In our Delinquency Defense / Attention Fertility Clinics

As Mindy mentioned, yes, our last post WAS in August, but in our defense, we are busy gals balancing a whole lotta acts.  I could just let it rest and suffice it to say that:

a full 100% of the women participating in our Bake Me a Cake blog 30 cakes in 52 weeks challenge wound up pregnant before the end of the year!

We may or may not have been trying for a new baby, and it certainly was not the intent of this idea, but we did indeed become pregnant and/or had the baby before the end of the challenge.  My friend is a doctor and said that we should be marketing this concept to a fertility clinic as another edge to couples trying to get pregnant.  Alas, for those of you paying attention though, a data set of 2 women is hardly enough to start an epidemic, but if anyone of our readers (and I still believe we only have 1 reader,and I am guessing is past her child bearing years) start their own challenge and wind up pregnant before the end, do let us know.

By itself, pregnancy could be enough to derail a cake blog, but we are determined folks.  And we blew right by the Labor Day (no pun intended) scheduled completion date and now it is part of my agenda to at least complete all the cakes before my baby's first birthday.  I have a leg up on Mindy here as I have been making the cakes, just not posting for quite a while.  I am on #29 and have 1 more to go!  I hope to post about them during maternity leave, but god help me to remember any of the details.

And just in case you think we are just having babies and making cakes, our excuses continue that also in the last year some combination of us:  lived through kindergarten applications, started a company, sold a house, moved into temporary housing while looking for a house, took on a challenging new client, potty trained toddlers, bought a house and started renovations.  There is more, but you get the picture.  

This is why I need cake.  This is also why Mindy & I are contemplating our next challenge - which might need to be something along the lines of 100 Salads or "how to drop cake weight".  Missing our timeline will not deter us.  We do have to eat after all.  

Really, the last post was AUGUST?

Oh lordy. To say we have been delinquent is putting it mildly. I have been delinquent in making and posting. Sherie has merely been delinquent in posting! Seems she has made all but TWO of the cakes. We have not forgotten this project, and we plan to get back to it.

Stay tuned!

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.