HCB: Chocolate Layer Cake with Caramel Ganache

in , , , , , ,

It felt good to bake this weekend.  While I did cook up a storm in Vermont, it was mostly savory stuff, I did bake once and since the cabin kitchen lacked a lot of the basic equipment, I choose to do the most simply baking possible by picking this recipe.

So, when I got back, I was ready to tackle something difficult, something that would force me to use all of my bowls, KA, baking pans, and gazillion spoons and spatulas.  

Internet, I washed so many dishes over the weekend, I lost count.

But, I was happy to be back in my fully stocked kitchen.

Unfortunately, I was not very happy with this week’s Heavenly Cake choice.  Which I’m still trying to come to terms with.  I mean, come on! Chocolate and caramel? What in heaven’s name can go wrong with those two?

Around my house, apparently something.

Read More

HCB: Chocolate Feather Bed

in , , , , ,

I’m surprise that I had the right frame of mind to bake our HBC choice cake this past weekend.  Why? Because my mind was not fully engage in baking pans, measuring cups or stacking delicate layers of chocolate cake between light whipped ganache.

Instead my mind was thinking of a certain lakeside cabin, kayaking trips, hiking thru the woods, wardrobe combinations, airline tickets, car rentals, weather projections, balloon festivals and how my spotty French was going to get me thru a day trip in Montreal.

In 5 days, we are out of this hot hell we call Florida and flying to the north for some serious vacation-lazy time.

But, after 3 weeks of fruit dessert surplus, we were back in business with none other than a major chocolate overload choice, and I just could not pass it up.

The picture of this cake in the book is one of my favorite, if not THE favorite.  It looks rustic, rich and decadent and a bit of a show-stopper – my kind of cake.

The catch?

Read More

HCB: Plum and Blueberry Upside-down Torte

in , , , ,

Tom is in high heaven right now… for the past 2 weeks I have prepare sweets that are dear to his taste buds. Lemon cake, Apricot-Almond Berry Buckle and now this upside-down Torte.

I almost did not make this cake.  For some unknown reason I keep thinking that the Chocolate Feather Bed was the next cake and that this one was due the following week.

I think I was just blocking it out from my head, because we had had way to much fruit in my baking of late and I was pretty over it.

So when I read Marie’s Last Cake, Next cake recap and realized my mistake, I was all “oh man, another fruit cake - crap!”.

I was not looking forward to this one, but it was on the list and it had blueberries in it and Tom goes ga-ga over blueberries, so someone was going to be happily eating cake this weekend.

I did not even half the recipe - I figure lets overload him on fruit and he will eventually shout “ENOUGH!”. At least that was my strategy and I was sticking to it.

I started by making the decision to use my cast iron pan, I did not want to do the “do it here and then pour it there” dance.

Read More