It's April Fool's Day and more importantly (in my humble opinion) it's the official beginning of baseball season! I do love baseball season and I'm pretty excited about going to some baseball games in DC and Baltimore this year. While this isn't an official baseball post, I think that perhaps the caramel and peanuts have a vague Cracker Jack reference to them, no? I actually made this cake to be my birthday cake a little bit ago. So, every year I give up chocolate for Lent. I might give up other things too or take on something that I deem worthy but I always give up chocolate. And every year my birthday falls during Lent (except last year when it was on Easter Sunday) and every year I break Lent on my birthday. It's ok, I was raised, as my sister affectionately calls it, "whiskeypalian." And, no, none of my family is what you'd call a raging alcoholic either, I don't know how or where she coined that phrase. So, I was trying to decide what sort of cake to make for my birthday and I just couldn't get it figured out. My favorite birthday cake is the old standby: yellow cake with chocolate icing. But somehow I don't think that it would taste as good if my mom didn't make it for me, you know? And then there was a recipe in Bon Appetit for a chocolate mascarpone cake that looks seriously good in a "death by chocolate" way. But I wasn't excited enough to justify all of the dirty dishes. So, I figured it would be a great time to rewind with Dorie. It came down to this cake and the Black and White Chocolate Cake. They both looked great but I wanted more chocolate than the Black and White Chocolate Cake could provide so I chose the Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake.
So, I'm still not sure where I went wrong. It doesn't look bad, does it? I think that it looks just about right. But this cake was.not.good. At all. I took one bite and immediately decided that I wasn't going to eat any more. The cake was more of a devil's food texture, I think. Or a very, very, very cakey brownie. And I think that I cooked the caramel just 5 seconds too long because it had sort of a burned flavor. I went back and looked for some TWD posts regarding this cake and it seems like a lot of people liked it? I still love the idea of this cake . . . chocolate and caramel and peanuts are a great combination (even if I do prefer Milky Way to Snickers). I think that if I made it again I might try to underbake the cake a little bit and I wouldn't let the sugar get quite so dark. Then I might like it a little bit more.
15 comments:
What a bummer! Sorry your birthday cake wasn't what you'd hoped for. If it makes you feel any better, I had the exact same experience with the cake. I couldn't eat it either because my caramel had such a burnt taste (I really thought I followed the directions to a T!). Yuck.
I'm sorry you weren't a fan! I don't think you did anything wrong... people weren't too thrilled with this cake when we all made it, either! It looks great, though!
OH my goodness! Your post is quite hysterical. I love the whiskeypalian. How great! I can't believe you give up chocolate for Lent, by the way. That's a true feat. So, it's all the more disheartening that the one day you're allowed to break your Lent fast and eat chocolate, the chocolate cake fails you! This is horrible! The cake looks delicious; I'm so sorry that it didn't taste the same. Happy birthday nonetheless!!
I am so sorry this did not work out for your birthday - that sucks. Kitchen bummers suck. I hope you made or will make yourself another yummy delicious one and hope you had/have a great birthday.
Happy Birthday. If I remember right this cake was not that great...sorry it didn't work for you. It sure looks pretty.
I love baseball too. In face today my 11 year old son has tryouts. He has been playing for 5 years...Last night we went out and hit some balls in the snow! Tyrouts will be interesting..it's snowy and cold outside.
YOur cake looks wonderful. Too bad you didn't like it. For what it's worth, I liked the black and white cake a lot more.
Looks like we are both rewinding to catch up with TWD! Too bad it wasn't a winner for you. I did say WOW when I saw it though if that helps! I always wondered what would happen to those with birthdays during lent...just doesn't seem fair does it?
Sorry it wasn't a favorite. it looks amazing!
Okay, so if you're thinking about the Birthday Cake book, I would say BUY IT. It's fabulous. And the carrot cake recipe from Maida Heatter is the best carrot cake I've ever had. Of course, if you're interested, I can just email you the recipe :) (elysewgrant@gmail.com)
mmmm. peanuts and brownies in a cake! freaking delicious!
Sorry that it wasn't what you hoped it would be, especially for your Birthday! That just stinks. If it counts for anything, it sure looks wonderful.
Sorry it didnt work out but man that cake sure looks good!!
That really bites! It looks so perfect, I never would have guessed that it didn't come out. Sigh.
I didn't get to make it because peanuts are forbidden in the house (my daughter is allergic) - so unfortunately I don't have any tidbits of wisdom to pass on.
I somehow missed this post. This one was a complete disaster for me in every respect when I made it with TWD. A disaster of the "oh no really officer, we're fine, no need to send the paramedics out" variety. At the end of the day I DID emerge with a cake, but like you, I was completely underwhelmed by it. So sorry this wasn't a worthy birthday cake. I hope that you ended up with a great birthday treat!
Your cake really does LOOK good, though!
Your cake looks fabulous, even if it didn't turn out quite right. From what I recall of this recipe, I didn't like the cake part that much either. But the topping was great--I substituted pecans for the peanuts.
My favorite birthday cake is the same--I love chocolate frosting much more than chocolate cake. I always have it with yellow cake. Yum. =)
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