Sunday, March 30, 2008

Daring Bakers march challenge - because every party needs a cake!

This month's challenge was courtesy of Morven from Food Art and Random Thoughts, and I got to do what I love most... CAKE!!!!!

I loved this month's challenge because we had quite a bit of freedom to do as we pleased with the cake and put our personal stamp on it.. not that we are not allowed to do that often.. but I guess this time I just had a field trip with the recipe.

Anyway.... it all began with the basic recipe for Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake from her book "Baking from my home to yours" and while I was reading the recipe my imagination began going wild...thinking about raspberry sauce between the layers and some lemony icing besides adding some pecans to it as well!!!...

But every good baker has to assemble the basic ingredients first.. so I did



I added pecans to the batter of the cake, and I must say that it came out beautifully.. it is just such a perfect cake.. so moist! Once the cake cooled down I cut the layers and I put raspberry sauce (some mashed raspberries with lemon and sugar) between them, when the cake was assembled.. it was time for the icing.

I decided to do some 7 minute icing (because I've never made icing before) instead of the butter cream, and I also added some lemon to the icing so make it tart (I really like lemony stuff.. so my cake was all fruity and lemony) the icing was good.. however not what I expected.... I was hoping that the 7 minute icing tasted more like the icing that the cakes that I ate when I was little had.. that sort of cheap icing (well maybe not cheap .. I dunno) but that it was mostly icing sugar and it had a lemony taste and it was a bit hard.. hopefully one day I'll find the recipe for that icing "the cheapo icing that the wedding cakes that I had when I was little had"

Well the cake was finished.. all covered in icing and looking pretty nice!!! I must say it was a really yummy tasting cake and I highly recommend making it sometime.. or you know.. whenever you need a cake for a party!!





And now.. please go visit some other Daring Bakers blogs to see their wonderful creations ... see you soon!!!

46 comments:

mimi said...

love your little honeycomb diagram! and your cake is real cute too!

Anonymous said...

I love the dramatic colour of your raspberries. And those daffodils on top make your cake extra cute and spring-y.

Morven said...

Very cute - glad you enjoyed the cake.

Shaheen said...

Your diagram is adorable! And your cake looks beautiful! :)

KJ said...

that's a very sweet cake you made there. it's just delightful.

ChichaJo said...

Your cake came our lovely! So tall! :)

Unknown said...

hey you got such a lovely colour, the pink and white look fab :)

Anonymous said...

Ooh, pecans! Good plan! Looks great! And I LOVE the sketch. :D

~Amber~ said...

What a delicious looking cake! I am starting to crave cake again after reading all these posts. :)

Fran Z said...

Very pretty cake! YumYum!

Madeleine said...

Beatiful cake!!!

Hermosas las flores con las que lo adornaste! :)

desie said...

that is a pretty cake. i love lemony things, too.
glad you enjoyed this challenge.

Megan said...

Like a slice of Spring!
But you really must try the swiss buttercream!!!

Lunch Buckets said...

Nice job :)

Deeba PAB said...

What a nice post & a great challenge...daffodils & all! Love the idea of pecans in the batter & the 'good baker' diagram of putting everything together first!! The layers have come out neat...you are so lucky yours was moist. I gotta make it again to get a moist crumb!! Ciao

Joshua said...

SAVE ME SOME CAKE CUZ I'M PRETTY!!!!

AranciOnissimA said...

Congratulations for your result!
AranciOnissimA

Anonymous said...

Pecans - what a great touch! And I love your diagram, very cute! Fabulous decorating job, really!

Anonymous said...

I wonder what icing you are remembering from wedding cakes?
My mother always used 7 minute icing on our birthday cakes. We called it sticky frosting and the big treat was to pick out whatever colour you wanted. (I always wanted pink.)
But, buttercream is the traditional
wedding cake frosting.
I think this cake would be nice with some added nuts. Good idea!
I had a little peek at some of the other things on your blog.
Lovely to have a comment from you on my blog. Cheers

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I love the addition of the pecans in the cake as well as lemon in the icing. The perfect party cake:D

Liliana said...

I love the idea of pecans with raspberry and lemon! Love your flowchart of ingredients.

Nice blog!

- - MayMay - - said...

Yummy! This cake looks delicious!

Jenny said...

Very pretty!
Nice combinations, raspberries and lemon. Yum!

Meryl said...

Very pretty with the daffs on top!

Helene said...

What a great contrast between the red of the filling and the white of the cake frosting! Nice.

Joy said...

Your drawing is so cute and I love the yellow flowers contrasting with the white icing - very springlike!

Katie said...

Your cake looks wonderful. I think your pecan addition to the sponge was inspired!

Andrea said...

Your cake looks beautiful, and I love the daffodils on top. Great job!

creampuff said...

Miss Ifi, that is one pretty cake!

jesse said...

You are so sweet to share some of that cake with my cake-less existence! *sniff* I'm so touched...

Melinda said...

Your cake looks wonderful! And I love the idea of adding pecans. Well done!

Pixie said...

Well done on the challenge. Adore the drawing of the ingredients. Thanks for stopping by and for the encouraging words!

Anonymous said...

it is so pretty! I love the flowers, are you still trying to coax spring into showing it's pretty head? ;o) hehe

You made a gorgeous cakey! x

Shayne said...

I wish I could help you wiht the icing. The only thing that comes to my mins is pwdered sugar milk combo but that is more for cookies and bunt cakes. your cakes looks very nice however.

Anonymous said...

I love that diagram! I am not a visual thinker myself so I'm always fascinated when people can represent things I'd use word to express in a visual way. Talk about simplifying things!

I am going to save your picture to remind me to think about recipes and communicating directions to people in new ways. Thanks for being so inspiring!
Also, thanks for popping by my blog and leaving a comment. I do feel very welcome to the DB and hope to see more of your creativity in action, too!

Anonymous said...

So pretty! And I love that cake stand! I want one just like it.

Chibog in Chief said...

would love to have a slice of your cake :-)

dailydelicious said...

Very lovely.
I love your diagram, too.

Carla said...

Beautiful cake and I love your drawing. And brilliant idea adding pecans. Maybe the icing you ate was the typical "American Buttercream?" That's what I call it any way. It's just butter and powdered sugar.

Anonymous said...

I like the addition of the pecans! Your cake looks fabulous!

Andreia Sousa said...

Your cake is very nice too! The icing is great(mine was a bit liquid). Congrats!

Aoife said...

I love your "mise en place"! The cake looks great!

Laurie said...

I love the addition of pecans..well done! :)

eatme_delicious said...

Great looking cake! I need to get a nice cake stand like that. As for the hard icing you're looking for, I wonder if it could be buttercream. Buttercream gets a bit hard when it's cold. You should really try out the icing recipe that was meant to go with this cake - so delicious!! And maybe what you're looking for.

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a great job on your cake!

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

marye said...

I love the daffodils on top! What a beautiful cake.