Cake 17, Whereupon Lent Ends, and the Library Wants Its Book Back.

     It had to happen.  After two rechecks and nine total weeks the  book, Chocolate Cake, 150 Recipes from Simple to Sublime, was due back at the library. Or else.  During Lent I had learned that sugar outside of chocolate cake is  pretty much a waste of calories.  I  learned to value explicit, clear, specific directions  in a recipe. Since end of February I had made 14 cakes in 9 weeks, definitely a lifetime record.  Now it was one more cake,  maybe two, and then give up the book to which I had developed such attachment.
     Last Christmas an exquisite Red Velvet cake arrived in the mail , beautifully boxed and with a sqeeze-bottle of cream cheese frosting.  First husband's thoughtful, generous first cousin had sent this treasure, and skimming Michelle Urvater's book brought that cake to mind, page 173. 
    Red-tinted chocolate cake layers slathered in white, cream cheese frosting, the lovely confection held its own in company with many delicious and decadent homemade desserts. A man I know took it to a potluck at his office, and not a crumb was left by day's end.

Cake 15: Macaroon Cake, page 246

  If you love Almond Joy candy bars, then this is the layer cake for you.  This was my first attempt slicing a rectangular sheet cake to make layers, and the final product could have been a little more level, but all who ate agreed: it was scrumptious. 

Day 14 - Tunnel of Fudge

   My mother made this cake, and I remember bringing it to school, a small gift for my formidable 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Bailey.  Whether bribe or treat, it was extremely well-received.  The original, the one Mother made excellently and many times, was a Pillsbury Bake-Off contest winner;  I wonder who created that recipe.  It requires at least one ingredient no longer on the market, but Michelle Urvater's Chocolate Cake has an updated version.  I couldn't resist giving it a try.
   Following the directions as exactly as possible, I hit a couple of snags.  Michelle tells us to prepare the pudding according to directions on the box, but she also says to use 1 1/2 cups of milk and not the 2 cups on the box.  If you do use 2 cups of milk, it's trouble.  You have more pudding than can fit.  You don't want pudding touching the sides of the pan, ruining the tunnel effect and making strata of fudge instead; with pudding overload this can happen.  SO stick with the book directions, a little less milk.  If you still have excess pudding (and who knew there could be such a thing?), spoon it into ramekins and put it in the fridge for other adventures.  There are lots of things in life worse than an extra bowl of chocolate pudding in the refrigerator.
   There was a little of the strata effect when I attempted this one.  It was not the perfect tunnel my mom always accomplished,  so this cake received the stunning White Chocolate Glaze before I let it out of the house.  Good stuff that glaze on page 331; it  hides mistakes well.  The cake went to a luncheon honoring a plague scientist on a nearby Army base where people devoured it with great relish, at least so I'm told.  

More Troubleshooting and Principles

8. Go darker.  Of course, it just depends, but consider dark cocoa powder.  Hersey makes one that sometimes appears on the shelves of regular grocery stores, and it's good stuff.
9.  Adjust for altitude.  Try the recipe as is the first time, and you may find it works perfectly.  If there's room for improvement though, try tweeking for better rise.  I slightly reduce sugar and baking powder, up the liquid a little, and toss in an extra egg.  If you're going to adjust for altitude yourself, however, it's worth your while to visit the CSU Extension website for more precise advice.
10. Practice makes perfect.  People are usually quite happy to eat your mistakes, but when it needs to be the best cake ever, do a recipe you've made wonderfully before.

Chocolate Cake Disaster Strikes - Day 10

   It's not the cake's fault, nor is it a flaw in the recipe, so I won't even say what cake this is.  I will say this:  pay attention to what you are doing.  Be mindful as you move through life.  Don't go cleaning your caked-up kitchen and talking on the phone while the mixer whips the frosting all by itself.  Turn off the mixer is you must go chase an errant dachsund back into the yard or a black bear off the deck.  Practice salsa dancing spins after your cake is frosted.  Your stand mixer can and will overwhip the cream to butter, and as Michelle explains in her "Note on Whipping Cream" there's just no going back.  Throw it out, and start over for it is ruined.   If you think you can put this oddly textured butter-separated-from-cream concoction on your otherwise lovely cake and hide the mistake with chocolate curls, you are wrong.

Day 11 - Sin City Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

   Thanks to Pampered Chef and to a really good friend, I own an excellent pan for mini-cupcakes.  It's a good thing, too, because salsa dancers don't spend a lot of time standing around eating huge servings of cake, even  beautifully plated cake slices.  The tiny cupcakes are perfect for on-the-go snackers, and this recipe affords enough batter for 24 little cupcakes and two 8 1/2inch cake layers. Tiny cupcakes were a hit with the dancers, especially the salsero who requested "cream cheese frosting with chocolate in it".  Layer cake was well-received by a teacher-artist friend to whom I owe  many, many favors both before and still, after the cake.  While I myself can't ever quite get past my attachment to buttercream frosting, this Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting is lovely to play with as you spread it over the cake layers or dip the tops of cupcake after cupcake.  It goes on smoothly and stays just where you put it.