Saturday, November 29, 2008

Caramel Me a Daring Baker - November

This month the Daring Bakers made a Caramel Cake created by Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater. You can see the original recipe here: http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006/12/24/caramel-cake-the-recipe/
Our hostesses were Dolores of Culinary Curiosity, Alex of Blondie and Brownie (she's Brownie), and Jenny of Foray into Food.
This was a pretty straightforward cake, I'm just sad to say that I couldn't eat any of it because my pregnancy hormones don't like me and have been causing me to have gallbladder attacks if I eat anything with more than a smidgen of butter or other fats in it such as cream. This isn't stopping me from being the hostess for December along with my friend Marion of Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux, but I have to say it's hard to make pastries when you can't even taste the batter.
I actually had to have A. do the final taste test for me when I added salt to the caramel buttercream because I fear the attacks (they're very painful) enough not to tempt fate. Of course A. didn't mind being a tester so at least there was one happy person in the kitchen.
Both the cake and the buttercream smell fabulous which I think means they taste fabulous too. Of note, we were supposed to make a light caramel syrup to include in the cake batter and the buttercream, but I actually let my caramel cook past dark amber so that there would be a real smoky caramel taste to both elements. I don't know if it worked in the cake because the recipe only calls for a little addition of caramel syrup in the batter, but I know it worked for the buttercream because I could smell the caramel while beating it.
Everything is packed as we've been moving so I didn't have my pastry bag to decorate the cake (woe is me), so I improvised...hope it looks ok (my obsessive compulsive tendencies say it doesn't, but the rational part of my brain knows it does).
EN FRANCAIS:

Ce mois-ci les Pâtissiers Téméraires ont fait un Gâteau au Caramel concocté par Shuna Fish Lydon du blog Eggbeater. Vous pouvez voir la recette originale là: http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006/12/24/caramel-cake-the-recipe/
Nos hôtesses étaient were Dolores de Culinary Curiosity, Alex de Blondie and Brownie (elle est Brownie), et Jenny de Foray into Food.
Ce gâteau était très simple à faire, je suis juste désolée de n'avoir pas pu en manger du tout car mes hormones de grossesse ne m'aimant pas, elle déclenchent des crises de ma vésicule biliaire dès que je mange plus d'un chouia de beurre ou autre forme de graisse telle de la crème. Ca ne m'empêchera pas d'être l'hôtesse du prochain défi en Décembre avec mon amie Marion de Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux, mais je dois dire que c'est dur de faire des pâtisseries quand on ne peut même pas goûter à l'appareil.
J'ai du demander à A. de goûter la crème au beurre au caramel plusieurs fois pour moi quand j'ajoutais le sel à la fin parce que j'ai trop peur des crises (qui font très mal) pour tenter ma chance. Evidemment il était ravi donc au moins une personne était heureuse dans la cuisine.
Le gâteau et sa crème au beurre sentent divinement bon donc je pense qu'ils doivent avoir bon goût aussi. A noter, nous étions sensés faire un sirop léger au caramel à inclure dans le gâteau et dans la crème au beurre, mais j'ai laissé mon caramel cuire bien plus longtemps qu'indiqué pour que les deux choses aient un vrai goût un peu fumé de caramel. Je ne sais pas si ça a marché pour le gâteau car la recette n'indique qu'une légère addition de sirop au caramel de toute manière, mais je sais que ça a marché pour la crème au beurre car je sentais le caramel en la battant.
Tout est dans des boîtes en ce moment car nous déménageons donc je n'ai pas ma poche à douille pour décorer le gâteau (tragédie), donc j'ai improvisé...j'espère que c'est assez convenable (mes tendances obsessives compulsives me disent que non mais la partie rationelle de mon cerveau me dit que oui).

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31 comments:

Honey Pickles said...

Even without your pastry bag, your cake looks lovely and delicious. Bravo!

Amy said...

It does look wonderful - are those peaches on top? Sigh...Can't wait for the December challenge, I hope you are feeling well soon.

Leslie said...

beautiful cake. I cant imagine not being able to taste your creations!

Karen Baking Soda said...

If this is you improvising I gladly switch my pastrybags for your skills! It looks impressive, love the decoration.
This cake was not going to be friendly for you, kudos for withstanding the pressure!!

Hilda said...

Thank you for the lovely comments. Amy those are apple slices that I cooked a little in the caramel. I knew I wouldn't be able to make decent-looking rosettes or anything with my cut-off sandwich bag, so I figured I'd put some fruit on top, and apples go so well with caramel.

Gretchen Noelle said...

Too bad that you could not even try this! It looks just gorgeous! Cannot wait to see what you will have us facing next month!

Anonymous said...

Looks great :-)! Compliments!!!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

i'm telling you as soon as the little one is out - you need to make this again. it was great! the cake looks brilliant. Hilda you did a fantastic job!

PS. thanx for the pecans

Anonymous said...

j'espère que tu pourras quand même goûter au challenge de décembre !!! ce serait dommage ! Il n'y a pas trop de beurre dedans je crois ;)

vibi said...

Stunning presentation Hilda!
Pipping bag or sandwich bag, no difference, you are a master froster!
Sorry to read though, you couldn't taste it. Hope you're better soon!

Ruth said...

Your cake looks beautiful. I hope you feel better

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your cake is so simply and elegantly decorated. It looks delicious even if you couldn't taste it! If you are in Paris, I will happily make your special event cakes.

Elle said...

Many could not make such a pretty cake WITH a pastry bag...it is quite lovely. Too bad about no fats. Bet you hubby enjoyed the cake and icing, too.

Dharm said...

Great job on the cake! Love how you decorated it!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Maybe its good you didn't have your pastry bag with you. Or you wouldn't have known you were capable of decorating your cake so well without it.:)

~Amber~ said...

Your cake is beautiful!

Deeba PAB said...

How beautiful this is...apple slices in caramel sound just too divine! Well done indeed!!

Anonymous said...

Your cake does look wonderful, it is too bad that you couldn't try it. I do hope you at least make the icing again later.

TeaLady said...

Beautiful cake with the peaches. Yay for OCB.

TeaLady said...

Okay, cake with apples. My Bad.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! That cake looks so inviting!

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a fabulous job on your cake. I love your finishing touches...simply beautiful.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

Snjezana said...

your cake looks beautiful!:))
well done!
I wish mine looked that good.
I hope you'll feel better for the december challenge.:)

Dolores said...

I'm so sorry you didn't get to taste this one Hilda. You will have to try it again when your pregnancy stomach relaxes a bit.

I'm baking YOUR challenge this weekend for a holiday party on Monday. Can't wait to dig in to it.

tadpoledrain said...

commenting for Haiti - but that cake is beautiful.

Pat said...

Beautiful cake!

darci said...

okay, this blog is making my mouth water!

Unknown said...

I love buttercream icing and am refraining from licking the computer screen...

Jeanne said...

Are those nectarines on that caramel cake? I think I'm in heaven...

Kat said...

This looks delicious

Anonymous said...

comment comment. thanks for the good work.

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