Category: cake

if you take a look at all of the recipes i’ve made for this blog so far, i don’t think there’s one that you can’t eat for breakfast. apple cake is certainly no exception. in fact, it may be the perfect breakfast cake – it’s got apples and orange juice in it, so there are two servings of fruit right there. it’s also a great opportunity to use in-season apples, which just become all the more irresistible during the fall. and although the apples i bought were all about 2/3 the size of a normal apple (weird!) they didn’t stop this cake from tasting amazing.

the first time i tried to make this cake, i failed horribly. it came out undercooked and bubbly. and despite putting it back in the oven for another 45 minutes, it still would not bake all the way through. i refused to blame it on the recipe and instead chalked it up to my wacky tiny oven (as seen in this post). undeterred, i took another crack at it and lo and behold: what came out of the oven was a thing of beauty. perfectly golden brown and infusing my apartment with apple.

although i thought i had triumphed in the face of defeat, i quickly learned that it’s never too late for baking tragedy to strike. making a rookie mistake, i tried to remove the cake from the tube pan before it had completely cooled. to my horror, the following happened. any sensitive readers or children may want to turn away from the screen.

thankfully, the cake still tastes unbelievable. enjoy, but don’t make the same mistake i did!

let’s talk about cheesecake. it’s so rich and decadent that i usually can’t resist cutting myself pieces that are way too big for one person. you’ll have a tough time too with this cake, since it has ginger in the crust and in the cheese filling. i know it sounds crazy, but it works! the result is a creamy, tangy and soothing dessert (or breakfast or lunch or dinner or snack) that you’ll want to tell your friends about. don’t be afraid: embrace the ginger cheesecake.

are you one of those people who likes the crust more than the actual cake? it can be a tough balance. with every bite, i’m torn between wanting more of both. for those of you who prefer the cheese, this crust just may turn you to the other (crusty?) side. it’s a mixture of ginger snaps and pecans, a combination so beautiful you should buy enough for two crusts in case you just eat the first before you can get it in the oven.

i used several common tricks to reduce the likelihood that my cheesecake would crack, including putting a bowl of water in the oven to keep it moist and cooling the cake very slowly by not immediately turning off the heat. despite my efforts, the cake cracked like the grand canyon, and to be honest, i’m ok with it, because i think it actually gives it a lot of character.

thanks to betty crocker and pillsbury, there is no shortage of cakes in a box that anyone can make perfectly – the funfetti cake should be probably have a place in the smithsonian as a turning point in human ingenuity. however, there is also, on the other side of spectrum, the type of cake for which the recipe recommends you spend several days working out logistics, testing hypotheses and slaving in an extremely hot kitchen before putting all of the pieces carefully together just so to create something previously unwitnessed by the human senses. as the finishing touches are applied, women and children gasp, fanfare plays, grown men weep from the sheer beauty. the sky opens up and from the heavens descends: the princess cake.

am i being overly dramatic? in all seriousness, this cake was a pretty hefty undertaking. why did i take it on? the girl sent me a link about 2 years ago to the princess cake, saying that she wanted one. i checked it out, laughed it off, but bookmarked it for later. earlier this year, i found the bookmark, and a bit more confident in my baking skills, did a little googling for more info on this cake. it’s a traditional swedish dessert with a multiple layers and a giant sheet of homemade marzipan that is draped on the cake like fondant.

assembling the cake was not actually that difficult. the whipped cream, which covers the cake and provides a giant dome on which the marzipan lies, holds up surprisingly well. the most challenging aspect for me was the cake itself – it’s a genoise cake, meaning it does not use any type of leavening agent to rise. the volume of the cake is introduced while you make the batter by beating whole eggs into a frothy, aerated mixture. folding butter, vanilla and flour into the eggs proved to be tough. it took me several tries (and lots of eggs).

it really does pay to plan in advance of tackling a princess cake. i made the mistake of trying to make the marzipan at the same time as the pastry cream. i set the mixer up on the counter next to the range and literally used one hand to manipulate the almond paste while whisking boiling cream and eggs with the other. i laugh at danger!

i finally got all of the elements of this delicious monstrosity together and had the girl come over for dinner and dessert for the great (surprise) unveiling. she was very happy with the cake (and thankfully it tasted amazing). as i sliced a giant wedge for her, she asked what all of the layers were. she didn’t know? wasn’t she the one who asked me to lovingly devote several days to measuring, mixing, kneading, rolling and baking? “i just thought it was pretty!” she responded. to be fair, it was very pretty. we were both lucky it tasted so good too.