Day 4 - Raspberry Laced Vanilla Cake

Undecided all day I selected the pretty picture on the cake flour box.  Again this required ingredients I didn't have so a trip to the store was necessary for raspberry syrup - Can we say "HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP"?  Oh well.

I measured to the exact letter of the recipe and the three 9" rounds look beautiful - with one minor detail.  They seem too thin to be able to slice in half.  This recipe calls for 6 layers alternating the raspberry filling and the vanilla icing.

I was able to slice these into halves and get the alternating layers iced and filled..

I thought I had it licked by the last layer...

... But apparently there is an ART to keeping the layers from sliding off each other.  Yes, they were fully cooled - overnight.  That's why the icing went on the layers so well.  Perhaps the icing was too warm?
The cakes were not 100% level.  I didn't feel I had enough cake to level the slightly rounded tops.

Also when using the pastry bag with frosting tip ... the icing didn't seem to hold the shape.  Perhaps it should have been colder.  Everything calls for room temp. Maybe frosting itself should be slightly chilled.

As you can see my dog Buddy is right there to lick up the drips and spills.

Guess I need to continue until I get it right. Shall I name this the leaning tower of raspberry cake?

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Earlier today.........................................


I haven't decided what to bake yet tonight.  This morning however my pantry looked a bit overloaded with Mexican food so I whipped up some delicious "huevos rancheros".  It's been about 21 years since I took out the tortilla press and whipped up a batch of homemade "salsa ranchero".   Despite my knowledge of the health hazards of LARD ... I challenge anyone to say that refried beans taste better without them.

As for tonight.  I don't know.  My son is coming over for BBQ hamburgers, potato salad and watermelon tonight.  Is there an apple pie in the future?  Am I breaking my vows if I bake a pie instead of a cake?  Aren't truely good pies more difficult than cakes?

Day 3 - Lemon Chiffon Cake

After two days of wasted ingredients and frustration I decided to try something a little easier. I read somewhere to start simple. Try mastering a box recipe. I just couldn't bring myself to buy one.... oh faux pas

But I found what appeared to be a simple recipe on Cooks.com for a Lemon Chiffon Cake.
Hubby made the suggestion. I like lemons. Why not?

I have to say that on this level my baking didn't suck. I do need to learn how to properly use a TUBE PAN. I got all my ingredients ready before reading that I needed a tube pan. I pondered using a substitute pan, but so far that hasn't paid off. I didn't read up on cooling and removing the cake from the pan and a little stuck to the bottom plate. Also during the expansion of the cake the top cracked open. I didn't consider this a disaster, but I wonder if it was meant to be perfectly shaped and golden brown with no crevasses.

Off to the store for new pan. $14.95 from my local grocer and voila.

This was a very easy cake to make and my new mixer did things to egg whites I didn't know were possible.

Hip hip hooray, a minor success.