Monday, January 11, 2010

TWD: Rewind Recipe Perfection Pound Cake



This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was supposed to be Mrs. Vogel's Scherben chosen by Teanna of Spork or Foon where you can find the recipe. I didn't end up making it for a number of reasons. 1. I can't pronounce it. 2. I refuse to fry, unless its shrimp or onion rings, but who can blame me there? and 3. I'm lazy and didn't want to go grocery shopping.

I did want to make something by the TWD club this week though, so I chose to make Dorie's Perfection Pound Cake, originally chosen on January 22, 2008 way way way before I became a member. I chose to make this one a chocolate pound cake because I've had such good results with adding cocoa to my go to pound cake recipe.

Now, my thoughts on this cake? It was way dry. I thought so when I was looking at the batter, so I even added an extra egg. No luck. Another dry chocolate cake for me. I'm so sad. Apparently this time, its not just me though because after google'ing the TWD posts from that week in 2008, more often than not people said their cakes were dry too. In almost all recipes for pound cake that I see, people add sour cream or cream cheese. This one did not, and maybe that's the issue.

Either way, Dorie is still queen of the baking world. And her book is the best baking book I've ever owned. And I have a LOT of baking books. Go buy it!


And on a sad but getting a little better note, we had to put Ryan's dog Maly to sleep yesterday due to illness. :( Ryan wanted to get another puppy soon, and we found the last of a litter that was the only huskies within 100 miles so soon ended up being today.
Meet Max. Ryan calls him Mad Max, but I've never seen that movie.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

TWD: Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake


Well, you would think, being the Cocoa-BUTTERMILK Birthday Cake, I would remember the buttermilk when I went shopping this afternoon. I...did not.

But I tried anyway! I tried to make a buttermilk substitute using lemon juice and regular milk. I'm not really sure if that was the problem, or the minute or two over that I baked it since I was busy stuffing my face with dinner while watching Jericho. Either way, my cake is supa dry. And I'm extremely sad. The flavor is great though, so one day when I don't forget my head at the store, I'll make it again. Did I mention I had a list in my hand when I was at the store?

Oh, and for the icing, I made a chocolate cream cheese icing to go on it. I was feeling lazy so I didn't make the one called for in the recipe.

Anyway, Happy Anniversary to the TWD club members!

If you want the recipe to my failure, its on pgs 256-257 of the BEST BAKING BOOK EVER!