17 July 2014

Baker's Report: My First Cake

I baked my very first cake, yesterday.  I don't know how, but somehow, I never made cake before.  Just the boxed ones at work.  I also realized yesterday, that I totally suck at frosting the cake.  However, the Maple Vanilla Frosting I created tasted good, even better on the cake, than in the bowl.  Tim thought I used butter, but I didn't. 

Yesterday was a good day.

As I prepared my two new cake pans before 7AM, I thought how lucky I am to start my day like this. 

I don't have to bake.  I get to bake.

48 comments:

  1. So you've never made a cake from scratch before? Wow. What kind of cake is it?

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    1. No, I never liked cake. So I never bothered to learn how to make them. Now I am though, and it's a blast.

      Okay, ready. Here's what the cake is. Let me see if I can get it all down right....

      Wholemeal Banana Cake with Mini Chocolate Chips with Maple Vanilla Whipped Frosting made with REAL Maple.

      Dairy and egg-free for both the icing and the sponge. And ... vegan for those careful enough to use non-bone char sugars, and dairy-free chocolate.

      Then, if you wanted it gluten-free, simply use a gluten-free flour mix.

      My good gosh, that's too much to say. So instead, here's some cake I made for the first time in the history of ever.

      Cheers and boogie boogie.

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  2. "I don't have to bake. I get to bake." - I like that :)

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    1. It wasn't too shabby. The dairy-free icing was very very good.

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  4. What do you mean you've never baked a cake before? What the what? That always shocks me... but then I always remember that classic layer cakes aren't often made in US. Here in Europe we would cut those sponges into four layers and ad icing between each :) That is how I make cakes.

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    1. Oh no. People make cake all the time, here. Bakeries, stores, homes, everyone. I just never have, because I didn't like cake.

      The plan was four layers (as I love the number four), but I didn't have enough frosting.

      Stay tuned for my upcoming carrot layered cake though, I'll have enough for four layers.

      Meanwhile, It's all new to me and I'm loving every single ding dong minute.

      But make no mistake. Plenty of sponge is made here in this country as well.

      Just not by me.

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    2. when you don't have enough frosting you can crumble one of the sponge layers into fine crumbs and mix it with a couple of spoons of lekvart or mashed bananas and use it as icing for one of the layers :)

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    3. That's pretty good. I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, I only made a sample batch of frosting to test a new product.

      Thanks for the idea.

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  5. The frosting looks pretty expert to me!

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    1. Thanks. When do we get to see photos of your new place? How goes the move?

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  6. Well done! Looks nice and yummy too. Keep it up and cheers :)

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  7. Just have some hot water and dip occasionally whatever you are using to spread the frosting.

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    1. this goes when you're cutting it too, dip the knife into hot hot hot water and you will get expert slices

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    2. Lurker: Thanks. Will give that a go.

      Dezzy: Thanks, will give that a go as well, because when I sliced it, the cake was a mess.

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    3. you can heat the knife for each move either in hot tap water or at your stove and the icing will split around it when you cut running away from the heat and you will have flawless slices

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    4. I will try that, thanks. We used to heat the knife for the frozen cakes at work. They were solid rocks, the hot knife was the only way.

      But I never thought about using that trick for a room temperature cake. I'm super excited to give it a go. THANKS!

      So excited for when I do a billion layer cake.

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    5. Hey, Dezzy. Tonight I did the hot water slice trick with the room temperature cake and it works great. Even with the vegan frosting, it still parted. Looks sharp. Thanks.

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    6. everything parts in front of something hard and hot no matter what the roomtemps are :))))

      Joking aside, when I sell cakes, people usually ask me to cut them into squares and decorate each one individually, so that they don't have to bother with cutting at home when the guests arrive. This is why I use a very long and thin knife warmed up under hot tap water. That is how you get cakebook slices

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    7. Now I know and I love it. There was one last piece left and I sliced it more for practice. So pretty inside. Thanks and have a great weekend. It's a rainy Autumn day here and I frickin' love it.

      Very cool that you make and sell cakes. Cakebook slices, I like that term.

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  8. Replies
    1. Carrot cake coming up next. I told Tim about the Black Forest that you mentioned and he said he remembers having it and said it was goooood.

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  9. That is a gorgeous cake too! Well done!

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    1. Thanks. That's half a cake. The backside is missing. Good to see you posting today. Glad you got time with your friend.

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  10. I am as surprised that you have not made a cake before! Even I who hates to bake have made a cake before. Well, good for you! I won't have to make one ever again. The whole Yin/Yang everything evens out. You love to bake. I hate it.

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    1. The whole Yin/Yang thing made me laugh. That was pretty good. I'll be making MANY MANY more cakes. This was fun.

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  11. I can't believe you've never made a cake! With all the things you bake and cook, that doesn't seem possible! I like baking cakes. That's the only cooking thing I really do well. (And bake cookies).

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  12. Congrats on your first cake bake! Well done! And that frosting looks super yummy!

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    1. Thanks. When I made this frosting I thought to myself, I wish Jen could taste this. It was so fluffy. And tasted better on the cake.

      Was just at your blog. Totally fantastic about the Tweets. How flippin' cool was that? Very very. Thanks for sharing your excitement with us.

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  13. Looks BEAUTIFUL! Looks like you did a great job!

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  14. Oh, YUM! You did wonderfully! Interesting how you've never made a cake. I think my first ones were from mixes, and I didn't make my own from scratch until I was in my 30s. Good for you for trying!

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    1. They have some great gluten-free flour mixes but yikes on the price of Xanthan Gum. Have you ever baked with Bob's Red Mills Gluten-Free Flour blend? If so, their website often has coupons.

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  15. Replies
    1. Thank you, Gloria. I am to make many more. This was fun.

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  16. It looks pretty awesome, if you ask me! And making a cake from scratch is quite an accomplishment. I don't think I've ever made one. I honestly don't remember doing that. So good for you, Wonder Woman!

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    1. It really isn't. I swear. It's just flour, leavening agents, salt, sugar, spices and done. Egg if you wish, and liquid. Though I use the apple cider vinegar and baking soda trick instead of egg.

      So frickin' easy.

      Loved your photos of the bike ride. Those two through the tunnel ... very sharp.

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  17. I LOVE to bake and even more I LOVE to eat ;D
    that's why I run...all the time or I'd be a little butter ball of batter

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  18. I'm not a huge cake fan either. But a good homemade-from-scratch cake is really good.

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    1. I'm finding this most certainly to be true, as so far, I'm digging cakes. Who knew? Not me.

      Thanks for dropping by and boogie boogie.

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