Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Here's The Proof...

I promised you that I was still baking, and here is my proof! I made these cakes last week for a lady hosting a dinner party at her home. She loves chocolate and her husband is a lemon cake fan.

Let me break these cakes down for you because they...are...good!

I adapted my delicious almond cake recipe to accommodate his lemon preferences. Before filling it with a tart raspberry and balsamic vinegar filling, I soaked the layers in a Kirsch infused simple syrup, and sealed it all in with a lemon cream cheese frosting and toasted almonds. YUM!

This chocolate cake deserves an entire post, but I'll just give you the brief rundown. Let me preface this story by saying that this is an amazing cake. It is my great-grandmother's recipe, and I have made it so many times I can't even count, but you would never have known that if you had been watching me make it last week. Now, remember, I have just started a teaching job and I am about 2 discipline slips away from losing my mind. This cake comes together very easily, so I was moving pretty quickly to get them into the oven and get back to writing lesson plans. When I went to check the cakes they were still not finished even after being in the oven 15 minutes past the normal bake time. Finally, I just took the cakes out and deemed them unsuccessful. They had developed an almost burnt crust on the outside, but were still unbaked in the middle. What the heck??!! So, I try again. Same result. By this time it is around 11:30PM, I am tired, and feeling utterly defeated. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I am a bit of a drama queen. I don't just burn cakes, throw them away, and move on. No, no. I burn cakes, throw them violently into the trash can, all the while crying and laying on the kitchen floor while calling my mother to gain her sympathy and consolation. Needless to say, I went to bed with puffy eyes, determined to conquer this cake in the morning. The next morning as I set my ingredients out I noticed an ingredient in the recipe that I hadn't noticed last night.... 1/2 c water. WATER!! Are you kidding me?!! A total of 4 cakes in the trash because of WATER?! Yup. Once I realized the error of my ways I finished the cakes easy peasy, and downed a handful of chocolate chips to take my headache away. (some use Tylenol, I use chocolate) Learn from my mistakes.... read the directions carefully. The cake turned out moist and delicious, and I used the Magnolia Bakery's recipe for a creamy milk chocolate frosting. Mmmmmm.....

4 comments:

Paige said...

You are hilarious! That first cake looks amazing so I think I need to try it!

Mom was not happy with you waking her up by the way during this saga... haha Love you!

Shari said...

You are too funny, Haley... I was trying to picture you throwing a tantrum and hurling the cakes into the trash. I really enjoy reading your blog!

Melissa said...

I'm kind of annoyed that I read this post because I was just sitting here telling my office partner that I was really hungry for something sweet. And there's nothing down here within walking distance. Then, I've gotta go and read this post. Dang you.

Sophie said...

I'll take a slice of each, and I'd probably have one in one hand and the other in the other hand... double duty. I want to see these recipes! The lemon and raspberry cake sounds killer, but great-grandma's recipe... yum! I know it has to be good.