Tuesday, January 20, 2009

TWD: Berry Surprise Cake

Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen laid down the berry gauntlet ("berried" the gauntlet??) for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie assignment, and we had to answer. We fought long and we fought hard, and I hear that a bunch of our cakes sunk, but we bakers are nothing if not resourceful and thankfully we had a decadent cream cheese filling with which to disguise any disappointing cake foundations.

The base of this recipe is a fairly simple mixture of the usual suspects of flour, eggs, sugar and a couple sidekicks, but oh the fuss that had to be made over those eggs! Dorie actually encourages the baker to treat the eggs "like the divas they are", and she is not exaggerating. First there was the warming of the eggs and sugar over simmering water, then the mixing for a very long time and sifting and folding in some things and then melting and folding in other things...it was a good thing I started the whole process the day before I actually meant to serve the cake.


You see here my short, bronzed cake. I don't have the 8 inch pan called for, only a 9 inch pan, and I forgot to cut down the cooking time to accommodate for the thinner final product. As a result the cake was a tad dry, but the syrup brushed over it, the cream cheese filling piled into it and the whipped cream topping slathered on the outside made up for all that. My cake did sink some and the top layer was really just the top ring of the outer 2 inches of cake that were tall enough to cut. I was able to cut out 1/4 inch or so depth of the inside of the cake to make the well for the fililngs.


I used Grand Marnier as I couldn't get my hands on any of the other liquers suggested in time and it worked just fine. I used frozen berries, so by the next morning there were little pink tear drop trails running here and there down the sides.




Hello, breakfast. The light sweetness of the filling and the topping was tempered by a tart zing of raspberry every now and then, and the spongy texture of the cake set off the creamy filling very nicely. It was quite tasty!
It was SO much work that unless I knew of someone who was wild about berries I'm not sure I would want to do it all again. The cake recipe was the most tedious to make of all the parts, and I could see myself using the filling for something else...homemade danish or some other filled cake perhaps...or just in my bowl. I'm glad I went through the whole process at least once.

18 comments:

Amanda said...

I agree, same problems here! Mine turned out pretty, but it fell too much and I wasn't happy with the flavor of the cake. Oh well, next week! :)

oh BTW, there's a picture of the cake on the back cover of the book :-P I discovered that AFTER I was finished making the recipe and closed the book, bam, there it was!

Ashli said...

Okay, you make me want to live closer so I could sample all of these goodies. Surely you and hubby can not eat all that berry goodness!

Did you get a snow day?

Nana Time said...

Wow! That looks SOOOOOO Good I am salivating just imagining how good it tastes.

You amaze me girl!

Kimberly Johnson said...

Your cake looks fantastic!

Jennifer said...

My cake came out the same way, a bit sunken. The texture was also way off. But I had fun making it with my bff and it was so pretty.

chocolatechic said...

It looks wonderful.

I had problem after problem.

Joy said...

Your cake is pretty! I'd used blackberries, but seeing your raspberries makes me look forward to trying again this summer!

snicketmom said...

Good call with the frozen berries. My cake sunk too.:(

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

Hello breakfast! :) Love that! I also love all of the berries on top, they are my favorite!

Southerner said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. This looks really good. I am losing weight so think it is too good for me, though:)I have to stick to the bland boring stuff.

Cathy said...

Breakfast, indeed! It looks AWESOME!! I am really regretting not following through with the berries, filling, etc. once my cake flopped. It looks like the parts all come together nicely to make for one tasty cake!

Jessica said...

I agree, I'm glad that I went through the process, this one time. I could see myself making it again, but I don't know because I am not convinced that the cake would be worth it, even if I got it perfectly. Yours looks beautiful and I love the picture of the cake slice. Hello breakfast, indeed!

A Thrifty Mrs said...

Drool! That looks amazing.
Numpty is a great word.

Cooking for Comfort by Jennifer said...

The filling would be perfect for a danish! YUM!

We'll all have better luck next week!

M.L. @ The House of Whimsy said...

This looks like the PERFECT Valentine's Day cake. Great job!!!

The Muse said...

LOL every where I go i have seen cake! To date, I have been strong, filled with will power...but alas you have slayed me :) This looks so awesome!

Antiques and More Blog said...

Good day Kimberly! I have an award waiting for you on my blog.

So glad you enjoyed your goodies.

Have a nice weekend!
Lisa

Shannon said...

I have the same problem when I make round cakes. They always fall. :) Looks good though!