let them eat cake

 for those of you who know me, you probably know how much i dislike making cakes. it's not that there is technically anything wrong with cake, it's just that cupcakes are much better for my mental health.

cakes are just too much pressure. if i mess up a batch of cupcakes - no big deal, but if i mess up a giant cake that's sort of a big deal. they're typically ordered for really special occasions so they have to be perfect, require loads more ingredients and can be a little unruly to manoeuvre. i also do all of my baking in a conventional oven on one rack (everything burns no matter what on the bottom rack) so if it's monopolized by a giant cake, that takes forever to bake, then all other production pretty much has to cease. then it's the waiting game - it's a fine line between an over-baked & dry cake or an under-baked & gummy cake, thus contributing to my stress level and mental anguish.

that being said, last week i made an awesome cake!

it was large enough to feed 50 people & the biggest cake i've ever made. the cake was a classic butter cake, using the same recipe i grew up with. it's a 1-2-3-4 cake, aptly named given the recipe... which i guess i'll share :)

1-2-3-4 cake

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

4 eggs

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 c milk

1 tsp vanilla

so it's basic creaming method - mix butter, sugar & vanilla til fluffy - add in the eggs 1 @ a time - stir together all of the dry ingredients - alternate the dry ingredients with the wet - bake @ 350 - boom it's done.

i made a few flavour adjustments for mine, but i can't give away all my secrets now can i?

then i cooked down berries with a little sugar until it was almost jam consistency & layered that in the centre with fresh berries.

then i slathered on a healthy layer of lemon curd. 

with all of that awesome hidden inside, it helps to counteract any dryness that inevitably happens around the edges. and then to top it off, i frosted the entire thing in italian meringue - the marshmallowy concoction that tops my lemon meringues.

after a whole lot of stress, i was pretty pleased with the result... and i guess the customers were too... they've ordered another one for tomorrow!!!

this one will be a gingerbread cake with a honeyed date puree, whipped cream & berries.

i had better get started...