1-2-3-4 Cake!
This morning, I tried out a different recipe for vanilla (butter) cake. It's called a 1234 Cake (so of course I'm being earwormed by Feist right now). The recipe calls for 1 cup of butter (two sticks), 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 4 eggs (and then 1 cup of milk [I used soy as it's what I had on hand], 3 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of salt, and I think that's it). The batter was very thick. I wonder if it might be good to add a splash more milk.
Regardless, I'm thinking positive thoughts about this recipe. Partially because it creates a nice volume of batter. I was able to fill both an 8" cake pan and a 6". That's the sort of double duty that will come in handy in the coming days, when I'm baking for real. (This is Final Countdown week. The reception is on Sunday.)
I'm also a bit 'teetering on the edge of despair' about this recipe, because
- getting the cakes out of the pans was a bit of a fail. The sides were crumbly and fell apart a bit. This may be because I used too much non-stick spray on the pans, or because I didn't use flour, or because I didn't wait long enough to remove them from the pans. I
- another thing to fret about is that I'm using medium eggs rather than large. I did weigh them. A large egg weighs about 50 grams and the medium eggs weighed about 45 grams. That seemed close enough, but I wonder if I should have added a touch more baking powder just to be on the safe side.
I made a birthday cake for Queen B once: yellow cake with chocolate icing. She wasn't a great fan of it because she'd wanted a cake like her mother made, from a mix, which came out with a light texture. Mine was dense. I'm a bit worried that will happen again here. (One problem is that I happen to like dense cake. Between pound cake and angel food, I will always choose pound cake. And even then, I find some pound cakes too light for my liking. So personal preference may prevent me from recognizing when a cake recipe has gone wrong in the density department. Anyway, we'll see.
The little cake's in the freezer at the moment. The big cake will be in the fridge once it's cooled enough for dad to slap it in there. When I get home, the refrigerator cake's getting bathed in a simple syrup flavored by rosewater (and maybe lemon juice). The freezer cake will be put in the fridge to thaw and then tested out tomorrow morning, to see what the texture's like.
And then it will be time to bake for real. And then it will be time to experiment with icings. And then it will be time to do every-fracking-thing-else. And, of course, this is the week when everyone wants help with something. DM asked me to edit another article, S/K wants me to help her son fill out a job app, mom wants a ride to the city so she can give Cousin Abby some stuff to take back to Nigeria. None of this matters of course, since I put my little diva foot down and said "All projects that are not MY projects are on hold until Monday." I'm also taking Friday off since, having reached my use-it-or-lose-it cap, I needed to take another day off anyway, and so I will have more time to bake.
This is how I've spent final countdown week so far.
On Tuesday, I attended winterredwood's civil ceremony. Pictures were taken, hugs were exchanged, and then I was like 'on to the next one.' Met Ol' Dirty Grad Student for lunch and got to hear tales of his grandmother's baking adventures (like transporting a frosted cake from home to church on a hot summer day in Kansas). He observed that I was perhaps making things too complicated for myself. I agreed that this was probably so, but it is my process so... I just have to work through it. (Aim for great and hope to hit adequate.)
We went to the pizza arm of the Cheeseboard Collective in Berkeley. Lurved it. The pizza was good, the restaurant itself (and the cheese shop next door) were cool and awesome, respectively. And it was also just nice to be out in the sun on a Tuesday. And then we went to a deli from which I purchased a black and white cookie. I realized while I was eating it that I was searching for some orange flavor, and missing it since it wasn't there. So that told me something.
On Friday last, I hit the bookstores and came out with two books on decorating (one an old book about sugarcraft and other geeky pursuits, the other a modern book about how to make celebration cakes look pretty), two books loaded up with chocolate cake recipes, and the vegan cupcake book. (Lucky this was all I bought, because I also visited Michael's, OSH, and BB&B that evening.)
On Saturday, Alison (college friend now back in France) called and we spent two hours on the phone just talking about cake. It's kind of funny that I was trying to duck the topic and she was like wanting to go over details about color (she thinks the white/off-white plan is a good idea; if I were doing an actual color, she'd recommend that the sides be one shade and the top be a darker version of that shade; I'm fuzzy on why that's required, but I tend to trust her judgment). and design (she's happy with the idea of me using fresh flowers), and flavors (she approves of the plan to make just two different recipes and doctor them up with syrups and icings). She has threatened me with bodily harm if she does not get to see pictures of the final product, and of me standing next to the final product. (So my photo album for this event will be like "Here's a picture of the cake. And here's another picture of the cake. Oh, and here's a picture of the bride and groom standing next to the cake. Oh, and here they are eating the cake. And here's a picture of what the cake looked like after it was sliced." etc.)
On Sunday, I spent most of the day on the couch recovering from my second power yoga class in as many days. Edna and friends have opened a new studio downtown and are offering demo classes. Supposedly, demo classes are supposed to be easier than regular classes. But it was 90 minutes doing power yoga in a hot/warm room. I don't see where they took it easy on us. (The first two demos were taught by Will. Edna's demo is today. I guess one good thing is that, since the room is already warm, she won't kill us with the warm up like she tends to do in an air-conditioned room.)
Around 6:00pm, I roused myself and went on a walkabout, kinda. Just drove from store to store to see what I could see. The route:
-> Smart & Final (to see if they had Baker's white chocolate squares, or any chocolate squares, or anything useful)
-> Nijiya Market (where I bought agar for the fondant)
-> Walmart (to see if they had the aforementioned white chocolate squares)
-> Country Sun (who were closed by that time of day)
-> Sigona's (who were also closed)
-> Andronico's (where I found edible flowers, which I'd sought with no success at the Farmer's Market earlier in the day, and where I also found that I'm eligible for an affiliation discount every Tuesday)
-> Draeger's (pretty much the last place I wanted to go, because the first time I went to Draeger's was after a tryst with s.i.-w (had to check the archives from May 2002 to re-learn the proper abbreviation for her name here, "Super-Intimidato Woman") and so it was just too overwhelming--hanging out with this totally waspy woman and then going to this totally waspy store--I felt entirely out of my element; ironically, this was the most fruitful visit because I discovered a Penzey's in the same area, and I found glycerin [which erased the need for a trip to Michael's] and almond paste and almond extract and cherry butter [I didn't purchase this last, but just walking through that section brought some possibilities to mind])
-> Whole Foods (can't remember what I got here, maybe powdered buttermilk, maybe something else)
-> Draeger's (a different one, to see if they had a different type of edible flower, a less smushed version)
Returned home four hours later and with a more settled mind. Planned to bake last night, but didn't get to it 'til this morning. And now here we are.
Regardless, I'm thinking positive thoughts about this recipe. Partially because it creates a nice volume of batter. I was able to fill both an 8" cake pan and a 6". That's the sort of double duty that will come in handy in the coming days, when I'm baking for real. (This is Final Countdown week. The reception is on Sunday.)
I'm also a bit 'teetering on the edge of despair' about this recipe, because
- getting the cakes out of the pans was a bit of a fail. The sides were crumbly and fell apart a bit. This may be because I used too much non-stick spray on the pans, or because I didn't use flour, or because I didn't wait long enough to remove them from the pans. I
- another thing to fret about is that I'm using medium eggs rather than large. I did weigh them. A large egg weighs about 50 grams and the medium eggs weighed about 45 grams. That seemed close enough, but I wonder if I should have added a touch more baking powder just to be on the safe side.
I made a birthday cake for Queen B once: yellow cake with chocolate icing. She wasn't a great fan of it because she'd wanted a cake like her mother made, from a mix, which came out with a light texture. Mine was dense. I'm a bit worried that will happen again here. (One problem is that I happen to like dense cake. Between pound cake and angel food, I will always choose pound cake. And even then, I find some pound cakes too light for my liking. So personal preference may prevent me from recognizing when a cake recipe has gone wrong in the density department. Anyway, we'll see.
The little cake's in the freezer at the moment. The big cake will be in the fridge once it's cooled enough for dad to slap it in there. When I get home, the refrigerator cake's getting bathed in a simple syrup flavored by rosewater (and maybe lemon juice). The freezer cake will be put in the fridge to thaw and then tested out tomorrow morning, to see what the texture's like.
And then it will be time to bake for real. And then it will be time to experiment with icings. And then it will be time to do every-fracking-thing-else. And, of course, this is the week when everyone wants help with something. DM asked me to edit another article, S/K wants me to help her son fill out a job app, mom wants a ride to the city so she can give Cousin Abby some stuff to take back to Nigeria. None of this matters of course, since I put my little diva foot down and said "All projects that are not MY projects are on hold until Monday." I'm also taking Friday off since, having reached my use-it-or-lose-it cap, I needed to take another day off anyway, and so I will have more time to bake.
This is how I've spent final countdown week so far.
On Tuesday, I attended winterredwood's civil ceremony. Pictures were taken, hugs were exchanged, and then I was like 'on to the next one.' Met Ol' Dirty Grad Student for lunch and got to hear tales of his grandmother's baking adventures (like transporting a frosted cake from home to church on a hot summer day in Kansas). He observed that I was perhaps making things too complicated for myself. I agreed that this was probably so, but it is my process so... I just have to work through it. (Aim for great and hope to hit adequate.)
We went to the pizza arm of the Cheeseboard Collective in Berkeley. Lurved it. The pizza was good, the restaurant itself (and the cheese shop next door) were cool and awesome, respectively. And it was also just nice to be out in the sun on a Tuesday. And then we went to a deli from which I purchased a black and white cookie. I realized while I was eating it that I was searching for some orange flavor, and missing it since it wasn't there. So that told me something.
On Friday last, I hit the bookstores and came out with two books on decorating (one an old book about sugarcraft and other geeky pursuits, the other a modern book about how to make celebration cakes look pretty), two books loaded up with chocolate cake recipes, and the vegan cupcake book. (Lucky this was all I bought, because I also visited Michael's, OSH, and BB&B that evening.)
On Saturday, Alison (college friend now back in France) called and we spent two hours on the phone just talking about cake. It's kind of funny that I was trying to duck the topic and she was like wanting to go over details about color (she thinks the white/off-white plan is a good idea; if I were doing an actual color, she'd recommend that the sides be one shade and the top be a darker version of that shade; I'm fuzzy on why that's required, but I tend to trust her judgment). and design (she's happy with the idea of me using fresh flowers), and flavors (she approves of the plan to make just two different recipes and doctor them up with syrups and icings). She has threatened me with bodily harm if she does not get to see pictures of the final product, and of me standing next to the final product. (So my photo album for this event will be like "Here's a picture of the cake. And here's another picture of the cake. Oh, and here's a picture of the bride and groom standing next to the cake. Oh, and here they are eating the cake. And here's a picture of what the cake looked like after it was sliced." etc.)
On Sunday, I spent most of the day on the couch recovering from my second power yoga class in as many days. Edna and friends have opened a new studio downtown and are offering demo classes. Supposedly, demo classes are supposed to be easier than regular classes. But it was 90 minutes doing power yoga in a hot/warm room. I don't see where they took it easy on us. (The first two demos were taught by Will. Edna's demo is today. I guess one good thing is that, since the room is already warm, she won't kill us with the warm up like she tends to do in an air-conditioned room.)
Around 6:00pm, I roused myself and went on a walkabout, kinda. Just drove from store to store to see what I could see. The route:
-> Smart & Final (to see if they had Baker's white chocolate squares, or any chocolate squares, or anything useful)
-> Nijiya Market (where I bought agar for the fondant)
-> Walmart (to see if they had the aforementioned white chocolate squares)
-> Country Sun (who were closed by that time of day)
-> Sigona's (who were also closed)
-> Andronico's (where I found edible flowers, which I'd sought with no success at the Farmer's Market earlier in the day, and where I also found that I'm eligible for an affiliation discount every Tuesday)
-> Draeger's (pretty much the last place I wanted to go, because the first time I went to Draeger's was after a tryst with s.i.-w (had to check the archives from May 2002 to re-learn the proper abbreviation for her name here, "Super-Intimidato Woman") and so it was just too overwhelming--hanging out with this totally waspy woman and then going to this totally waspy store--I felt entirely out of my element; ironically, this was the most fruitful visit because I discovered a Penzey's in the same area, and I found glycerin [which erased the need for a trip to Michael's] and almond paste and almond extract and cherry butter [I didn't purchase this last, but just walking through that section brought some possibilities to mind])
-> Whole Foods (can't remember what I got here, maybe powdered buttermilk, maybe something else)
-> Draeger's (a different one, to see if they had a different type of edible flower, a less smushed version)
Returned home four hours later and with a more settled mind. Planned to bake last night, but didn't get to it 'til this morning. And now here we are.