Tale of the cursed cake

I have to confess that when I read about this month’s challenge, I wasn’t super excited. My husband is not a cake person at all and, I have to admit, there are MANY things I enjoy more than plain, white, spongy cake. I would always choose dense and rich over light and fluffy. Also, work on my dissertation has really increased all of a sudden (or at least it has to if I’m going to graduate in the near future) and my husband was going to be in Japan for 10 days, so I nearly sat this one out. With nobody to eat the cake and too busy for a party, it seemed like a waste of ingredients. Nonetheless, I spotted a jar of Blenheim apricot jam (from the Hi-Rise bakery in Cambridge, MA… mmm!) and needed an excuse to buy it. I decided to be Daring and bake a cake just because. I had the ingredients on hand anyway (including my brand new beautiful jam!) so, on a break from writing on a Saturday afternoon, I got started on my Lemon-Apricot Perfect Party Cake.

I think my original bad attitude cursed this cake from the start… When I went to print the recipe, I realized that my printer was almost out of ink so the print-out was nearly illegible, requiring me to hand write all the parts that had printed as totally blank. I set out to mix the dry and then the wet ingredients (no issues there, except I used a carton of 100% egg whites, which looked way more liquid and watery than regular egg whites, which kind of freaked me out). I went on to mix the lemon and sugar, only to realize that I didn’t have enough sugar. Off I went to the corner store for sugar. I continued to mix the zest and sugar, and then the butter, and then started adding the other ingredients when, all of a sudden, my mixer goes crazy! It starts going faster and faster, splattering the mixture everywhere, and then shuts off. I briefly freak out, then unplug the mixer, then plug it back in and try again. I put it on the lowest possible setting and the same thing happens: slow, then faster and faster and then off! By this point, I had gone too far to quit, so I finished making the cake by repeatedly turning the mixer on and quickly off to minimize splattering. I poured the batter (which looked fine and tasted amazing) into the pans and put them in the oven. I used a similar on-off procedure to make the buttercream, although I had to make a screen with plastic wrap to shield me from the flying butter. I unfortunately don’t have pictures of this because my husband took both of our cameras on his trip!

By some sort of miracle, the buttercream actually came together eventually, despite the jerky on-off beating. I went to check on the cakes, and they had risen fine (unlike some of the issues other DBers had) but they baked on a slant! My apartment, you see, is in a house that is settling and therefore is not level. This, however, had never happened to me before. I can’t quite explain how a liquid batter ended up rising only on one side! I took the layers out of the oven and tried to put them on the cooling rack, only to notice that the pans were too close to a bag of sliced bread, which melted onto the hot pans! I tried to move them and burnt my wrist. You can see why I think my cake is cursed!

By this point, I was frankly too tired and annoyed to care much about decorating the cake. I let the layers cool, and cut them in half as best I could (pretending that they are not slanted). In the back of my mind, I remembered all the “Ace of Cakes” episodes and Epicurious clips on how to level cakes and cut the sides to make them smooth, how to crumb-coat and then frost a cake, etc. but totally disregarded all that knowledge and just slapped the buttercream on the cake, trying to make it look faintly cake-like (round with straight sides). I also decided to put some dried apricots in between the layers with the (delicious, makes-it-all-worth-it) apricot jam. The end result was, to tell you the truth, not very pretty. I decided to use slivered almonds to give the illusion of actual sides, which worked OK. With the almonds, the cake didn’t look monstrous anymore!

The final chapter of the cursed cake saga occurred when I decided to take the cake to work to share with my colleagues. I put it in a cake-carrier and put it in my car, safely drove it to work, and I went to take it out of the car, the top of the carrier came off and off went the cake all over the passenger seat and floor mat. Almonds, apricots, buttercream, all smeared on the upholstery and mat! Thankfully, I had cut a piece to take a picture, so at least I got to eat that. When I got home, I scraped all the frosting off the cake and tried to figure out whether it was salvageable… but it wasn’t. It ended up in the trash. SO SAD!

Lessons learned:

1) Lessons from TV and the internet don’t magically translate into fantastic cake decorating abilities

2) Using egg whites from a carton may seem freaky but works just fine

3) Any cake-bearing container should be closed and secured before taking it out of the car!

The Verdict:

After all the disasters (burnt wrist, messed up mixer, buttercream-smeared car), the cake was… ok. I have to maintain my opinion about plain white fluffy cake. Not my favorite. The apricot jam was not nearly enough to salvage the cake and I should definitely have added more to make the cake more apricot-y… or perhaps I shouldn’t have added any of the fantastic jam, as the cake ended up in the trash! :o( The lemon buttercream was delicious, but it took some getting used to the fact that it is basically all butter. Overall, I don’t think I’ll make it again.

PS: As soon as my husband came home, the mixer magically fixed itself. I guess it had been missing him as much as I had (though he never uses it).

Frustration, failure and several kitchen fires: Not a good start to my DB career

I’ll preface this tale by saying, in my own defence, that I’m a good cook in general, and a good baker in particular, and what follows is not a typical day in my kitchen!

I had doubts about this recipe from the start. I’ve always had it drummed into me that beating a cake too vigorously, whether by hand or machine, will whack all the air out of it so that doesn’t rise properly – so I was a bit alarmed to read in the instructions that the cake was meant to be made entirely by machine.

My second dilemma was over the cake flour. We don’t have anything labelled simply ‘cake’ flour in Australia. You can get plain flour (with no raising agent; what is called all-purpose flour in the US) or self-raising flour. However, as the ingredients also included 1 tablespoon baking powder, I assumed that it was plain flour that was meant.

That little problem solved, I began, shelving my worries about the mixing-by-machine aspect and being dutiful to the DB ‘do exactly what the recipe tells you’ ethos. This approach had to be modified somewhat pretty early on, when I added first the flour and later the liquid while still beating on medium speed, as per the instructions, and ended up wearing a fine film of both. Apart from that, the cake seemed to be coming together well, although the lemon essence worried me a bit, with its distinct dishwashing-liquid aroma. I made the cake in two springform tins of the specified size, although one had a loose clip so I improvised a bit by tying some string around the tin to keep the thing together.

While the cake was cooking, I made the buttercream, which I’ve never made before. I decided to make only a half-quantity, as I wanted to fill the cake with whipped cream and only use the buttercream for the frosting. I’ve always been put off making buttercream — that whisking over hot water business seems like too much of a faff — but it was surprisingly easy and the result was very smooth, of good consistency and tangily lemony. Although the texture was a bit waxen for my liking, I was chuffed with the general result, and feeling pretty pleased with the whole process — until I took the cakes out of the oven, only to find that they had not risen AT ALL. Consternation! Although cooked according to the skewer test, they were soggy and dense, and they stuck to the tins, and were generally pretty unappetising-looking:

It was at this time that I realised I had accidentally used self-raising flour, not plain, PLUS baking powder; this inadvertent generosity with the leavening agents might, I reasoned, have been the problem. So — annoyed but not entirely daunted — I decided to make the cake over again. I had to chop up some fridge-hard butter and put it on a plate out on the balcony to soften, hoping that no native parrots would fly down to explore it, as they tend to do whenever I set foot out there with anything edible. This time I omitted the lemon zest, as I had couldn’t be bothered going to the shops to buy more lemons.

Apart from that little hitch, the second cakes were much quicker to make than the first. While they cooked, and I sieved the raspberry jam — a rather tedious process — I smelled burning. I ignored it for a while, thinking it was the beetroots that I was roasting in the oven at the same time; but then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed there was a small fire in the oven. I’d forgotten to tie up the dodgy springform tin, and the batter was leaking out of the bottom and falling onto the electric element, where it was now alight. Panicking a bit by now, I combatted it with the aid of a wet dishcloth held in a pair of tongs, then removed the tin, tied it up, put it on a pizza tray and back in the oven. Two more fires promptly ensued, each harder to put out than the previous one, followed by a kitchen full of acrid smoke.

By this time I was wishing I had never heard of the Daring Bakers (or, as I was beginning to think of them, the Dastardly Bakers) and that Dorrie Greenspan had been an aeronautical engineer or something else way outside my area of interest. Could anything else go wrong?, I wondered.

Well, yes — the second batch of cakes came out of the oven just as flat as the first, and equally icky inside:

I had now wasted several hours and ten expensive free-range eggs on this cake, and was fed up with the whole thing. I was expecting four friends to come over and help sample the merchandise in about half an hour, so I officially threw in the towel and rang one of them to ask her to buy something from the local bakery, as otherwise we’d go hungry. It’s a pretty crappy bakery, but hey, anything was going to be better than what was currently coming out of my kitchen!

This is what we ended up eating:

I asked my friends for their comments on the DB cake.

In response to Dorrie Greenspan’s claim that this is a ‘snow white cake’ one said, ‘Snow white? It’s more like one of the seven dwarves!’

Other comments:

‘A little doughy — and very flat! The best thing about it is the smell — a perfect cake for a breatharian.’

‘Crispy on the outside, eggy and damp on the inside. Disconcerting.’

‘A very flat, dull-tasting cake.’

‘Heavy, wet texture, sweet buttery flavour, yellow colour, flat appearance.’ This friend — not normally a conspiracy theorist — wondered if there was a deliberate mistake in the recipe to make for more interesting blogging, her reasoning being that it would be pretty boring reading about a whole bunch of perfect cakes.

She also suggested that the recipe be renamed The Perfect Party Pancake.

However, they all thought that the buttercream was acceptable, and we had a good laugh at my expense, so the day wasn’t a complete disaster.

At least now I know how to make buttercream. Now all I need is a use for all those spare egg yolks.

- Janine

Creamsicle Cake

I was pretty happy to see the challenge this month was cake, and that it was so open to interpretation. I love baking cake, and I thought of a bunch of different things I could (and still may!) try, but in the end I went with a vanilla cake with orange curd filling, and vanilla buttercream. The last time I tried a true buttercream frosting (Yule Log) was a disaster, so I decided to keep that part simple, and hopefully successful. I was going for a creamsicle flavor, and in the end I think I nailed it.

Starting with the orange curd … I’d had a recipe for white cake with orange curd filling from Simply Recipes bookmarked for a while, this seemed like a great opportunity to try the orange curd. And best of all, the recipe called for 9 egg yolks, while the cake/frosting would use 8 egg whites. A match made in heaven? After much juicing of oranges, stirring, and some scary moments concerning gelatin, I ended up with a thick, delicious, very orange flavored and colored filling. Many spoonfuls were eaten along the way.

On to the cake. I actually bought cake flour, and even sifted it! I left out the lemon zest and extract, added in a teaspoon of vanilla, and let my mixer do the work. I am horrible when it comes to splitting cakes into layers, so instead of two pans I baked mine in three, leaving me with three layers in the end instead of four. It was hard to tell when my cakes were done; although they rose nicely, the tops never got browned at all. When I took them out of the oven they were pure white, with a tiny bit of gold around the edge, but I think at that point they were even a little bit overdone (the end result was a bit dry, in my opinion).

And then, the buttercream. Somehow it just all came together perfectly, although I had doubts as I added all that butter. After six minutes of beating I had the fluffiest, smoothest frosting ever. It tasted really good too! I put the whole thing together, and then into the refrigerator it went, to await a St. Patrick’s Day party the next day. The verdict: two big thumbs up! I received the highest praise from the partygoer who couldn’t even wait to swallow before declaring it “Unbelievable!” (Try to imagine that coming from a person with a big mouthful of cake!) The flavor was great, loved the frosting, although it could have probably sat out at room temperature longer before we started cutting it. The cake itself was a little dry, but I think it could have baked for a few minutes less.

Unfortunately, due to a camera malfunction, the pictures of the cut cake didn’t come out very well, but it really made a beautiful slice of cake! So, to Morven, thanks for a great recipe! I am looking forward to trying some other variations, including the original recipe. And I’m sure I will get a ton of inspiration from all of the other Daring Bakers!

- Brooke

A Lighter Version of The Perfect Party Cake

This cake was not very hard to make, the directions were very easy to follow. I actually own the cookbook and have enjoyed the recipes from this cookbook very much.

My variations to the cake were the following: I used my home-made strawberry jam and I kept the lemon-flavored cake. I decided against buttercream because here in Italy desserts are not very sweet and buttercream can be overwhelmingly sweet. I chose instead to use very lightly sweetened whipped cream which gave just enough moisture to the cake layers. I did sprinkle a tiny bit of coconut on the top of the cake but not much as hubby's not a fan.

I found the cutting of the layers to be the main reason the layers aren't as pretty as they could be. I was lazy, did not go looking for the dental floss (which of course indicates the fact I am not obsessed with flossing!). Had I used the floss it might have been a more even cut.

My one "complaint" and it really is not a complaint is that the crumb of the cake is quite dense - maybe it should have been more light and airy? I did whip the cake a LOT, so I can't imagine it wasn't whipped enough. It was very tasty and the lemon flavor was perfect.

All in all this cake received a lot of compliments from guests and I was glad to have made a successful challenge after my bowling ball experience with the bread last month! Thanks for the great challenge!!!

M.

Daring Baker Challenge Report – March 2008 - ‘Perfect Party Cake’

I have had this recipe squirreled away for a while now because the recipes’ name and accompanying photo were too good to resist. Hence I was very pleased that my first Daring Baker challenge was ‘Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake’.

I read the recipe through a few times before starting; I felt reasonably confident of the actual cake making part, but the butttercream frosting made me nervous. I’ve only ever tried making a fancy frosting once before (for a Lady Baltimore cake) and the results were less than inspiring. :(

The making of the cakes went well; my hand held electric beaters made a very stressed high pitched whining noise during the final beating of the batter, it being so gorgeously thick and heavy. (Campaigning for a stand mixer for my Christmas present has already begun)

Both cakes rose well, but both domed and then cracked. I checked in my trusty Women’s Weekly cookbook/bible ‘Kitchen’ and doming & cracking is a sign that the oven is too hot or the pan is too small. In this case it must have been the former as my (new) oven is fan forced and I am still learning how to adjust recipe temperatures with this in mind.

Making the buttercream seemed to go off without a hitch, although it is strange to be making something without really knowing what result you’re aiming for.

Two parts of the recipe were unclear to me:
1. in the cake making part it says ‘beat in half of the milk-egg mixture’ but there had been no mention previous to that of combining the milk and eggs. I wasn’t sure if I should beat the eggs first, or what to do, so I decided to gently whisk the eggs & milk together.
2. the ingredients for the buttercream say ‘ ¼ fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)’ I assumed this would be ¼ cup juice but in the end I went with the second alternative, the juice from 2 large lemons, which was more liquid than ¼ cup.

I was happy with how the finished cake looked although if I could change anything I would have used less buttercream between the layers leaving more for the top & sides. I chose not to use the coconut on top as I’m not a huge fan of coconut, and also don’t know what ‘sweetened coconut’ is.

I liked how the unfrosted cake tastes, but the taste of the buttercream does not appeal to me. I found the preserves I used a bit too sweet (I could not find any seedless preserves so I pressed mine through a sieve to remove the seeds) and combined with the buttercream, it was all too rich for my taste. Mind you, I ate a serious amount of the cake to determine that yes, it really was a bit too rich. :)

It was good to work through a recipe that I had set aside as a ‘must try’. Definitely the most enjoyable part for me was thinking of how many other people, all over the world, were pottering about in their kitchens whisking, whipping, beating and baking at the same time.

It’s great to be a part of this!

Cheers!
-Caitlin

My First Challenge as a Daring Baker!

This is my first challenge as a Daring Baker! I am very excited to join this group and happy to be able to participate even without having a blog of my own. You must know that when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, now 27, my Gran insisted I learn to cook. She, nor I, had any idea of the cooking queen it would release!

My husband is out of town so this was the perfect time to be creative and cook all day with no interruptions! From the moment I read we could change the flavor (not a lemon lover) my mind began to whirl! At first I thought pineapple and coconut, but it sounded boring. Then, the fruit market had Mango 2 for $1.00 and oranges that were sweet as sugar on sale, so it was decided for me.

I had copied the recipe then made my changes,(my creation listed below)printed and was off to the kitchen. I like to get everything out measure everything out then start. That way if I get distracted, (the dog, the cat, the phone) I won’t put not enough or too much in. Did that with cookies once, but that is another story.

I made the cake which was a little confusing; it never mentioned the consistency of the batter, which look like curled milk. It to spread it , but my consistency was soft enough that a little pan shaking did the trick. I used loaf pans because, I loan my pans out and never seem to get them returned. But it turned out cute. It smelled wonderful and came out of the pans perfect! I sampled a little and it was moist and very yummy!

While the cake was baking I peeled and mashed the mango, with my potato masher, added the ginger and let it sit. I was not sure how zesty the ginger would make it so I add only ¼ teaspoon after an hour tasted it and added another ¼ teaspoon. Then I made the orange syrup to “baste” the cake with before I layered the mango filling and orange butter cream. I candied some orange peel for decorating but forgot to set the timer was side tracked and some of it became hard candy! Once the cakes where cool enough put everything in the fridge, planning to make frosting and assemble the next day.

The frosting, I had 4 egg whites left over from my Easter bread I made in the morning, using them I followed the directions and what a beautiful frosting! It looked like satin while I was beating the whites (before the butter). Once it was done (substituting fresh orange for the lemon juice) tasted it. It was not as “orangey” as I expected and concerned if I add more juice it might change the consistency, I added 3-4 drops of orange oil. It was good not too over whelming.

Assembly After slicing the cakes I anchored it down with some frosting and place the top down on the board, brushed it with a table spoon or so of Orange syrup then 1/4 cup of mango filling,( I would use 1/3 c or more if made again) then a layer of frosting. I did not measure the amount of frosting, as I am not big on frosting so I used just enough to cover the filling. Continued with remaining layers, brushing top layer with Orange syrup only, then frosted. I saw a video on mock basket weaving for applying frosting. I am VERY rusting a cake decorating but figured it’s like “riding a bike”(laughing) GUESS NOT! All things considered it did not turn out too bad.

Our family was celebrating two birthdays and Easter on Palm Sunday, so the cake will be judged by my harshest critics, my children and mother! Well every one except my son in law enjoyed it. Even my Mother said the cake was light and the filling was delicious! We all agreed the frosting was a bit much, it was very “buttery” and heavy, almost bordering on greasy. Not sure if I add more orange flavor or juice would have made a difference. I think I would make orange whip cream for frosting next time.

This was a fun and very enjoyable challenge and I look forward to participating in future challenges. If anyone would like my version of the recipe please email me for a copy here.

-Jane aka Artstuff2

March 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge- Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake

Well, here I am in the midst of the finishing stages of building our house and getting ready to move. Despite the level of chaos and disarray in my life at the moment I was determined to complete this month’s challenge. This recipe is a great example of why I was excited to join this group. I have always loved baking cakes, but this one will got me out of my comfort zone and using new techniques and ingredients. I knew I wanted to make the cake for Easter dinner with my family, but I also knew that the week leading up to Easter would be very hectic. So, I decided to make this cake a 2 day event and dual location event.

Day 1: Baking the Cakes (At the apartment)

Well, first off, I had never lined the bottom of a pan with buttered parchment paper before, but it seems like a simple task. However, I think this is the part that gave me the most difficulty! The batter came together nicely and was beautiful- very light and creamy.

As the cakes were baking they smelled delicious! At this point I was regretting my “bake now, eat later” plan! After baking for about 35 minutes the cakes were well risen, springy to the touch and golden along the edges.

I waited for the cakes to cool (okay, I went to bed and set my alarm for when I thought they would be cool- I really should have started this earlier in the evening!) and then wrapped them tightly with plastic wrap a sealed them in gallon freezer bags. Into the freezer until the weekend!

Day 2: Buttercream & Decorating (At the new house!)

This was my first experience making buttercream frosting and I was a little nervous. I was trying out some new kitchen equipment and was in the middle of unpacking chaos, but everything went fine. The meringue came together well and looked beautiful.

I was worried that my butter wasn’t truly room temperature because I didn’t leave it out for very long. It worked into the frosting easily and I didn’t have any trouble with curdling. For me the lemon flavoring was a little overpowering (I am not the biggest lemon fan in general), so next time I might use different flavoring. It is great to know how to make the decedent frosting for special occasions!

I tried to decorate the cake in an Easter basket style. I had a little trouble cutting the layers evenly. I didn’t have much time so my attempt at “basket weaving” on the sides didn’t come out that well. You get the idea though!

Overall this was a fun cake that was perfect for Easter dinner. My family thought it was delicious, but a little richer than what we are used to! Certainly a perfect party cake! Thanks for the fun!

-Sara

Too Much of a Good Thing; Or, The Baker's Dilemma

It is the human condition to rail against imposed strictures of behavior. Revolution is almost as inevitable as the eventual disenchantment with reality television programming. The precision of baking is part of its allure, and yet there comes a time when every baker feels the desire to grow past the boundaries of the recipe. Some are more bold than others, actually experimenting with such volatile components as types of flour, leavening, amounts of fat, sugars, &c. Personally, I tremble with terror at the thought of playing with levels of baking soda versus baking powder. When it comes to pushing my creative envelope in the kitchen, I resemble a mosaic artist, assembling the tesserae of different recipes in order to create innovation. I may use three different cookbooks to make some cupcakes, but, by thunder, I won't stray from the recipes themselves.

This month's challenge was the Perfect Party Cake from Dorie Greenspan's much-beloved cookbook. (I count myself amongst its devotees.) Per our gracious hostess, the Daring Bakers were allowed to add their own creative touches to the cake, flavoring it as we so desired, but we had to adhere to the recipe for the batter and buttercream--at least, as the basis for the cake. We could flavor the cake itself, change the flavor of the buttercream, switch out the raspberry jam in the filling for another variety, or even substitute something else entirely (preferably something edible). Given such carte blanche, I felt a tremor of panic. There were so many options! How could I decide? Besides, this cake would be posted on the internet, before the critical eyes of perhaps six or maybe even seven people! Could I possibly formulate and bake something that would fill these half-dozen readers with wonderment?

Yes, I thought to myself. Yes, I could.

Gentle Reader, I will spare you the countless permutations that ran through my head and the dozens of options I presented to Z. The only thing I knew for certain was that the suggested coconut topping from Dorie's recipe would have to go, unless I didn't want to eat a bite of the cake I'd made. (A good strategy for dieters, but I was not so masochistic.) Before despair set in, I recalled that I had a container of caramel, recipe taken from the Tartine cookbook, quietly sitting in my fridge and without use. In the Tartine book, it suggested spreading the caramel between the layers of a Devil's Food Cake. I always liked the sound of that idea, and so, ruthlessly co-opted it for my own nefarious purposes. No raspberry jam for me, thank you, sir. Out went the citrus flavoring in the cake layers, substituting vanilla extract for the lemon. But the lemony buttercream wouldn't quite work with this new flavor profile. Again, the incalculable variations for how to flavor the buttercream, until I glanced in Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes and saw a very similar cooked buttercream, with directions on how to create a chocolate variation. We have a winner!

All of the components came together beautifully, and when it came time to make the buttercream, I got to use my sexy new 600-watt Kitchenaid stand mixer (a gift from Z.--thanks, honey!). The caramel was a bit independently-minded when I spread it on the cut cake layers, and I didn't wind up using it all. (This was fortunate, as I wound up eating gobs of caramel from the container throughout the week. Sigh. Back on the elliptical trainer.) So, instead of cake, jam, buttercream, my variation was cake, caramel, chocolate buttercream. Once it was frosted, then I played around with some fondant decorations I'd made the day before using premade white fondant that I'd dyed and cut.

So, after all of this hand-wringing and existential crisis, how did it taste? Delicious. The caramel gave the cake layers a good, chewy body, and the chocolate buttercream had a silky texture and mild chocolate flavor. The cake itself was a winning vanilla cake that would, indeed, be perfect for a party. I may, one day, attempt it as Dorie intended, lightly citrusy with the jam filling and pure white lemon buttercream. Leftovers were given to my father-in-law for his homeowners association meeting the following night, and he reported it was very well received. Although, I imagine that even a hydrochloric acid eyewash station would be a welcome relief from the tedium of a homeowners association meeting.

In this mad world in which we live, much like Janet Jackson, we all strive for control. For a few hours, I commanded the whys and wherefores of the cake, and emerged, I believe, the victor, both over the recipe itself, and my own indecision. Thank you, again, Daring Bakers, for showing that the path to true self-awareness is paved with buttercream.

Nota Bene: Please forgive the fact that there is no photo of the sliced cake. I always hate it when there's no money shot! But time was short and the camera was not at hand, so please use your imaginations to envision the interior of the cake. Anyway, isn't using your imagination that much more provocative?)

I remain,
Your servant, &c.
Ami

Lemony Easter Cake

If Daring Bakers teaches me one thing about baking it will be how to follow directions! Ever since I began baking, I have not been able to follow a recipe exactly to the T. Sometimes I just don’t read it properly, and sometimes I just feel the need to improvise in some other way. The results of my recipe wandering have been mixed. Usually things turn out quite all right, and sometimes I’d say even better than the original recipe, but other times disaster ensues.

My version of Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake was dangerously close to not living up to its name, but I have to spoil the ending and say that it did actually turn out absolutely perfectly. I almost encountered the first disaster when I measured 2 ½ cups of sugar instead of 1 ½. I had already mixed my lemon zest in when I noticed my error - luckily I did notice it before I mixed the cake together. Never fear, I used my own recipe wandering technique to remedy the problem. I used the extra cup of lemon infused sugar for the buttercream! I was worried that my plan could stir up a whole new problem as I know buttercream can be tricky and I wasn’t sure what the intrusion of the lemon zest would do. What it did was make the buttercream extra lemony and delicious.

Oh, but I had to improvise more because I just couldn’t bring myself to use THREE sticks of butter for the buttercream. I actually wrote down the conversion of the recipe to scale it to two sticks since I usually do that in my head which doesn’t always lead to success. Don’t ask me how I scaled 4 egg whites by 2/3, but I did.

Like I said, the cake was delicious. I did follow the rest of the recipe and used raspberry preserves (but no coconut). My cakes were soft and moist and I loved the combination of lemon and raspberry. I will definitely keep this recipe handy for my next party.

-Bobbie Sue