I can't be awesome all the time. =)
I'm gradually testing cake recipes for a handfasting book I'm working on.
The book will contain approximately 100 recipes, depending on how many turn out acceptably in the test kitchen.
So far, I've tested 31 of them. I have tried to make at least one cake a week, but it doesn't always work out that way. My friends are getting tired of me showing up on their doorsteps with samples, and my kids aren't always the most objective judges. *lol*
Thirty of them have passed the various tests; some have needed minor tweaking, some have been just fine the way I wrote them.
Today, I made the Vanilla Flan Cake. It was supposed to turn out as a cake with a vanilla flan on top, and a vanilla caramel on top of that.
Not so much.
The flavor was outstanding, rich and thick with layers of vanilla.
The structure, however, was an epic failure. I placed a plate over the tube pan and flipped it over. When the cake broke free, the unset flan poured out and made sticky, golden splashes all over the kitchen floor. The pudding-based vanilla topping held thickly to the pan.
Not quite the effect I was after.
I cursed a little, cleaned off the serving plate, poured off the pools of non-flan, and scooped the topping into the center. Then I cleaned up the floor. The cats were a little indignant about that part.
It won't go in the book, but I have a plate full of moist and gooey vanilla goodness to make me happy anyway. I can always eat it with a spoon.
The book will contain approximately 100 recipes, depending on how many turn out acceptably in the test kitchen.
So far, I've tested 31 of them. I have tried to make at least one cake a week, but it doesn't always work out that way. My friends are getting tired of me showing up on their doorsteps with samples, and my kids aren't always the most objective judges. *lol*
Thirty of them have passed the various tests; some have needed minor tweaking, some have been just fine the way I wrote them.
Today, I made the Vanilla Flan Cake. It was supposed to turn out as a cake with a vanilla flan on top, and a vanilla caramel on top of that.
Not so much.
The flavor was outstanding, rich and thick with layers of vanilla.
The structure, however, was an epic failure. I placed a plate over the tube pan and flipped it over. When the cake broke free, the unset flan poured out and made sticky, golden splashes all over the kitchen floor. The pudding-based vanilla topping held thickly to the pan.
Not quite the effect I was after.
I cursed a little, cleaned off the serving plate, poured off the pools of non-flan, and scooped the topping into the center. Then I cleaned up the floor. The cats were a little indignant about that part.
It won't go in the book, but I have a plate full of moist and gooey vanilla goodness to make me happy anyway. I can always eat it with a spoon.