Cake #20 Black Forest Boule-de-Neige

I have to say, this Black Forest Boule-de-Neige cake caught my attention early on in this project.  Looked like a total ball to make.  Plus, I like Black Forest.  It seemed kind of "holiday", so we didn't do it right away.  Then there were so many actual holiday cakes, this one got lost, which is how I wound up making it on a hot day in August.

Part of my excitement was that I already had the requisit metal bowl - we use it all the time, so I was glad it did not get ruined after its stint in the oven.

Our friends Amy & Dave were coming to visit - not that I need an occasion to make a cake these days, but really, I was glad to have a deadline.  I thought I had to hit the store for key ingredients to get started, so I did not do it Friday night.  Turns out my pantry was stocked, with a couple exceptions - we even had dried cherries on hand!  How on earth did Ben let this slip by him? He usually eats them the moment we get them home.

The recipe calls for lining the bowl with tin foil.  I was supposed to melt the cherries in a cherry jam, but I used leftover strawberry jelly from the beach.  Not a big deal on the substitution scale.

 On Saturday we were out and about and decided to pick up some nosh for our friends at Formaggio Kitchen.  Now, faithful reader, in case you recall the marrons-glaces debacle from New Year's Eve, this is the same store that ALMOST had that elusive ingredient.  We were going for olives & cheese, but I thought they might have this garnish:  candied violets.  I was fully prepared to substitute with purple skittles or cake decorations,  since from the picture it just seemed like garnish.  But, it turns out, I saw upon the shelf, in a great glass bottle:  Candied Violets.  And then I saw:  $99.99 per lb.  Whaaaaaaaaaaaa???? Really?  You've got to be kidding me.  The candy counter girl saw my reaction and volunteered to count some out for me - "so, uh, yeah, how much would like 10 run me?  Am I in for $25?"  Luckily no.  I was able to buy 15 of them for $3.00.  Whew.  Wish they sold the marron-glaces like that.

The funny part was when I got them home, one of my "helpers" opened the box and dropped it at the same time scattering them across the kitchen.  No worries, the floor was recently cleaned, and we deemed the 3 second rule to be in play.  Sorry officemates, now you know.  But it was weeks ago, and you are fine, right?

The cake was fun to frost, fun to make, but really waaaaaayyyy to sludgey in the end.  It said it would be a little runny when a cake tester was inserted - but what is "a little"?  Mine was, and the interior was more like raw brownie fudge, and not really in a good way.

The top of it where it was nice and brownie like was awesome, but that was only about 1/4 inch of the whole cake.  Maybe baking it longer would have an impact.   I won't know 'cuz I am probably not going to make this beauty again.

And, it turns out that my friend Deb wins the prize for telling me what Boule de Neige means ... its French for snow ball.  Duh.

Cake # 19 Frozen Passionfruit Meringue Cake

This cake is Frozen and made of meringue ... therefore not a real "cake" in my book  - but hey.   Frozen screams beach in July.  So what if the title ingredient calls for "3/4 c frozen passionfruit pulp" which "can be found in Latino specialty food shops".  I did not have high hopes for finding said shop on the Outerbanks of NC where they seem to import only eastern European summer help.  That said, we did actually find a latino convenience store which sold a slew of cool spices and dried peppers, but their frozen section consisted mainly of popsicles.  I anticipated this at least and already mentally compromised by using Mango.  Which I found fresh at Food Lion.  I used 3, skinned and cut them into the blender to make a puree.  Then whipped it into the freezer only to read later that the "frozen passion fruit pulp" was to be thawed before using.

This cake was fun to make.  It requires measuring and drawing on parchment.

Squeezing the meringue layers with cake piping bags.

Multiple steps and freezer bits.  I made it on my way to the pool.

Then swam for a while.  Came in, made a few more steps, then went to the ocean.  Popped it in the freezer and had myself a nap.  When everyone else was having cocktails, I piped on the decorative icing.

A few things I learned:

I could never have made this cake at my house.
I do not have a serving dish long enough.
You really need an empty freezer to fit the dang thing in there - who has that, besides a huge beach house with an extra, and dare I say, tie-dyed, empty freezer in the basement gameroom?

There was not enough whipped cream - I wound up whipping more. Should have just made a whole 2 cups to start.
My niece and nephew there thought this was the "best cake in the whole entire world"  and that it "looked so awesome and pretty".  And they liked hanging around to benefit from licking beaters and bowls.
We brought it over to our cousin's house for a dessert night that was to die for.  This cake was eaten and seemingly well liked - but I much preferred the chambord chocolate brownies that Janet made.
It was fun to make.  If frozen and meringue is your thing, go for it. Who knows how different it would have tasted with passion fruit instead of mango?  I'll never know b.c I am not going to make this one again.

Cake #18 - Pecan Spice Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

We went to the beach for a week and I took advantage of my hobby by knocking 2 more cakes off the list...which if anyone is keeping score, still puts us way off track from actually finishing all 30 cakes by Labor Day.  Not to mention, Mindy had her baby Juliet a couple weeks ago, and Juliet is not so good with a blender yet, so she is no help!

Alas, we are also getting down to a random assortment of cakes - many of which seem too heavy and holiday/winter-like.  I was really not looking forward to this one, but then thought, Hey!  We are going to North Carolina and there are all those veggie and nut stands on the sides of the road on the way down.   This recipe leads with "a Southern treat" or something.  Bingo!  I will make this cake and pawn it off on all of Ben's relative -using only the freshest pecans from the side of the road.

Well, okay smarty-pants, apparently NC is not know for pecans.  Peanuts, sure - lots of places sold those - but I guess I need to go to Texas for Pecans.  Therefore, my cake was made with the store-brand Food Lion pecans - though I did go to the trouble of toasting them myself.

My first cake with an ocean view!

Baking in a rented beach house is funny.  It's better than camping, but a little like grab-bag.  I anticipated some trouble in this department, so while we were leaving the house for our 12 hour drive, I ran back in to grab a few provisions...funny Ben did not kill me when he saw me grinding cloves with the mortar & pestle while holding the car keys and wearing my purse.  But, this is a spice cake for goodness sake, if I had to buy all 37 spices for a pinch of each, it would have cost more than the chocolate cognac cake from New Year's Eve.  I brilliantly packed them all in a baggie and was on my way.

The cake was very straight forward to make.  I did cheat by not slicing each cake in half making it a "4" layer cake as in the picture.  I worried there would have been too little frosting - and there would have been - and it would have been a bear to slice there and frost - very crumbly texture.  Oh, but the frosting...THIS WAS THE BEST CREAM CHEESE FROSTING EVER.  I probably think this b/c it has hints of lemon in it - and I left out about a 1/2-3/4 cup of powdered sugar.  I should use this one in lieu of all my other cream cheese frostings.

Cake #17 Marscapone-Filled Cake with Sherried Berries

Oooh la la.  This Marscapone-Filled Cake with Sherried Berries is/was divine.  Again, to me it is a dessert, not a cake, and it was like a very grown-up elegant version of strawberry shortcake.  The cake itself was excellent - almost like a pound cake.  I did cook it 3-5 minutes too long (forgot to re-set the timer) but it was still great.

We served this at a garden party on Memorial Day weekend.  It was a breath of fresh air after all those triple layer cakes...this one took 1 measly 9" round cake pan.  Slice that cake in half - the cake was sturdy and tall enough to withstand this.  I made the cake the night before and put it in the fridge covered over night.  On the day of the party, I macerated the berries about 6 hours before serving (recipe said only 15 minutes-2 hours).  And I made the marscapone cream filling in advance & assembled the cake once at the party...I was worried the cream would get crushed - that was not a problem at all since the cream is pretty firm.

This cake is easy to make.  In fact, my 9 year old nephew made the entire cake portion all by himself with me supervising.  Maybe he should have done the berries too, b/c I messed them up and had to recover.   To macerate the berries involves fino sherry (borrowed from my in-laws so as to use a much better sherry than the cooking crap I had on hand) + sugar.  So I dumped in the sugar and then the sherry on top of the berries.  And then I read the recipe again.  I was supposed to first dissolve the sugar in the sherry by boiling it in a saucepan and then dumping it on the berries.   Enter the photo above where I strained out the sherry and some sugar to boil and add back.   The end result was just fine - not too alcohol-y either.  Yummm.

This cake would be a great base-cake for other frostings.

This marscapone + cream + sugar whipped into a thick whipped cream is AWESOME.  You could definitely use this as a whipped cream replacement for other desserts.

Cake #16 Lemon Curd Mousse Cake

This Lemon Curd Mousse Cake is, ahem, from Easter.  And it is a dessert, not a cake in my book.  A delicious dessert.  A dessert that is a bonus since we learned to make lemon curd while making this recipe - which will be perfect for future tea parties with my girls.  But really, who am I kidding?  Easter was months ago and what do I remember about this one?
It was delicious.
It was light and fluffy.
It does not travel well.
I'd rather this be cheesecake than mousse cake.

Oh right, there was gelatin involved.  And I had to cook it and then cool it or something.  And it wound up looking like the above and I thought I ruined it.  But I didn't.  It either recovered or it was supposed to look like that.  Eventually it melted to clear again.  

Folding in the light and fluffy mousse makings.

Uhhh, is that the butter in the lemon curd?  It was yummy.  Could be a topping on any other dessert.  

This is my assembled cake as I started to pipe the top.  I should have not put the lemon curd all the way out to the edge.  And I should not have crowded the piped mousse all around the edges (but I didn't want it to go to waste!)  But as I transported this to Easter brunch (and it waited in the cooler while we were churching it up), the piped rounds slid over the edges off the cake.  Glad I took the opening photo before the transport.  

Cake #15 Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

I actually made this cake after the #16 cake, which I will eventually post.  Not really relevant unless you are a historian and all. So this cake has been among the most anticipated of all the cakes in the list.  It hits on so many sweet spots.  It is covered in cream cheese frosting.  It is topped with butter fingers for heaven's sake!  I made it for my folks when they came to visit and for a belated birthday cake for my mom- for which we never sang (sorry Mom!  Happy Birthday!).  

And - what did we think of it?  YUM!  And OMG, just too darn big.  Really, I am going to throw in the towel on these triple decker cakes.  Come on!  I cannot slice them.  They are too big for my dessert plates.  I cannot store or transport them in any appealing fashion - which is a shame for my colleagues who look forward to the cake run-off.  This is very unfortunate since I was just in NYC and bought 1 more 8" and 1 more 9" round cake pans from Dean & Deluca so that I now have 3 of each. Purchased in part to satisfy my need to buy something from that store, a useful souvenir from the city, and so I would not have to rig up cake solutions.  But now, with all these cake pans here, I am really not interested in another 3 layer cake - even after I gave Mindy the business about not sticking to the recipes.  OH!  And I did not even mention my biggest reason:  the frosting ratio.  I had a very interesting conversation at a business dinner with a man who was shocked that my preferred frosting ratio to cake is about 1:1.  With the triple layer cakes, my frosting around the exterior has been so thin, the whole cake is just a disappointment to me.  This one was no exception.  

The crumb part of the cake was amazing:  moist, held together well for frosting.
The cream cheese frosting was maybe the best I have had.  I have a go-to recipe that is good, which I will stick to.  This one is great (a little on the slippery side), but it takes more effort since you have to make whipped cream and fold it in.  I'll use this one when we need to really impress.
The chocolate peanut butter middle layer was fantastic...and when I was frosting the cakes and accidentally got the cream cheese in the chocolate frosting, and licked it off the spoon, it was AMAZING.  I think this could be a hybrid frosting, just mix the two for a light chocolate brown color and use it like that. 


I was going to skip the Butterfingers in favor of peanut butter cups, but I am so glad I did not.  The butterfingers really crumbled into flakes, that could easily dissolve, so it was a great flavor combo and not the texture nightmare I thought it would be

So, this is what 1 LB of brown sugarr looks like before it goes into a cake.

So I thought I was a genius until I realized I needed to whip the cream all the way, so should not have put it in the measuring cup.  In my forever quest to minimize dishes (no laughing Ben), I was glad our 50s beater fit in the cup.  Then I needed it cold, so my cup fit right in the icy bowl - it worked out, but I should have used a bigger bowl.  

Did I mention the slippery?  This is not supposed to be a parallelogram.  The longer I let it rest there, the more it just slid over on its own.  And there was a frosting caution.  The middle chocolate layers are dark chocolatey colored and I pushed mine right to the edge - which was a problem when i had to apply a thin layer of white frosting to the exterior.  It resulted in a smeary chocolate/white exterior ... and the revelation that man the frosting combo was GOOD.  

Ok, so I threw some peanut butter cups on top too - but they were not needed.  Maybe 3 butterfingers instead of 2 would be better --- it still looked like less than the picture.

And see how thin the white frosting is around the outside?  Totally unacceptable for me.

I would make this again:  2 Layers and definitely stick with Butterfingers.

Cake #15 - Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese and Butterfinger Frosting

Oh jeez. This cake is well worth the time it takes to make. Actually, the hands-on time is not that bad, it's just that you have to chill the filling overnight. So, it's not a cake to make on a whim. But, if you have time, if you like peanut butter and chocolate, well then get thee to this cake! Oh, and the yummiest cream cheese frosting that's light and airy. Oh my, why didn't I put some of this in the freezer for later eating? I could really go for a piece right now.

Don't be scared by the extensive ingredient list. It's all easy to find and much of it you might have in your cabinet (we actually had mini Butterfinger bars in our freezer leftover from Halloween! SCORE.).
The batter? Light, fluffy with a subtle peanut butter flavor.
Okay, so this is supposed to be a three-layer cake, but I only have two 9" pans. I had the choice of going for three 8" or two taller 9" cakes, and I went with the two 9" cakes. I had to increase my cooking time a bit (my notes are non-existent for this) - maybe an extra three minutes or so.
I made the cake for my brother's birthday, and with a house full of guests, I didn't want to take the time to chop the butterfingers for the top of the cake. Instead, I put them in a ziplock bag and smacked the hell out of them with a rolling pin to make Butterfinger crumbs. Oh, and I skipped the peanuts altogether (see time crunch), but I don't think we missed anything given the peanut flavor of the cake and filing.

Without a doubt, I would make this cake again. Impressive, not too difficult, super tasty. And really, just as the commercial used to say, peanut and chocolate are two great things that go great together!

Mindy's Cake #13: Confessions of a Lazy Cake Baker

I love cake. I love the idea of this cake project. But, I am lazy. And, I am behind. So when it came time for me to FINALLY catch up with the Ice-Cream-Cone cake, I took a few shortcuts. Like, um..., yeah, not even including the ice cream cones!

In my defense:
1. Trader Joe's did not have any ice cream cones and I didn't want to go to a second store.
2. Sherie had to increase the icing recipe to have enough for the cake and the cones. I just did not want to make more frosting. Especially since, as I have noted here before, my family is not so big on butter cream frosting.

Anyway, I made the cake for Charlie's 5 and a half birthday....which was March 7. So, what can I say about this cake nearly TWO MONTHS after baking it? Uh...it tasted awesome? It did, it really did. And, if I recall correctly it was pretty easy and basic.

Ugh, I'm such a slacker. Here are the pictures. I will now go flog myself for being so lazy both in cake execution and blog-posting.

Off-Topic: April Fools 2010 - Fried Chicken Style

Okay, so this is not one of the 30 cakes.  It is a cupcake recipe from Hello, Cupcake.  For April Fools Day I made the "cupcakes" on the left and served the savory "t.v. dinner" (thanks to KFC) on the right.  The lemonade is fake too.  It is jell-o with a straw.  April Fools is becoming a big holiday at my house.  Special K coats my chicken, starburst are my butter pats, and the peas & carrots are laffy taffy rolled & cut.  

  And it runs in the family.  You should see the "sushi" my mom made!  With Rice Krispies as the rice and fruit leather seaweed.  I guess you won't be surprised when I make that next year.