Day 5 - Took a sabbatical

Since I had to finish day 4 this morning I have to come up with something for tonight.

Now that I have baked possibly 2 edible things I am starting to worry about consumption and calories.  This hobby could be detrimental to my well being.  Don't bother zooming in, it's 146 lbs.

Day 5 is a bust.  Never conjured up the energy to start a new project after finishing day 4's project below.

Am  I losing interest in just 5 days?  The only way this could get WORSE is if I switch from baking to SEWING (which I may need to if the scale goes up any more!)

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.

Day 2 - Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

I found a recipe in the All-American Baking book. My hubby walks by and proclaims "I'm not going to like it. The frosting is too sweet". I tried to explain that most all frosting have loads of sugar.

Nevertheless I found a lower sugared recipe for the frosting on the web. It had just 2 C of sugar with 2 packages of creme cheese and 1 tsp of vanilla and 2 sticks of butter.

Being the improviser I substituted 2 things on this recipe.

1. The pans: I used 2 8" rounds instead of an 8.5" x 11" x 2 baking pan
   
2. It called for Sunflower Oil. I used Canola.
3. I got impatient and iced it without cooling it properly. I wish I had a picture of it. The top layer nearly slid off the bottom layer.

Day 1 - Devils Food 3 layer cake

The title of this blog says it all: MY BAKING SUCKS

I am starting this blog to document and admit my mistakes.

Feel free to help me on the road to redemption.


I'm no gourmet chef.

Nor am I trying to be the new "Cake Boss".

I have recently been homebound temporarily due to a major surgery. I'm starting to feel better and have a little energy for home basics like cooking.

I seem to have no problem putting a meal together for 2-6 people. I'm kind of Rachel Ray - like in that I wag measurements and improvise a lot. I can do a few basic things that fall under the category of baking.

• I can make a delicious quiche (if I buy ready-made dough)
• I can often find a complete dinner out of ingredients I find in the very same refrigerator and pantry that my husband might open first and saying "there is nothing to eat here".
• I can make a banana bread or a boxed coffee cake, lemon bars, brownies

Last year we remodeled our kitchen with a big 36" DCS dual heat range/oven. You can put a commercial sized cookie sheet in there. Three of them if you wanted to.

This year we got married and my Sister in Law baked an amazing themed wedding cake for us. My best friend baked us a beautiful 2 tier coconut grooms cake in my kitchen. When she asked for the mixer, I brought out my hand held $19.95 Hamilton Beech mixer. She said "Are you kidding?". Being the baker she is - it was a bit time consuming, but she managed with my inadequate tools.

So I headed out to Costco for the razzle-dazzle Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. Now, finally I have the tools to be a baker.

"A MIXER DOES NOT A BAKER MAKE"

On the advice of my friend I started with the recipe on the side of the cake flour box for Devils Food 3 layer cake with chocolate icing.

Disaster - I tweaked the recipe and added some "aged" - another term for RANCID Cointreau.

The cake was not bad if you don't count the 2nd layer for having a sink hole and the three layers for having grid marks. The icing made our teeth fall out and then our bodies pass out from the tainted smell of liqueur gone bad.

I have vowed to make a cake a day until I have mastered BASIC CAKE MAKING!