I rarely have the opportunity to make full-fat desserts. Correction: I rarely allow myself to make full-fat desserts. Recently, though, I had the chance to make a cake. A real cake. I was so enthralled by this foreign idea that I shirked the idea of a cake-from-a-box and went searching for recipes.
The occasion was my mom's birthday. She likes a white cake with chocolate icing. Since making icing is the singular most horrific experience in my cooking life (how much powdered sugar?!), I opted to buy that. But I wanted to make a cake from scratch!
I went searching for recipes and settled upon this Tender White Cake from King Arthur Flour. The reviews were great and the ingredients simple. Off I went to bake.
The batter came together wonderfully! The almond extract and vanilla made it smell - and taste! - amazing. I poured the batter into a (stoneware) 9x13 pan - and baked it. After the minimum amount of time, it was not done. I checked it again in 3 minutes - not done. Three minutes later, not done. WTH?!
After cooling, I iced it. Several hour later, when I cut into it, I was immediately alarmed. The edges were overdone. They were almost hard! Sigh. The flavor was great - lovely! - but the pan had ruined the cake. At least, that's my guess. I wanted the cake in a pretty pan, since it was supposedly too tender to move. Next time, I'll use an ugly metal pan and hope for better results. In the meantime, my mom and dad will eat the middle of cake.
No comments:
Post a Comment