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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Birthday Cake

I had never made a layer cake before, and my mom's birthday was coming up.  What better opportunity?

Here's a picture of how it all started:


This is most everything I used.  I say "most" because inevitably I left something out.  I just don't remember what it was anymore.  Nothing important, I'm sure....oh!  I think it was the powdered sugar.  Yeah, you're gonna need that if you want frosting.

Notice the bag of Splenda.  I decided to try it out since I'd never baked with it before.  I couldn't tell the difference while eating the cake, and I'm not sure if it would have anything to do with the rising factor but, well, what do you think?


Those are 8-inch cake pans and that cake is only about halfway up the sides, when the recipe called for 9-inch cake pans.


I also had issues with waiting until the cake was completely cooled before I iced it, causing it to pool slightly on the bottom of the serving dish.  But really, it's not my fault because it was 10:30 at night and cake is supposed to cool faster at night when you're exhausted and want nothing more than to just go to bed.  Right?  Right?

Ultimately, even though Keith says it looked like a frog (sorry, honey, I'm not letting that one go) and it wasn't the prettiest cake on the block, it tasted delicious.  Next time, I'll try a few different things (like being patient) and see if it turns out any prettier, because the flavor certainly doesn't need to be improved.

I got the recipe for this Old-Fashioned Caramel Layer Cake from the Cooking Light Complete Cookbook.  Want to see what others are cooking this weekend?  Check out Weekend Cooking with Beth Fish Reads.

7 comments:

  1. Commenting back since you commented me!
    It's great to meet you, love your blog layout!

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  2. Hum. I've never tried to cook with Splenda, so I don't know if it would affect the rising. Since you didn't post the recipe, I can't make any other comments about that.

    You know, we all learn the "let cake cool" recipe the hard way. Consider that a right of passage! :)

    I like Cooking Light the magazine, so I'm sure their book is full of great recipes.

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  3. Taste is the most important thing, isn't it? :-)

    A frog? Hmm! Maybe next time you could try and decorate the cake a little and no one will notice what the underlying cake looks like.

    My Weekend Cooking post is here: http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/poppy-seed-scones-with-rhubarb-jam/

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  4. Cakes are definitely supposed to cool faster after 10PM!! I don't think it resembles a frog at all, and am sure it was delicious.

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  5. A love that the cake is made with Slpenda. My son and I both love caramel, so I'll be trying this. I like that it isn't all smooth, gives it character. As for looking like a frog, I don't see that, but then I see all kinds of stuff in clouds that no one else sees.

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  6. I don't think Splenda should affect the rising (my mother-in-law is diabetic and bakes with it) but, yeah, you need to let it cool first. Been there, done that. I'm sure it was tasty!

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  7. The birthday girl confirms that it was delicious! Thanks, Amy!

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