The curse of the birthday cake
Jan. 30th, 2024 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheart... has hit again! The sponge for the hummingbird cake turned out very well, even though I could have baked it for another five to ten minutes at low heat - the middle of it was still a bit moister than ideal. OTOH, if I had baked it any more, the rest of it might have dried out too much, so there's that. It is still very delicious.
It is the filling that beat me this time. I wanted to make it very proper, so I tried to follow the recipe closely... the result was a disaster. I had to throw out the whole thing (and the ingredients weren't exactly cheap, to put it mildly) and improvise a new one after my own imagination. The second one was much better - but way too little for such a relatively large cake (21 cm in diameter), but I simply didn't have more stuff to work with (it was after midnight, too). So each layer got a small amount of the Cremequark filling and a generous blob of mango puree (that I had bought tinned at Lidl a week ago).
Of course the original design was no longer doable. So this is another cake of the "ugly but yummy" category. Still better than the other way round, but I really wanted to make a birthday cake that was pretty, too. :(
Since I dealt with the cake disaster last night (and didn't have to cook today), I attacked the songbook again. All pages are finished now, and the last two are almost sewn together. Originally I wanted to finish that part today, but my fingertips rebelled facing the last 10 centimetres. I can understand; those 10 centimetres mean 4-6 layers of thick felt and 2 layers of double-sided tape: agony! Tomorrow is another day. And then I'll still have to bind the book, which is a very different challenge again.
Mum's birthday came and went quietly. She had a great many phone calls, friends and family congratulating her, as well as a visit from the physiotherapist lady, who got a piece of the birthday cake and liked it very much. I skipped choir practice today, though; one can't leave a newborn alone in the evening, after all. ;))
Instead, I used the early evening to be lazy and to transcribe more of the finished chapter. I might be able to type up the rest tomorrow. *fingers crossed*
It is the filling that beat me this time. I wanted to make it very proper, so I tried to follow the recipe closely... the result was a disaster. I had to throw out the whole thing (and the ingredients weren't exactly cheap, to put it mildly) and improvise a new one after my own imagination. The second one was much better - but way too little for such a relatively large cake (21 cm in diameter), but I simply didn't have more stuff to work with (it was after midnight, too). So each layer got a small amount of the Cremequark filling and a generous blob of mango puree (that I had bought tinned at Lidl a week ago).
Of course the original design was no longer doable. So this is another cake of the "ugly but yummy" category. Still better than the other way round, but I really wanted to make a birthday cake that was pretty, too. :(
Since I dealt with the cake disaster last night (and didn't have to cook today), I attacked the songbook again. All pages are finished now, and the last two are almost sewn together. Originally I wanted to finish that part today, but my fingertips rebelled facing the last 10 centimetres. I can understand; those 10 centimetres mean 4-6 layers of thick felt and 2 layers of double-sided tape: agony! Tomorrow is another day. And then I'll still have to bind the book, which is a very different challenge again.
Mum's birthday came and went quietly. She had a great many phone calls, friends and family congratulating her, as well as a visit from the physiotherapist lady, who got a piece of the birthday cake and liked it very much. I skipped choir practice today, though; one can't leave a newborn alone in the evening, after all. ;))
Instead, I used the early evening to be lazy and to transcribe more of the finished chapter. I might be able to type up the rest tomorrow. *fingers crossed*
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(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 07:41 pm (UTC)At least the cake was yummy, that's the most important thing!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 07:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 08:50 pm (UTC)I have never tried to make a hummingbird cake — sometime I must, But I think i might go with Mary Berry's recipe that seems to be filled with much the same mixture of butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla as my carrot cake! A touch of mango puree as well sounds lovely, though..
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-30 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-31 01:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-31 02:58 am (UTC)Oh no! {{{hugs}}}
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-31 03:59 am (UTC)Happy Birthday to your Mum! Glad she had a good day.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-31 04:44 pm (UTC)I understand those feelings- that´s why I have given up on doing more complicated ones! But most important thing is the taste- always!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-31 05:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-31 05:45 pm (UTC)