Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Black and white and crumbs all over



Ever since I was in high school (20+ years--wow), I've been a designated baker.  Who's going to bring dessert to the potluck?  Di!  Who's going to make something for the bake sale?  Di!  Who's going to make cake for so-and-so's birthday at work?  Di!  

It's mostly my own doing.  I love to bake, and everyone knows it.  Early on in my career, I had a manager who would bake for all her employees' birthdays and other special occasions.  When I became a manager, I started to do the same thing.  I bake to welcome new employees.  I bake for all sorts of holidays.  I bake for birthdays--and take requests.  =)  Some have been interesting, like coming up with something gluten-free for one person (long before my blogging days, back when I didn't have lots of online resources to turn to for help; I made cheesecake).  Some I wouldn't even eat myself (the German chocolate cake I made for the most recent birthday at work; I hate coconut).  

So when our small staff at work decided to have a potluck the day before Valentine's Day, I immediately volunteered to bring the dessert.  Not that I had to say so--everyone assumed I would.  Especially since three of the others are guys who definitely don't bake. =)  I was just really happy to have a reason to make the full recipe of this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.  Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater chose the recipe that I'm sure many of us have been eyeing since buying this cookbook--the cover recipe, Devils Food White Out Cake.  


Most of the time these days, I make smaller versions of layer cakes, since it's hard for us to finish off a big one.  I've got a couple of cute little 6-inch pans that work well for halving recipes.  My 9-inch pans are pretty decent, too, but my 8-inch pans date back to my college days, and are pretty cheap.  They're also not very deep, so I wasn't sure how well thicker layers would work in them.  Fortunately, I recently had the chance to do some unexpected shopping at Sur la Table (a story for another post) and I acquired some much better 8-inch pans that I was able to break in with this recipe.

While I love pretty much anything chocolate, I often don't like chocolate cake.  More specifically, I don't like most bakery and box-mix chocolate cakes.  Most of them just aren't all that chocolatey.  Yes, I'm a chocolate cake snob, and I seem to be raising my children to be the same way. =)  I've found a few good recipes, like the one I used for Brianna's birthday cake.  After making this week's TWD recipe, I've realized that the ones I do like are the ones that use melted chocolate in addition to cocoa powder.  And even better, Dorie's cake adds in chopped chocolate pieces!


For the cake itself, I followed the recipe as written.  I took the buttermilk option, since I actually had some in my fridge.  I used Scharffen Berger cocoa and El Rey 70% chocolate in the batter and used El Rey 58.5% for the added chocolate.  My playing around came with the frosting.  Due to a lack of time and energy, I really didn't feel like trying the Italian merengue for the frosting.  So I cheated and did a Swiss merengue instead.  I put half a cup of egg whites (I pretty much always have some stashed in my freezer) and a cup of sugar in the bowl of my standing mixer and set it over a pan of simmering water.  I whisked the whites and sugar together until the mixture hit a temperature of 160 degrees F.  Then I removed the bowl from the heat, put it back on the stand mixer, and added the vanilla.  I used the whisk attachment to beat the merengue until it was cooled to room temperature and it was fluffy and shiny.  

I'm not sure how it compares to the frosting as I was supposed to make it, but it worked pretty well.  I cut the cake layers in half, and layered three of the pieces with the frosting, spreading frosting over the sides and top of the cake as well.  Then I crumbled the fourth cake piece and pressed the crumbs over the sides and top of the cake.  I realized later that I was actually only supposed to do the sides and a bit of the top.  Oops. =)


The verdict?  I really, really liked this cake.  I will definitely be making the cake itself again.  I'd like to try it with a different frosting, maybe stabilized whipped cream or cream cheese frosting.  I particularly liked the bits of chocolate in the cake.  Jamie really liked it as well.  As for the people at work...  As luck would have it, the potluck ended up being cancelled on account of flu.  Two people sick out of a 5-person staff makes things a bit challenging.  But I already had the cake made, so I took it to work anyway.  The guys all seemed to like it.  I had a hard time with pictures this week, though, because the lighting at work isn't that great.  In fact, the best pictures turned out to be the ones I took of the cake sitting in my car... =)

If you'd like to try this one for yourself, you can definitely find the recipe in the book.  Or head on over to Stephanie's blog.  And be sure to see what all the other TWD bakers did this week!

Oh, and one last thing...  I couldn't resist including a picture of the lovely tulips that Brianna and Jamie got me for Valentine's Day!  (I also got a new cookbook--more on that later...)

Seeing the colors after all the brown and white makes me think of The Wizard of Oz... =)

27 comments:

  1. Lucky for the people you work with that you are the designated baker, Di. And how fun that this recipe gave you an excuse to go shopping! Your cake is beautiful. I'm very interested in the Swiss meringue that you used. I REALLY liked the frosting that was with the cake recipe, but (for me anyway) it was very stressful. Not one that I would want to have to make under pressure. I think this cake would be really incredible with whipped cream or cream cheese icing, and might well try it that way next time.

    Beautiful cake -- I want to dig in all over again!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm the designated baker too, not that I mind :) I bet that even though the potluck was cancelled, everyone loved this cake - it looks absolutely beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved it like you did, the chocolate pieces MADE the cake. I think this would have been good with a chocolate ganache topping too :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The flowers are gorgeous, Di! Hope you had a nice V-day. Can't wait to hear about the cook book. I put crumbs on the top of my cake, too. I wasn't paying attention to the instructions. It was still great, though.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That cake looks fabulous, Di! Are you certain that you don't want to come up this way and make it for me and Sophie as kind of a "Feel Better Soon" type of thing? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. How gorgeous are those tulips! Absolutely stunning! And I'm sorry your pot luck got canceled, but those lucky few who got to eat that gorgeous cake must have been very happy! I agree, I'd like to try a different frosting - the cream cheese idea sounds great! I found an unbelievable cream cheese recipe - you should try this one!

    Frosting
    8 ounces cold cream cheese
    1 stick butter, firm but not cold
    ⅛ teaspoon salt
    1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
    ½ teaspoon vanilla

    Combine butter, salt, and cream cheese in mixer and beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes.

    Add sugar until just incorporated. Don’t over mix. It should be thick but not fluffy.

    Add vanilla. If necessary, add milk to thin.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Di, I put crumbs on the top too, but I needed to cover the lumps in my meringue. But the cake pictured on the recipe page has crumbs on top, so don't feel bad! I love how you bake for every occasion at work - it makes people feel special to have someone cook for them.

    Gorgeous tulips!!!!
    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great job on the cake!! Your co-workers are very lucky to have you! The flowers are beautiful too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sur la Table? I love that store! I can't wait to see what you got!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful flowers! Great job on the cake - can't wait to find out what book you got!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your tulips...they are so beautiful! Your cake looks amazing...great job. I am so jealous that you are the "baker" as I am such a novice...I never really learned how to bake, which is why I am trying to learn now. I very much enjoyed your comparisons of the frostings...I learned a lot from all that information...thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What an excellent Valentine's day! Those are wonderful flowers. Your cake looks great! (Also, I hate coconut too and the library loves it so I just bring in those desserts!)

    ReplyDelete
  13. You are so sweet to be the "beloved baker" of your office. There is no question that they loved their treat this week for sure. Isn't this an awesome baking group. That's probably what they think at your office.
    Your cake really is beautiful and so are the tullips. Wow.
    AmyRuth

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your cake looks great. ANd the tulips are beautiful. We had 10 people eating cake so there wasn't enuff to take to co-workers. Yours are lucky.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Almost forgot - you ARE going to show us your new pans from le Table, right????

    ReplyDelete
  16. what gorgeous tulips (I got some, too but I love the colors of yours!) - and fab looking cake!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love your cake, it looks so moist and just darn delicious! Your tulips are beautiful, lucky you :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. what a beautiful cake and beautiful tulips! I wondered about using the buttermilk if it would make a difference. I used whole milk because that is what I had. Yours looks delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Beautiful cake! I love your tulips too. They're one of my favorite spring flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm always the designated baker too (although my sister wants to bring a vegan cake to a party this weekend, for some unexplainable reason -- she's not a vegan). I like it, because I know there will always be something good to eat!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm glad it was a hit. Your cake looks gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  22. What an interesting post... "Di the baker"!!! ...you should start a catering service, or some sort of thing like "Ace of cakes"!!!

    Very well done, Di!

    P.s.: I feel so closer to you than to many other bloggers, and I often surprise myself talking to you outloud when I read your posts... but I've been wondering for a long time and assume "Di" is a nickname, but... is it "dee" like most, or "dye" like the princess??? LOL Just so I know what to call you when I talk to you! LOL LOL LOL

    ReplyDelete
  23. I bet everyone loves having you as the designated baker! That looks delicious and those are beautiful tulips- my favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow - nice looking cake! I love the tulips too! I have more success with Swiss meringue too - can't seem to get the handle on Italian... everything looked like it came together nicely though. Nice job!

    ReplyDelete
  25. beautiful tulips and lovely cake! glad you found another chocolate cake you loved :) i'm going to go check out the other one you linked - DH has requested a chocolate cake for his birthday and i am on the lookup for one

    as for the korean filet on my blog - i'm always scared of screwing up meat too but really the worst thing that can happen is you over cook it or under cook it :P you should give it a try! the first time i made it, it was slightly overdone but now i know my oven and can get it just right. another secret - and i don't know if you live in a big city - but filet is ridiculously cheap at asian grocery stores!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Di! I know I already commented on this post but I'm stopping by everyone on my blogroll to let them know that I've started a new blog event called Thrifty Thursdays if you are interested in blogging along! http://amandascookin.blogspot.com/2009/02/gauging-interest-thrifty-thursday.html :)

    ReplyDelete