T18:28:46.678-08:00Last Cake, Next CakeIt was a fairly small group that entered the Free Choice Sweepstakes last week (no, it's not really a sweepstakes)--of course, we're missing Mendy and Lois, who are somewhere in the process of house/apartment-hunting/moving. But those who baked really baked up a storm.<br />
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There must have been some subconscious chocolate thing going around because two people (in addition to me) made the Barcelona Brownie Bars. <br />
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Allergic-to-nuts-except-for-almonds <a href="http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/hcb-barcelona-brownie-bars.html">Hanaa</a> substituted toasted almonds for pecans, baked the brownies in her mini brioche molds, and decorated each brownie brioche with three almonds. <a href="http://yjdesserts.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/barcelona-brownie-bars/">Raymond</a> followed the recipe almost exactly, except for the substitution of walnuts for pecans. Since he was making them specifically for someone who hates pecans, this seemed reasonable. Unlike Hanaa, Raymond made the ganache plugs, which he thought were good but "not at all necessary for the enjoyment of these little morsels." <br />
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We also doubled up on another recipe: the Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake. (I had to go to my book to see whether it was the Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake or the Heavenly Seduction Coconut Cake. This is a very confusing issue if you give it too much thought).<br />
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Our math whiz <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/hcb-free-choice-heavenly-coconut.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a> made 70% of the recipe--something I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else doing. But it worked for her--making a small heart-shaped pan and a few cupcakes. Jenn doesn't much like coconut cake herself, but was excited to make this because her husband does. (She calls herself "cheesy" for this sentiment, but I say it sounds like every day is Valentine's Day at the Knitty Baker household).<br />
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I almost missed <a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/02/rhc-heavenly-seduction-coconut-cake.html">Nancy B's </a>posting about her heavenly seduction cake because she followed it so closely with her post about her ciabatta. Both are lovely; indeed, they are seductive. Nancy thinks of this cake as the "five forms of coconut cake," although she ended up using only four forms. <br />
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Speaking of every day being Valentine's Day, <a href="http://www.eatsndrinks.ca/2011/02/21/marble-velvet-cake/">Kristina</a> lets her husband choose what cake to make for Free Choice week. This week he chose the marble velvet cake, and Kristina obliged. She thinks she needs to "work on [her] marbling skills," but I say her marbling skills look A-OK.<br />
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Even in deep midwinter, the Lemon Crown Cake looked good to <a href="http://whiskedandstirred.blogspot.com/2011/02/meyer-lemon-crown-cake.html">Maria</a>, who made it with Meyer lemons as a treat for her mother, who was coming home from Dubai(!) Maria had never made homemade ladyfingers before (oh, how I remember my first attempt at ladyfingers!), but her first try was a winner, as was the cake, beautifully wrapped in a green ribbon.<br />
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Some people took Free Choice week to extremes. <a href="http://sarahthebear.com/blog/?p=1347">Sarah</a>, for example, did the No-Bake Cheesecake as well as the Carrot Cake. You've probably seen the frosting carrots that a <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://thumbs.ifood.tv/files/images/food/bakery-carrot-cake-04.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ifood.tv/network/magnolia_bakery_carrot_cake&usg=__rea8WXcm2Rjb51_DqkgEhqee31c=&h=375&w=500&sz=181&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=QRVIz7ZCM8aNXM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=148&ei=9bxlTa-EEJGCsQPD6JnyBA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcarrot%2Bcake%2Bbakery%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1437%26bih%3D522%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=571&vpy=212&dur=4461&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=155&ty=216&oei=1rxlTbDBGpGftwfr1ZyrBg&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0">standard bakery uses as decoration on its carrot cakes</a>. Nice. But then you should look at the marzipan "heirloom carrots" that Sarah dreamed up for her carrot cake. More than nice. <br />
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And <a href="http://breadbabies.blogspot.com/2011/02/science-shows-lemon-does-not-always.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FEkbUr+%28Second+Dinner%29">Katya</a> went on a baking rampage. She did <b>three</b> catch-up cakes: the Lemon Canadian Crown, the Black Chocolate Party Cake, and the Quail Egg Indulgence. I must say that Katya pooh-poohed those of us who were "moaning and groaning" about making homemade ladyfingers. She <i>likes</i> to make ladyfingers, and sounds like she's been doing it since she was about three years old. But her blog did remind me that I had some ladyfingers in my freezer, so I'm not going to get all sniffy about her ladyfinger superiority.<br />
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And then, if you want to talk about someone who really went baking crazy, take a look at <a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/02/golden-lemon-lavender-almond-cake-and.html">Jennifer</a>, and her epic 72-hour kitchen adventure. She made a wedding cake (which included the golden lemon almond cake as her free choice selection), as well as "baking three different cakes, making four fillings, seven syrups, and three different frostings (one frosting I made three times)."<br />
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And so we're all one cake closer to finishing all the cakes in the book.<br />
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This upcoming week is something very different: a sticky toffee "pudding" that's not a pudding at all, at least not an American "pudding." It's a spice cake flavored with dates--and stout--topped wiith a butterscotch toffee sauce and a pecan and creme fraiche topping. Just the thing if you're eating light. You can also make individual "puddings," and I'm hoping that at least a few people will take that route. The pudding/cake is made in a 9 by 13 pan and serves 12. That's a lot of pudding. I expect some people will want to cut this recipe in half, and I may be one of them.<br />
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The following two weeks are both chocolate cakes. I don't know how that happened--I usually try not to have two chocolate desserts in a row. I've learned my lesson, though, and will not change the order of recipes once they've been announced.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-70118172109300596402011-02-20T17:18:00.000-08:002011-02-20T17:18:28.489-08:00Barcelona Brownie Bars (and Madeleines) with Cherries Macerated in Kirsch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlOQkWhZJEPjSHQmEmKErKovX8IbdR3Qcg-Spvwk5imoFnoGtTC4AFnggbShe3W4N7gH23IE30y0qzBmiZDvCAps5FschSL36mfF5U0R_skA7Ek07iLKU1I8O0vDEs-8_CekOFauV_hx5/s1600/02-20-11+Cake+25.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlOQkWhZJEPjSHQmEmKErKovX8IbdR3Qcg-Spvwk5imoFnoGtTC4AFnggbShe3W4N7gH23IE30y0qzBmiZDvCAps5FschSL36mfF5U0R_skA7Ek07iLKU1I8O0vDEs-8_CekOFauV_hx5/s400/02-20-11+Cake+25.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I love the word "macerate." It sounds so much more stylish than "soak." Especially if you are macerating something--dried cherries in this case--in kirsch. My Free Choice cake is a reprise of the Barcelona Brownies, but with said cherries macerated in said kirsch substituting for the pecans. And no ganache plugs this time because 1) they caused me trouble last time and 2) they're really not necessary because these brownies are so moist and lovely on their own.<br />
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As I write, we are having Blizzard #22 in Minnesota. To be honest, it may not be the 22nd blizzard but it feels like it. At least with the brownies in hand, and the short ribs in red wine I'm planning to make tomorrow, we'll be happy in our snowed-in condition. I don't want to hear a peep out of those of you who live in Florida or anyplace else where it's 80 degrees outside.<br />
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I'm done with my winter rant now and will go back to the cake. When I was looking for a cake to do for Free Choice week, I saw this variation. But when I went to my liquor cabinet, which, as you know, has grown mightily during this cake-baking project, I found that I was - oddly - bereft of either kirsch or cherry heering. Did I really want to invest more money in another bottle of some obscure liqueur? Oh, sure. But not cherry heering, which sounds too much like fish. <br />
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I did something that I thought was very clever, and that saved a pan. The directions say to melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, and then transfer it to the mixing bowl. I just used the mixing bowl as the top of the double boiler. OK, maybe everyone else has thought of this too, but I'm usually such a slave to the directions that I feel inordinately pleased with myself when I do something more or less creative.<br />
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In no time at all, the batter is mixed up and ready to be poured into the financier pans (or whatever). I swear I own two financier pans. I must, because I've made numerous batches of financiers. But I could only locate one of them. I decided to use my madeleine pan for the leftover batter. Financier/madeleine: they're both French words, right?<br />
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45 grams of batter went into each financier slot, whereas the madeleine pans held only about 20 grams each. At 12 minutes, when I checked the financiers, they were very liquid. I checked again at 15: still not done. A surprise, because usually my convection oven, set 25 degrees lower, finishes fast. I decided that at low temps (325F - 300 in the convection), maybe there wasn't much of a difference. I raised the temperature to 325 and removed them from the oven after another few minutes. Two of them were still not completely done, but Jim and I ate them to protect other people from the horror of underdone brownies.<br />
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I was going to drizzle them with a little cream cheese frosting, but, after tasting them, decided they didn't need anything else. My investment club is meeting at my house on Tuesday, and I'll sprinkle them with powdered sugar before I serve them, assuming any are left. Perhaps we'll be moved to invest in a chocolate company. Or in NordicWare.<br />
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The tasting panel was called on account of the blizzard, and the brownies, as of Sunday night, were tasted only by Jim and me, both of whom were crazy about them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-76754540259600813462011-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:002011-02-16T13:54:33.302-08:00Last Cake, Next CakeI thought that everyone would be dying to make this little cake for Valentine's Day, but we actually had a pretty small participation this week. Whether the low turnout was caused by quail-egg anxiety or other baking commitments or winter vacations I don't know. In my opinion, the people who missed this one may want to give it a try on a Free Choice week. But that's just my opinion--I'll admit that this cake got mixed reviews.<br />
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Like me, <a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/02/quail-egg-indulgence-cake.html">Jennifer</a> fell in love with the quail eggs (and the quail, for that matter: "if I ever came across ... one, and I could get away with it, ... I would hug the little bird. They are just so dang cute!") Oh, and the cake? Well, she liked that too: "dense, rich, and soft with a crispy buttery crust."<br />
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<a href="http://greensteinsbakery.blogspot.com/2011/02/heavenly-cake-quail-egg-seduction.html#comment-form">Mendy</a> also liked the quail eggs ("little lovelies"), and the cake as well: he thought his cupcakes "had an exceptional, indulgent flavor. Really something special."<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/02/quail-egg-indulgence.html">Lois</a> had two heart-shaped pans, so she made two cakes: one, in the spirit of a giving holiday, to give to friends. Lois gave a good description of what we all experienced when trying to break and separate the quail eggs: "Working with quail eggs is not easy. Rapping the shell on the edge of a bowl will crack the shell, but I still had to poke through the very tough membrane. The eggs are mostly yolk, but this does not help with separating. The small amount of white clung to the yolk with great tenacity." Rose recommends a quail egg decapitator (how's that for a specialized piece of equipment?!)<br />
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<a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/02/rhc-quail-egg-indulgence-cake.html">Nancy B.</a> knew just where to find her quail eggs: she'd seen them a thousand times at a local farmers' market. She found them at a second market, and bought a spare package so she could double the recipe, using Texas muffin pans. Results? Everyone (except one nephew) "loved the crispy crunchy crust (as advertised), the fine crumb, and the nice vanilla/butter flavor." But, unless she gets an egg decapitator to make quail-egg-separating time easier, she thought she'd probably use chicken eggs next time. <br />
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And using chicken eggs is just what <a href="http://baking-with-granny.blogspot.com/2011/02/quail-free-egg-indulgence-cake.html">Vicki</a> did. (She called hers a "quail-free egg indulgence cake.") Vicki, who has self-proclaimed "guilt issues over eggs as a non vegan vegetarian," just couldn't bring herself to hunt down the quail eggs because she remembered when it was a common sight in California to see a covey of quails, but all that construction has invaded their habitat. Her tasters thought they resembled a "sugar cookie in cake form."<br />
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If you've read <a href="http://yjdesserts.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/quail-egg-indulgence-cake/">Raymond's </a>blog entry, you'll know that he gave the cake a decided thumbs down, both because of the ridiculous price of quail eggs ($3 per egg, or $15 for enough eggs to make the petite cake), and because he just didn't like the cake. (" I made it on Saturday morning and when we ate it at dinner it was hard and dry. We literally took one bite and tossed the whole thing into the trash.")<br />
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Our Valentine's Day <b>FEATURED BAKER</b> is <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/hcb-quail-egg-indulgence-cake-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a>--one of just a few who had the small heart-shaped pan recommended for this recipe. What I really liked about Jenn's cake was that it wasn't perfect, but she used her cake lemons to make lemonade. She photographed her cake that failed to come out of the pan in one piece against a pretty pink lacy background and dubbed it the "broken heart" cake. And, because Jenn is seriously into catching up, she baked a second cake--the chocolate streusel coffee cake. "32 cakes to go YAY" Finally, I loved Jenn's endearing revelation that she was fed quail eggs as a child in her mother's undying effort to put some fat on that skinny girl's bones. <br />
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<a href="http://lolasartisticendeavors.blogspot.com/2011/02/heavenly-cakes-double-chocolate.html">Lola</a> thought she was making the Cake of the Week--only she thought that it was a Free Choice week. (In fairness to Lola, I should point out that it was Free Choice week until I switched it around so that the Quail Egg cake would be the cake for Valentine's Day). She made the Double Chocolate Valentine--which was our V-Day cake last year, and is hard to beat, especially when it's covered with whipped-cream rosettes.<br />
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But it's this upcoming week that's Free Choice week. Grab your cookbook and choose a recipe that has already been made, either by me baking alone, or by the group--and bake away!<br />
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On February 28, the last day of February (hooray! winter is almost over!), we'll bake the Sticky Toffee "Pudding." As you may guess from the quotation marks around "pudding," this isn't what we Americans think of as pudding, but others will not find it at all odd to call a cake a pudding. It's flavored with stout, preferably Guinness. For those of you who don't drink alcohol, a non-alcoholic beer could substitute. Several internet sites also say that ginger ale can be a beer substitute. <br />
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Coincidentally, two of our bloggers, Mendy and Lois, announced that they would be off the baking rotation for a few weeks because they're moving. Mendy just found out he needed to look for a new place, and Lois is going to move to Poland, where she frequently visits, for a few years at least. Good luck to both of you--may your moves be smooth and your return to baking be speedy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-58726985127108552312011-02-13T18:24:00.000-08:002011-02-13T18:24:08.078-08:00Quail Egg Indulgence Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1ZE87IQANzNrTN6vbJS0I7PK8Epzmae56AfnYdJXGYku8lIY0dwKIxG288kAMsM9P6lUTCgQ8PnXURf9e8pCijo_4W6KNFPCBBDWXLIb4dB5qT_kGIcMPhUNRPFBfeT5yObOe8Qg6zFP/s1600/02-13-11+Cake+27.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1ZE87IQANzNrTN6vbJS0I7PK8Epzmae56AfnYdJXGYku8lIY0dwKIxG288kAMsM9P6lUTCgQ8PnXURf9e8pCijo_4W6KNFPCBBDWXLIb4dB5qT_kGIcMPhUNRPFBfeT5yObOe8Qg6zFP/s400/02-13-11+Cake+27.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Before I start talking about cake, let me apologize for not getting the mid-week blog done this week. By the time I got home from New Orleans, it was the end of the week, and too late. Of course, I read everyone's blogs when I got home. I was so surprised to learn that chocolate-pecan-caramel is not at the top of everyone's flavor combinations! When I was a little girl, there were two kinds of candy that made me happy: chocolate-covered cherries and pecan turtles. I think they were made by either Russell Stover or Fanny Farmer. At the time, those were considered (by me, anyway) high-class chocolates. Now, of course, I'm much more finicky. <br />
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So finicky that I must have quail eggs in my cakes! I thought I might end up just using chicken eggs since the first Asian grocery store I went to only had canned quail eggs, but I hit the jackpot on my second try. I had no idea they were going to be so goldarn adorable!<br />
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And produced locally on a quail farm, so I didn't have to worry about my quail egg cake decimating the wild quail population. <br />
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Yes, they are hard to crack open. It's not so much that the shell is hard; it's just that the inner membrane is tough and stubborn. If you whack the egg too hard, the yolk will break from the knife's force. If you tap it too gently, you may break the yolk with your fingernails when you're trying to pry open the shell. I think it took me seven eggs to get the requisite 28 grams. But I still have a kazillion eggs left. (A dozen or so anyway). I'm going to hard boil some tomorrow and use them as a garnish for a salad. Then maybe I'll have 3 or 4 for breakfast.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2e0UKMWMU6TGEQIjohLVdo8K9ZqfkEiwuPUibu7Ij9O7ae7kpfiqD0rGSqLPW-5w5rV03uL1hK6_FdV2zTIEbYoSSKfoh0IGfd3yqKLLYHhQYHQ6GCXgDHCjp6KTYyTPBAhWsS60j4km/s1600/02-13-11+Cake+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2e0UKMWMU6TGEQIjohLVdo8K9ZqfkEiwuPUibu7Ij9O7ae7kpfiqD0rGSqLPW-5w5rV03uL1hK6_FdV2zTIEbYoSSKfoh0IGfd3yqKLLYHhQYHQ6GCXgDHCjp6KTYyTPBAhWsS60j4km/s400/02-13-11+Cake+10.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The yolks are actually bigger than I expected. I think that the yolk:white ratio may be a little different than with chicken eggs, with more yolk than white. But I'm just guessing about that.<br />
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Once the eggs are broken, the batter is easy to mix up. (It's not on the Quick &Easy list, although it would be if you didn't have to 1) drive all over town looking for quail eggs, and 2) spend a lot of time trying to break them. <br />
The batter is thick and rich-looking, not surprising because of the butter/cream/egg yolk factor.<br />
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The crust promised a lot of crunch. It delivered on the promise, too.<br />
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I actually had more trouble finding a small heart-shaped cake pan than in finding quail eggs. Since I was in New Orleans, Jim volunteered to buy me the pan, so he set off on a cake-pan quest. He tried Williams-Sonoma, Kitchen Window, and several other likely places before giving up. When I got home, I made a quick, equally unsuccessful, trip to Cooks of Crocus Hill, but apparently no one bakes heart-shaped cakes any more (there are lots of heart-shaped cookie cutters available). So I bought a six-inch round pan, which I guess I should have anyway. And then I ended up stencilling a powdered-sugar heart shape on the round pan. <br />
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Since the cake only served two, I didn't have a tasting panel. Jim and I ate the whole thing. We decided we might as well eat it today, one day ahead of Valentine's Day, so that we'd taste it at its freshest. <br />
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My only complaint about the cake is that half of it was too much--not that I didn't eat every crumb of my half. We both liked it a lot, and agreed on the appropriate adjectives: rich, moist, tender, good. <br />
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It's just a plain cake--sort of in the way a simple Chanel suit is a plain outfit.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-41034110452021720702011-02-07T00:01:00.000-08:002011-02-07T00:01:04.820-08:00Mud Turtle Cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqteJQgmaIJwNnBJ1Dq_qYpi3lk1BOdmMEnYZ2dIFki3Mxe1crSfJOXgzVuT2x8RmJYWIG5mkOI2h1LiBVV0KBk1s_u1BpoaFBob9HUya_EniENagkN4-5alVUC1DvgdJjNlOt4PC7MhrO/s1600/01-30-11+Cake+41.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqteJQgmaIJwNnBJ1Dq_qYpi3lk1BOdmMEnYZ2dIFki3Mxe1crSfJOXgzVuT2x8RmJYWIG5mkOI2h1LiBVV0KBk1s_u1BpoaFBob9HUya_EniENagkN4-5alVUC1DvgdJjNlOt4PC7MhrO/s400/01-30-11+Cake+41.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
As you can imagine, when my very nice dentist put in a temporary crown and told me that I couldn't eat caramel, the first thing I thought of was these cupcakes. How was I going to test gooey, caramely cupcakes if I couldn't eat caramel? I made one cupcake for myself, topped only by ganache and pecans, neither of which was on the dentally forbidden list, and felt sorry for myself. To make myself feel better, I put one cupcake in the freezer, where it awaits me coming home with a permanent crown and permission to eat caramel once again.<br />
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These little cakes can't really be on the Quick and Easy list because of the piping, smoothing, caramel-making, pecan-placing, etc. But the cupcakes themselves are nice and easy. Just mix up cocoa, eggs, and sour cream. (You know they're going to be good).<br />
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Then everything else (flour, sugar, butter, etc.) is mixed together until you get a nice, smooth light brown mixture. If you're feeling daring, you can taste it.<br />
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I wanted to be sure not to overbake these little cupcakes, so I took them out after 16 minutes--perhaps still a bit underdone in the middle, but I figured the continued heat from the cake itself would take care of that. I think I could have baked it one minute less and it would still have been okay. If I were testing, I'd try them at 14, 15, and 16 minutes. I think I could get into this testing idea!<br />
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The caramel was the maiden voyage for my new Thermapen. I did the same thing I always do with caramel. I wait just seconds too long. I see that the temperature has somehow gone above 360, and goes even higher after I turn off the heat. Now, however, I've written "LOWER" in the margin of the cookbook, because Woody has advised me to write more notes to myself in my book, and I always take Woody's advice, even though I was brought up not to deface books.<br />
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Adding the cream causes the caramel to "bubble up furiously," just as advertised. And the butter melts in easily.<br />
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I even pipe the ganache "mud" over the top of the cupcakes in a little circle, leaving the middle bare for the caramel placement. The caramel looks and smells so delicious that I'm undergoing a serious bout of self-pity. On the other hand, it doesn't stay as soft as I'd like to it be. Although it softens easily in the microwave, I can tell that it's not going to remain as soft as I'd like it to be on the cupcake. It would surely rip my temporary crown right out of my mouth. How embarrassing to have to return to the dentist with the crown stuck to a big hunk of caramel. Apparently temporary crowns fall off with alarming regularity, or so I assume based on the many hits I got on my Google query regarding what to do when your temporary crown falls out. <br />
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Based on the caramel's consistency, I thought it would be a bad idea to pipe it, so I just used a spoon to place a glob of approximately one teaspoon in mid-cupcake. I reminded myself they were supposed to be turtles, and part of their turtle-y charm would be based on a casually careless look.<br />
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Top with five--no more, no less--previously toasted pecans. That should be enough to get a piece of pecan in every bite. If the caramel were softer, the pecans would stick better. I tell myself to quit obsessing about the danged caramel.<br />
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And finally, more caramel and more chocolate ganache (mud, if you prefer). I love the picture in the cookbook of the little girl looking completely entranced as she gazes at the cupcake she's getting ready to eat. We took a plate of cupcakes to our neighbors, who have two small boys. They looked equally entranced.<br />
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I loved the cupcake I'd made for myself without caramel. It was moist and chocolatey, and you can indeed get a piece of pecan in every bite if you carefully plan your attack. I'm sorry not to be able to sample the caramel, but I can see it's not really "soft sticky," although it's plenty sticky. The ganache is delicious, but bears very little relation to mud. This is not a bad thing. I hope that someone requests these cupcakes to give me a chance to try them again.<br />
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<b>TASTING PANEL</b><br />
Karen: "Yummy. It's the best cupcake I've ever had. A wonderful chocolate treat."<br />
Jim: "It's pretty messy. I'm spilling cake all over the floor. The caramel is very chewy. I sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not. The cake is light, but still chocolatey. It's very good."<br />
Gabe and Nat: "Thanks for the cupcakes!"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8882070718279731833.post-85097494715319564102011-02-03T15:17:00.000-08:002011-02-03T15:17:30.439-08:00Last Cake, Next CakeRemember the old story about the blind (or blindfolded) men who all touch an elephant and then describe what they've just touched? The one who touches the leg says the elephant looks like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says it's like a rope. Then they have a violent disagreement about the elephant's looks until some wise person comes and straightens it out.<br />
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I felt like I was reading that story when I read through the blogs this week. The reactions were so different you'd hardly know that everyone baked the same cake Some people thought it was excruciatingly difficult to make; others thought it almost too easy. Some people loved the dacquoise; others thought it was too sweet. Some put it on their all-time favorites list; others were lukewarm about it. But it was the same cake. <i>Chacun a son gout</i>, right?<br />
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<a href="http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/hcb-cradle-cake.html">Hanaa</a> was one of several people who had been hinting broadly that they wished I'd hurry up and schedule the cradle cake because they wanted to make it so badly. However, before she started making her own version, she heard about Monica's difficulties, and approached the cake with "caution," even cutting the recipe in half in case things didn't go well. But she ended up liking it "a lot. The dacquoise was crunchy and chewy at the same time (like a macaroon), and the cake is so soft and tender, it just melts in your mouth."<br />
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<a href="http://www.sweetbitesblog.com/journal/2011/1/30/hcb-cradle-cake.html">Monica's </a>experience--the one that scared Hanaa--was described like this on her blog: "The whole middle of the cake was one hot mess. The whole thing had collapse on itself and I had a thousand little heart attacks in front of my oven. I took it out and for the longest time just stared at the ugly mess in front of me." Well, you can see how this would make both Hanaa and Monica nervous. (Monica's second attempt turned out to be quite successful.)<br />
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Unlike Hanaa and Monica, <a href="http://yjdesserts.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/cradle-cake/">Raymond</a> was not at all intrigued by the idea of the cake, and thought it looked like a "simple snack cake and nothing more." But he ended up giving it "high marks for ease of assembly" and "on the taste scale." "It is richly flavored with butter and vanilla and the nut dacquoise adds a very nice chocolatey, nutty crunch to the exterior." He gave it low marks on the presentation scale, however. . He thought he had to slather it with leftover ganache to make it presentable.<br />
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But <a href="http://knittybaker.blogspot.com/2011/01/hcb-cradle-cake.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KnittyBaker+%28Knitty+Baker%29">Jenn</a> was so happy with the way her little heart-shaped cradle cakes looked that it "made her happy to look at them." She was less pleased with the taste, which she thought was "pretty good" but "too sweet."<br />
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The ever-cheerful <a href="http://greensteinsbakery.blogspot.com/2011/01/heavenly-cake-cradle-cake.html">Mendy</a> thought "this fantastic cake was fun to eat and fun to make." He even wished he had made two!<br />
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<a href="http://foodlovelanguage.blogspot.com/2011/01/cradle-cake.html">Lois</a> was in the group that thought the cake tasted good but wasn't very pretty. Although she thought the "flavor was wonderful," her heart sank when she saw how much the cake sank.<br />
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This cake tied Lola "in knots." Her first try was "a disaster," and her second was "not as big a disaster as the first," but it still sank in the middle. In fact, she decided that "although it tastes really good, I[she] really cannot gift this cake to unsuspecting neighbors." (My personal opinion is that the neighbors would have ben happy to have it.)<br />
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On the other hand, <a href="http://blog.razzledazzlecookies.com/cradle-cake.html">Gartblue</a> really had no trouble with the execution of the cake, and thought "the dacquoise was superb, crunchy and sweet and much loved. The girls, literally stripped it naked of its cradle." But she wasn't as enamored with the cake, which "left an aftertaste" in her mouth, reminiscent of an overdose of baking powder.<br />
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<a href="http://nlbarber.blogspot.com/2011/01/rhc-cradle-cake.html">Nancy</a> disagreed: she described the cake part as a "nice moist buttermilk cake in the middle." In fact, she added the cake to her all-time favorite list but wasn't sure she'd ever make it again because "it was a lot of trouble to get that nice crunchy chocolate-pecan cradle."<br />
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No trouble for <a href="http://www.eatsndrinks.ca/2011/01/31/cradle-cake/">Kristina</a>, who found that "it comes together super quickly once you have everything ready. I actually managed to make this after I got home from work and before my guests arrived on Friday evening."<br />
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<a href="http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2011/01/cradle-cake.html">Jennifer</a> falls firmly in the category of big fans who had no trouble with the cake at all. Or, as she put it, "this week's Heavenly Cake is magical cake alchemy at its best. A tender, buttermilk yellow cake is baked inside a crispy, nutty dacquoise--something I would never have thought possible. Magic, I tell you!"<br />
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Our <b>FEATURED BAKER</b> this week is <a href="http://alittlecakewonthurt.blogspot.com/2011/01/cradle-cake.html">Andrea</a>. She had not been looking forward to making the cradle cake, and wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, but found that it tasted "amazing." Once she got the cake out of the pan, she decided "it definitely needed something on top. I decided to go with the glaze because it was much quicker, and Daniel wanted some cake." In fact, it was a good thing she fed Daniel, because he thought it was the "best cake so far."<br />
Not only did Andrea make a super-looking cake, but the good news is that she also found a new job! Congratulations, Andrea--glad you found a new job so quickly!<br />
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Next week, we're back to the Baby Cakes chapter, with Mud Turtle Cupcakes: chocolate, more chocolate, caramel, and pecans. I'm going to New Orleans this weekend, so I've already made my cupcakes, and they are fantastic. My caramel got overdone, and I'll be very curious to read the blogs to see how everyone else's turns out.<br />
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Following that, another cake from the Baby Cakes chapter! (Sorry Raymond--don't know how that happened). This Quail Egg Indulgence Cake is only big enough for two (a perfect Valentine's Day cake!) and calls for, as you might suspect, quail eggs.<br />
As we say in Minnesota, "Well, that's different."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11