Well...not really. And it wasn't last night either. The long awaited pictures of H-izzo's cake! Isn't it lovely? I admit, the side frosting job was a little shoddy - but by the time I got around to frosting it, I had run out of ideas.
The "deets": -yellow butter cake layers doused with liquer -sandwiching layers of whipped cream and local blackberries -topped with a dark chocolate ganache and more whipped cream
Yum.
But let me explain this whole "saving my life" story. This is a pretty small cake - probably smaller than a catalogue envelope (5" by 9"), I wanted to keep it small, but dense and full of flavour (success!). Handily, it fit on my lovely Epicurean "Handy" cutting board (picture a thin, flat, wood-composite cutting board about the size of a catalogue envelope with a 4" handle on one end - like a small rectangular pizza peel) and I had been steadily shuttling it in and out of my fridge while assembling. I had put together all the layers and had inserted a few skewers for support (wow! what a hidden lifesaver) and was JUST about to frost - when the unthinkable happened.
I dropped it. On the floor.
I think I was being too cavalier in the kitchen; whirling around my small space with cutting board in hand - when I looked away for a split second when I heard it.
*splat*
I looked down, and all I could see was the top of my cake and a ring of whipped cream around it. My heart stopped. But it started beating again when I realized - "hey, it's still upright!" It had landed as perfectly as a dropped cake could. The impact caused some of the filling to spurt out, but otherwise, it was intact. Thanks to that cardboard base and, I suppose, the skewers. With a shaking hand and beating heart, I quickly finished decorating the cake and let it rest in the fridge until presentation time.
There's really nothing like a cake with fresh fruit - it's so underrated! I'd be tempted to make a traditional mango cake - but I don't trust myself around ripe mangoes. They'd never make it to the cake stage.
It was the ??th birthday of one half of my dynamic cooking buddies, T & J. This month - it was T's birthday - but I have J's ??th birthday coming up in a mere two months! That's two whole months to sketch out a cake! I suppose it's become a bit of a tradition of mine to present my friend with a custom birthday cake for the occasion. I think in the years between school and family - we tend to overlook the tradition of presenting an actual cake! It sort of disintegrates into a birthday dessert at a restaurant or, *gasp* a birthday drink. Not that I am opposed to a birthday drink - but hey! I want to slice a cake!
I had two cake presentations this week - the H-izzo's birthday was earlier this week, so I had to schedule my week strategically so I could get both of them done. I didn't bring my camera to H-izzo's house, so I'll publish T's cake this post.
It was an unintentionally dense coconut cake baked in a round cake mold, 'filled' with sweet lemon curd and topped with seven minute frosting. Yes, it was quite an undertaking. I had no idea coconut cakes were so....rich! All the recipes I looked at contained a sinful amount of butter and eggs, so I opted for a buttermilk-style cake and added coconut and coconut milk (instead of buttermilk). It was baked in a round, Bundt-style cake mold and then I carved out a ring on the top, scooped out some cake, doused the whole thing in a Malibu-syrup, filled it with lemon, replaced the top cake ring and then frosted that mo-fo.
Why do they call it bread, anyway? It's not kneaded, not risen and punched down, not yeast based; nothing about 'Banana Bread' is bread! Maybe it's because it's signature shape - traditionally in loaf pans. So should it be called Banana Loaf? I prefer Banana Cake myself - I like a cake-y Banana Bread - the dense ones are too wet and the flavour of the fruit is too concentrated. I like a little more texture in my Banana Bread/Cake/Loaf - which is why it's studded with chocolate chips, toasted coconut, and pecans.
See?
This recipe made a massive amount of cake. I managed to get three decent sized portions out of it. They are relatively flatter than a traditional cake, but meh - more to go around!
Recipe notes: -Used 5 bananas instead of 6 -Substituted cream instead of creme fraiche -Added two generous handfuls of chocolate chips -Added 1/3 cup of toasted coconut (pantry orphan) -Substituted pecans for walnuts, not toasted -Reduced oil and sugar with no noticeable difference (reduced by about 25%)
Recently I acquired yet another cookbook which features fun and creative way to decorate cupcakes. As a cupcake aficionado myself, I was immediately inspired to make some - decorated like Shibas! What's a Shiba, you ask? Only the cutest breed of dog in the world! They are a beautiful and quirky Japanese breed of dog and my family and I have been helping take care of one for years. She's my fur baby and I thought it would be an appropriate homage to her to make cupcakes with her adorable face on each one. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out quite how I had envisioned it. The cake was great! Amazing, in fact! (Martha recipe, of course - Yellow Butter Layer Cake) But the buttercream...wow...not so much. Looks decent in the photo, right? But let me tell ya - a classic buttercream is a skill to be learned. And I was schooled. Big time. The method has three parts:
Make a syrup.
Heat and whisk eggs
Incorporate the two and a mutha load of butter.
Step 1 and 2 went well and as planned, but Step 3 - not so much! My problems were:
The syrup was waaaaay too hot. (no thanks to my TWO thermometers!)
It cooked some of the eggs (yeah, I know, eewwwwww!).
I didn't strain out the egg bits - I didn't know if straining the syrup would break the syrup or not and I didn't want to risk it.
There are teeny globs of egg in the icing.
I know! Gross, right? But you can't taste them! And I already put three bloody sticks of butter in that mess, so it's too late!
Other than the little globules of egg - they look really pretty.
End result: I didn't make little Shiba faces. I made pretty pink starbursts instead. And sprinkled them with clear sanding sugar. and they taste pretty darn good. Globules of egg and all.
The "deets":
