hello, lovely

Well, I sort of accidentally skipped last month’s challenge of Pizzas. Things were busy, and then we traveled, and then the month was over. But! When I saw we were switching to sweet stuff after a couple months of savory challenges, I was very excited. I was even more excited when I found out we were baking a CAKE! There was also the optional challenge of making these vanilla bean caramels, but eh. I didn’t feel like it, especially after the harrowing experiences I had trying just to MAKE this cake! lol

Team Unraveled (my 3-day walking team) decided to have a get together other than our regular Thursday night knit night and get together to watch Pride & Prejudice (the GOOD version. The Colin Firth version), because some of us had seen it, and some of us hadn’t seen or, or seen it the whole way through. When I found out the challenge, I figured the watching party would be a GREAT place to try it out!

I ran into some challenges along the way. My oven is crazy and very unpredictable, and it burned the cake within 10 minutes of being in the oven. (I HATE my oven, but I have no idea what I can do about it, living in an apartment.) Well, burned the edges and very darkly browned the top, but the center was raw. I turned the oven off and let it sit there, hoping to cook the center. That experiment seemed to work, but when I took the cake out of the oven, it still looked like it was going to be inedible.

I cut the cake in half and found that aside from the outside edges, it was edible, and actually very delicious. Unforunately, I’d already massacred it, so I ran out to get more ingredients, because I ran out of some stuff with the previous batch. I remade the batter, but some of the things didn’t get to room temp despite my attempting to hurry things along (eggs in a hot water bath, microwaving the milk for a few seconds, etc), and the batter looked like it was curdled after I finished it the 2nd time. I, fed up with the whole mess, dumped it and cleaned up the kitchen.

I ended up taking one of the halves of the cake to the party anyway, sans frosting, and it was a very delicious hit! Very moist and very tasty. I decided I wanted to try it again to take to my future in-laws for Thanksgiving, and the whole thing was a big mess. I made the syrup the day before, hoping to at least alleviate some of that headache, so it would be room temp by the time I needed it, but it ended up crystallizing in the jar I put it in. I don’t think I let it cook long enough. I warmed it up, hoping to be able to use it, but it wasn’t as dark and clear as the batch of syrup I’d made with the last cake.

My oven, again, burned the cake, but after learning from last time that it would still be good, I followed the same steps. This time, I cut off the edges and frosted it anyway. I wasn’t going through all that work for nothing again. LOL

I took it to Thanksgiving, and it seemed to be a big hit. I got a lot of compliments on it, but when I tasted a piece, it seemed to be very dry…not at all as moist as it was the last time, but it was still good. The frosting gave the dry cake a nice balance, and while it’s still very sweet, the sweetness seemed to be evened out by the cake.

I really liked it, and I will try this recipe again, if for no other reason than to get it RIGHT for once, but I will have to be VERY motivated to do it with all the prep work (ie: making the syrup) involved. I think I’d also maybe like to try it by substituting maple syrup or chocolate syrup or some other pre-made syrup. The recipe is behind the cut.

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