Getty Villa Carrot Cake

If the Getty Center in Los Angeles is my passion then the Getty Villa in Malibu is my secret love. I don't get there as much as I'd like but when I do it's special.

If anyone remembers the early days at the Villa you must have fond memories of the tea room. There were delicious scones and this wonderful carrot cake. I'm adding a link to the Getty Iris for this recipe. Read the interesting story of how this cake came about.

The cake could not be easier to make and since I've acquired the recipe I've made it about four times. The latest was when we were entertaining relatives from the East Coast just this past week and it was a big hit with them.

Enjoy and if in LA visit the Getty Center or Getty Villa

Mrs. Garrett's Carrot Cake Recipe

Birthday cake

More from the Princess' birthday cake. I was chastised by Laura Rebecca to post more photos and a recipe. Thanks for the prod, Laura. Check out her blog she seems to be a proficient baker.

This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen and I did not change the recipe a bit. Mine came out more dense than I thought but still quite tender. I do believe the key is everything needs to be room temperature.

The first time I made this cake, every cake has an audition in my kitchen, I did not frost it but used the odd vanilla filling I post about last week. Auditioned cakes get shared with my neighbor and she really liked it. She doesn't realize it but she's my food tester. Well, maybe now she does since she does read the blog.

To frost this cake I used a product called "Frosting Pride" I get it at Smart and Final and it tastes like a whipped cream frosting. Very easy and quite tasty you can add color and I've added softened cream cheese before. As you can see, decorating is not my strong suit.

I doubled this recipe for a half-sheet pan

2 1/2	cups cake flour , plus extra for dusting pans
1 1/4	teaspoons baking powder
1/4	teaspoon baking soda
3/4	teaspoon table salt
1 3/4	cups sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
10	tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
1	cup buttermilk , room temperature
3	tablespoons vegetable oil
2	teaspoons vanilla extract
6	large egg yolks , room temperature
3	large egg whites , room temperature

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch-wide by 2-inch-high round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease paper rounds, dust pans with flour, and knock out excess. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 1/2 cups sugar together in large bowl. In 4-cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and yolks.

2. In clean bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. With machine running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; continue to beat until stiff peaks just form, 30 to 60 seconds (whites should hold peak but mixture should appear moist). Transfer to bowl and set aside.

3. Add flour mixture to now-empty mixing bowl fitted with whisk attachment. With mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape whisk and sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium-low speed and beat until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.

4. Using rubber spatula, stir 1/3 of whites into batter to lighten, then add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Lightly tap pans against counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.

5. Bake until cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen cakes from sides of pans with small knife, then invert onto greased wire rack and peel off parchment. Invert cakes again and cool completely on rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

A satisfied customer

This is one of the cakes I made last weekend. The little cake with an E was for the Princess in honor of her first birthday. I made a larger adult cake, too. She wasn't too sure what to do with it but once a piece was cut she picked it up and had a taste. She just didn't want to soil her dainty fingers.

A creamy cake filling

Having no pictures because my camera is wonky should not be an excuse for not posting but, regrettably it has been. I'm posting this recipe because I found it odd. While searching for the perfect cake for a first birthday I ran across this filling. In the final cake I ended up not using it but thought it would be an interesting post, anyway. I guess it's because I like odd things.

What I found odd was, you make a cream sauce then add butter and shortening, sugar, and a bit of vanilla. I was sure it wouldn't be any good so I tried it and was pleasantly surprised. It is light and not too sweet and would hold up to adding a bit of fruit or jam. I wonder why I'd not heard of this one before. The first time I made it I used non-fat milk, all I had on hand, but when I made it again with half-and-half I didn't notice much difference.

This is a Paula Deen recipe.

5 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a lidded container shake the flour and milk until mixed. In saucepan, cook and whisk until thick. It's a cream sauce and you don't want lumps so whisk the hell out of it. Cool.

In bowl, combine sugar, salt, shortening, butter and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until fluffy, then add the cooled milk mixture and beat again, until fluffy.

If you are not drooling …

When Doodle's won the recipe contest in the September issue of Cook's Country I, of course, picked up the magazine. I do enjoy this magazine because they have no ads only good recipes and a few hints and product reviews. I was not disappointed with this issue and tried a number of recipes for a dinner this weekend.

Often, when going to a potluck or planning an informal dinner get-together, I want a simple dessert that's portable. There is nothing more difficult than trying to get a fancy dessert on the road. I'd rather be a roadie for a rock band than have to transport something with whipped cream. This unbelievably light lemon sheet cake answered both those requests, and did I mention, it was easy and delicious.

I did not change this recipe one bit but my cake texture was not as dense as the picture in the magazine. Mine turned out very fluffy with lots of crumbs. I might have beat mine longer but it didn't seem to affect the flavor. The sugar and zest combo on the top was great. The topping gave a bit of crunch to the, other wise, tender cake.

Lemon Buttermilk Sheet Cake
serves 16

Cake:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temp
3 tablespoons grated zest and 1/4 cup juice from 3 large lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks of softened unsalted butter
3 large eggs plus 1 yolk, room temp

Glaze:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons buttermilk

For the cake: heat oven 325 degrees. Grease and flour 13x9 baking pan. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Combine buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla.

With electric mixer on medium speed, beat granulated sugar and lemon zest until moist and fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer 1/4 cup sugar mixture to small bowl, cover, and reserve. Add butter to remaining sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and yolk, one at a time, until incorporated. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk mixture, and mix until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Scrape batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until cake is golden brown and tooth pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25-35 minutes. Transfer cake pan to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes.

For the glaze: Whisk confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and buttermilk until smooth. Gently spread glaze over warm cake and sprinkle evenly with reserved sugar mixture. Cool completely, two hours. Serve.

You have to break some eggs

No secret, I'm a fan of America's Test Kitchen, both the website and the PBS show, so for my beloved's birthday this week I thought I'd try their Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake. I'm not putting in the recipe because it is quite long but it is so worth the trouble, especially the frosting.

I've always been insecure baking 'scratch' cakes but this one has make me feel quite accomplished. For best results you need to beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick, almost like pancake batter. This gives the cake a wonderful light texture, well that, and the fact their are four eggs and two more egg yolks. Did I tell you this isn't low fat?

There is a bit of a trick to the frosting, too. To begin with, it takes a pound of chocolate. Wow, what's not to like. It's a ganache but beaten until fluffy. You must cool the frosting down to 70 degrees over a bowl of ice water before beating. If it is too warm it won't fluff and too cold it seizes. Don't let this keep you from trying this cake; the effort will give you your reward. My frosting was a tiny bit too soft so after frosting, I refrigerated the cake to 'set' the frosting, then left it our about an hour before serving.

The "kids" across the street came by to enjoy this creation and loved it, as did the birthday boy. But I have just one question, is anyone else this messy?

Run, it's lava

Once in a fine restaurant, I ordered Lava Cake. It took an additional twenty minutes but was well worth the wait. I've seen recipes before but always thought they had to be fussy, they always add twenty minutes at a restaurant. Boy, was I wrong. This is one of the easiest desserts around. Well, maybe not the easiest but has to rank right at the top of the list.

Chez Mégane has a wonderful recipe so I'm not going to reproduce it here, click over. What I will say is instead of mixing in the cinnamon, I sprinkled just a bit on the tops before baking.
When it says beat for 7 minutes on high, they aren't kidding. I just set the timer and my darling mixer beat the bejesus out of the batter. What I can't figure out is how does it make a cake with only two tablespoons of flour?

As you see, I was quite unimaginative and only topped the cakes with chocolate ice cream but I'd run out of time. There were no complaints. A tad more planning would have given a better presentation.

The photo does not do them justice. I should have showed them split open and the oozy chocolate; Megan's has a much better pix. We were all too eager to dive into the lava.

There is an unrelated P.S for this post but none the less important. Happy Birthday to our own Maltese Parakeet! We are postponing her special party until the Gypsy Caravan makes its way to Southern California in June. Which is appropriate since she was born two weeks early. Always in a hurry, that girl.

Half cake; half success

She fried everything in site, smoked and lived to be in her 80s. Widowed in her mid twenties with five children, the youngest being six-weeks-old I'm sure was a hard life but it that she found the strength raise a family alone. She could be anywhere from cantankerous to darn right mean but never took any lip from anyone, I mean anyone. She had a grip like iron until she passed away. She was a fantastic cook.

Emily Prucilla, our afore mentioned grandmother/great-grandmother, was one of those cooks that rarely followed a recipe. This makes recreating some of her jewels difficult. We were lucky to have the one for the butterscotch cookies but I'd love to have the Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting recipe, it was one I'd not thought of in a long while.

I can see here standing at the stove cooking the frosting, one hand on her hip, and whistling some odd tune. She'd just start putting things together without measuring, just tasting, and 99% of the time she has success.

Here is my effort for the cake but the frosting I made was way too sweet and overpowered the cake. It was cooked brown sugar and cream, beat until fluffy, which didn't happen without an addition of butter, a few drops of water and eventually, powdered sugar. By this time I was working up a sweat. Sheesh! I would make this with a much lighter frosting next time because the cake is quite tasty.

Fresh Banana Layer Cake

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sift before measuring)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Banana mixture
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about two)
1/4 cup cream, buttermilk, or plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk


Preheat oven 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-inch pans.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl whisk together banana mixture. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy and beat in eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Stir in flour and banana mixture alternately beginning and ending with flour, stirring well after each addition.

Divide between pans and bake for about 15-17 minutes. Cool on rack, remove from pans and cool completely before icing the cakes. I added some toasted pecans on top, it looked rather plain without.

Editors note: I don't believe my butter was soft enough because my cakes, from 8-inch square pans, did not rise more than an inch. I cut each cake in half to make a four by eight inch four layer cake. I like height when it comes to desserts. Ya gotta think on your feet when you do this cooking thing, especially when discerning guests are coming.

anniversary cake for breakfast?

i felt kinda bad this morning when i realized that of the eleventy-two things i had to do this weekend, i got eleventy-one of them done but i forgot the most important one: make an anniversary cake for pbe. d'oh! then i realized that i actually did, it was just a breakfast coffee cake. yay!

on sundays, i have taken to baking breakfast items that my bunky and i can eat all week long. recently, i have been working on variations of the sour cream streusel coffee cake by nic from bakingsheet. my most recent incarnation was an apple almond sour cream streusel coffee cake. i used nic's basic recipe, except for the following twists: i subbed in 1/3 cup of almond meal for 1/3 cup of the flour; i subbed 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract for 1/4 teaspoon of the vanilla; i added a layer of chopped apples between the cake batter and the streusel topping; and i used almonds in the streusel mixture for the top. the apples increased the cooking time to almost 70 minutes (i baked this in a ceramic dish, so it takes longer anyway). if i had any dried cranberries in the house, i would have added them to the topping and maybe in the batter of the cake itself. cranberries, apples and almonds...yummy combo.

so anyway, happy anniversary to us! amazing that we've stuck with it for a year. for those of you not keeping score, there are three of us: mooncrazy and doodles are sisters and i (maltese parakeet, aka little bird) am mooncrazy's daughter and, hence, doodles' niece. it all started when doodles emailed me some links for food blogs and said she'd sure love to do something like that. i think i had it set up on blogger about five minutes later. the name came from mooncrazy, who had been saving it for a while to use on something good (her punk band never got off the ground). i have really enjoyed myself this past year. it's been a really great way to spend quality time with my geographically dispersed mother and aunt. it's a good excuse to cook more and be adventurous in the kitchen, which i really enjoy. i'm also thrilled to have had the opportunity to get back into photography. but most of all, i have enjoyed getting to know some cool food bloggers all over the country and around the world, with special shout outs to kitchen wench, c for cooking, soul fusion kitchen, copperpots and la vida dulce. so thanks to everyone for reading (and commenting) and keeping it fun for us. we'll try to keep it interesting for you!

A Moon cake

The gently orb in the sky has nothing to do with the cake, it's just I wanted you to know it was from me to celebrate our First Bloggy Anniversary.

This recipe is courtesy of my doctor. Not that he's a cook, he's nagged me once again to get off my duff and shed a pound or ten which makes me head for Cooking Light.

I used the fat-free cream cheese in this recipe but would never put it on a bagel. To me, it had an odd texture. I also used butter, hey it was only 1/2 cup.

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened. (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups peeled and chopped Rome apples (about 2 large)
Cooking spray

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed until well blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine two tablespoons cinnamon sugar mixture with apples and stir apples into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform (I used a 9-inch) pan coated with cooking spray. Top with remaining sugar mixture.

Bake 350 for one hour and fifteen minutes or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove and cool the cake on a rack. Cut using a serrated knife. Serves 12

This was served to friends Friday evening with rave reviews even though I served it with Fat Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Ice Cream. The ice cream wasn't that bad though I detected a slight after taste. I'm not a fan of fake-sugar-anything so folks used to diet sodas might not notice. At least it doesn't have High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Congratulations to all three of us for sticking to this blog like mac and cheese does to the dish.

Note: Would you like to print a recipe? Click the following link to download a PDF. Easy to print pdf of recipe

doodles tooth boo boo get's in way of celebration

The most senior (in age) member of the PBE blog has had a slight set back. It involves a tooth and a dentist, all properly explained here, if you care to read about it.

However this is the cake I was intending to make and for no other reason than when I got my March issue of Cooking Light and I laid eyes on this cake I let out a huge sigh. Perfect I thought!!! I don't make cakes often, in fact seldom, very seldom.

So here I present my Happy Celebration cake to US, Tres Mujares, the three PBE Chicks or as we are more commonly know as Moon, lil bird and doodles.

Italian Cream Cake:

Cooking spray
2 teaspoons cake flour
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 cups cake flour (about 8 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted (yes toasted because it deepens the flavor)
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large egg whites

Frosting:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup (5 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (when I saw this I immediately thought I would use mascarpone cheese instead, I'll let you know)
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, coat bottoms of 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pans). Line bottoms of pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray, and dust with 2 teaspoons flour; set aside.
Place 1/3 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, baking soda, and salt; stir well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in pecans, coconut extract, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Fold egg whites into batter; pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack. Loosen cake layers from sides of pans; remove from pans. Remove and discard wax paper. Cool completely.
To prepare frosting, place 1 tablespoon butter and cream cheese in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until smooth (do not overbeat). Add 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat well.
Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with one-third of frosting. Top with other cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 322(25% from fat); FAT 8.8g (sat 4.6g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 4.7g; CHOLESTEROL 45mg; CALCIUM 33mg; SODIUM 221mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 56.6g


Think I'll make this cake for an equally big celebration, we are leaving the state of Florida and headed West. Good reason to bake a cake huh? stay tuna'd...


Note: Would you like to print the recipe? Click the following link to download a PDF. Easy to print pdf of recipe

A little something to cheer up our Red state friends

When I was a child I'd heard the legend of the Red Velvet Cake. A woman is served this delicious red cake in a fancy hotel restaurant and asks the waiter for the recipe only to find $100 was added to her bill. Her attorney advises to pay, I don't know, maybe he was eating lunch with her, any way, she pays and then to get even sends a chain letter to friends with the recipe. That is the long reason why I decided to make the cake.

Cook's Country has a red velvet cake recipe so I decided why not give it a try. First, this is not a difficult one to follow but as some know, I'm not a baker of cakes. I can throw together a pie in my sleep but cakes, I do have to follow the directions.

First odd thing, it calls for a one ounce bottle of red food coloring, next some buttermilk, now that's not too odd but it seems like I get stuck with the remainder of the quart and hate to waste. Cook's had an answer for my thriftiness, freeze the left over buttermilk in cup increments. Cool.


You mix the food coloring with two tablespoons of cocoa, I use Dutch process. When you add it to the cake batter you can see just how lacking your mixer is. There is a little divot at the bottom that needs a little hand mixing.

Mine did not raise as much as I thought it should. Maybe more mixing though I was diligent with the directions. I used 7-inch square pans to their 8-inch round so I'm thinking they should have been higher. Because I just can't leave well enough alone I sliced each layer in two. I thought it would look more dramatic. Who couldn't use more drama in their life.

As for the flavor I think it is suppose to have just a hint of chocolate, which it does. Some friends were afraid of the red food coloring turning their teeth ghoulish but that didn't happen. The frosting is delish, not too sweet nor cream cheesy, nice blend of flavors.

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 oz red food coloring
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Whisk buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and eggs in large measuring cup. Whisk flour, baking soada, and salt in medium bowl.Cream butter; beat in sugar gradually.
Add flour mixure alternately with egg mixture, beating well after each addition.
Make paste of cocoa and food coloring; add to creamed mixture.
Stir until thoroughly mixed. Bake in 2 9-inch pans for 25 minutes at 350°.

Frosting
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
16 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt.

Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated. Beat in vanilla and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Frost the cooled cakes, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 3 days.

solace in cake form

when your team sucks and lets you down two weeks in a row, make chocolate cake...



[yes, you can make a box chocolate cake with canned chocolate frosting look good with the right accessories.]

At long last, a cake

Ok, this is the last post about my cake fiasco. I scrapped the chocolate (see previous post) for the yellow cake with strawberry cream filling and white chocolate ganache on the left. I did not use the same ganache recipe as it had Karo syrup and I thought it would be too sweet with the white chocolate. Only problem it wasn't shiny like the dark chocolate but it was yummy. It is easy to spread and easier to make. Bring heavy cream and a few tablespoons of butter to a boil and pour over the white chocolate. Cool and then beat it to the consistency you need.

Worried the berries in the filling would "weep" I sliced and patted them dry between paper towels and they were perfect. The berries on the top were washed, chopped and tossed with a little sugar. They gave a nice "fresh" taste to the cake and to be honest, I can't write happy-anything with frosting.

The dinner party was very nice and the cake most appreciated as the last photo shows, not much left. This was a ten inch cake and in retrospect I'd have cut it different. Even though there was nothing left on the plates I thought the pieces were way too big. I did have help from our darling Teri, a culinary expert turned Starbuck's manager. I was ready to heat the knife with hot water and she just heated it over the gas burner, neat trick.

Like I said cakes aren't my forte but after this experience I might start making more.

Can you ever have too much cake?

In my previous post I was kvetching about producing not-so-even layer for my cake. That was the least of my problems. I checked with the hostess to make sure all this chocolate is ok--chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and vanilla filling--which it wasn't. Oops. I should have asked but who doesn't like chocolate? I guess the happy couple doesn't and after all, it is their anniversary.

I finished the cake because I wanted to try this new recipe for ganache and parceled all but two pieces out to the neighbors. Husband has already finished the two pieces which might be a compliment but this is from the man who when I met him was eating cold Franco-American spaghetti out of a can. I won't go into that now. I also decided not to put on a third layer.

I've just taken the new yellow cake out of the oven. I'll put a strawberry and cream filling with white chocolate ganache. Here is the ganache recipe. I little different but oh so easy to use. It stays shiny and it can be reheated in the microwave.

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup light corn syrup
18 ounces chocolate, chopped

Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in heavy saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool. Can be made one day ahead.

Please, let them eat the cake

I'm not a cake baker, nope, never have been. Can't even make decent cupcakes which is odd because I can cook most anything else. I'm doing a favor for my dear friend Ingrid. With her mom in the hospital she won't have time to fix a cake for a dinner party she's having on Saturday. It's to celebrate the anniversary of some out of town friends of ours, the Shranks. I offered because Ingrid is the kind of friend that would do this for you and I know she wants the party to be nice for Tom and Diane. Even though I don't bake cakes I thought I'd give it a try.

My problem is the cake layer comes out all humpity in the middle. I've tried everything and I know, I can trim it but there must be some trick I'm missing. I'm doing three layers and each needed a fair amount of time. I've even bought three new, straight-sided pans just for the occasion.

I'm freezing the layers and making ganache on Saturday. If anyone has a magic trick, even though it's too late for this cake, let me know. I might even get the hang of this cake thing.