Sunday, January 6, 2008

january garnet cake


1 beautiful stick of butter (.5 C.)
.5 C. shortening, unflavored
2 C. granulated sugar
1 C. buttermilk
5 egg yolks
2 C. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
1.25 C. flaked coconut (bagged, not canned, if you ask me)
1 C. chopped PE-cans

30 minutes before: separate eggs and leave butter out. baking works best when these ingredients are brought to room temperature.

with a paddle attachment (or some big guns) beat butter and shortening until whipped. add sugar. keep whipping. pour the vanilla in the buttermilk. add yolks and vanilla buttermilk, alternating between the two. baking is about harmony! in another bowl, please add flour and baking soda and mix lightly with a fork. there is nothing more disgusting than taking a bite of a baked good only to find a clump of baking soda. nothing. gently, but confidently, add flour mixture to wet mixture, beating lightly. once all is mixed thoroughly, fold in coconut and PE-cans.

at this point, you have options. lots of them. but first, please go preheat your oven to 350 F.

-you may use ONE 13x9x2 inch baking pan and have a nice sheet cake. bake 40-45 or until it smells divine.
-you may use TWO 9 inch baking rounds. bake these about 30 minutes, but keep an eye on it.
-you actually may use WHATEVER YOU WANT. for real. let's chat....

baking is not hard, as i have said before. let's say you choose to use a dora the explorer mold. it probably has some weird crevices, perhaps a few deep spots. use it! just stop cooking it somewhere between not done and over done. hang out in the kitchen, get some tea, do a sodoku. the key to baking is accurate ingredients and the temperature at which you bake them.

alright, whenever your cake situation is complete, take it out of the oven and wait 5 minutes. then, take it out of the pan and place it on a baking wrack where your dog can't eat it. this will prevent a soggy cake and a dead cake. after about a half hour, cover the cake with anything. kitchen towel works, cake cover, tin foil, whatever. this will prevent a dry cake. cakes have no brain so they can't figure this out for themselves.

for frosting, do what you want, but i think this is one is FABOO and i made it up myself, so that's cool.

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese block, softened
.25 C. beautiful butter, softened
2 C. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla...OH...never ever EVER use imitation. it's worth the extra $ to get the real stuff.

whip all that together. AND THEN...

whip about a half cup of whipping cream with just a spoonful of regular sugar. this makes whipped cream. duh. but stop whipping when it gets to the consistency of hair mousse.

fold those two bowls of heaven together. DONE.
*****now, you will notice that with this cake, there is some nondescript red goo. i added this touch because this was a birthday cake for my dear dear and OLD mother, terri. she turned 57 today, which is my favorite number. anyway, the january birthstone is garnet so i cooked up some garnet goo to lace the cake with. this is what it was.
1 C. raspberry (with seeds, please) preserves
2 shot raspberry liquor (Chambord...mmm...)
1 C. frozen, unthawed, raspberries
heat on medium low the preserves and chambord. take off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. add totally frozen berries and mix. ta-da! looks like little garnet gems.
obviously, you can do this with virtually any preserves, fruit, or liquor on the planet.
sjj

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