Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake
This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was, as usual, a challenge. Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts chose Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake from Baking: From my Home to Yours. And let me tell you, it is perfect for a party. I’ve never made a layer cake. I decided to make mini-cakes. You might think this is cheating, but I think it was harder than just frosting 1 layer cake. I had 9 little cakes to frost! I was going to be taking the cake to a friend’s house and didn’t want everyone to think I was weird snapping photos of the cake once the first piece was cut. And this way, hubby could have some for himself.
I followed the directions almost exactly. I know some other DBers got daring in their flavor combinations, but I love lemon and raspberry so I stuck with it.
Here are my ingredients ready to be beaten, stirred, and shaken into a wonderful cake. I forgot to get the buttermilk out of the fridge prior to the photo shoot. Don’t worry, I did use the buttermilk in the cake!
This is what happened when I added the 2nd part of the dry ingredients. I wasn’t careful enough and flour flew everywhere. I know this picture is not the best, but it was funny. I have always been a messy baker and probably always will be.
As you can see, my cakes didn’t rise very much during their time in the oven. They were definitely done since the sides were pulling away from the pan. Based on what other DBers have said throughout the month, it seems like a lot of other people’s cakes didn’t rise much either.
To make my mini-cakes, I baked the cake as directed in two 9″ cake pans. I then used a 3″ round cookie cutter (biscuit cutter would also work here) to cut 7 three-inch rounds out of each 9″ pan. So I had 14 mini-cakes.
Then I cut each one in half horizontally with a serrated knife. I didn’t want to have 4 layers for my mini-cakes because they would have been out of proportion. And I wouldn’t have had enough for hubby to have one! So I decided to make them with 3 layers each. Thus, I got 9 mini-layer-cakes with one layer leftover to taste-test. I also got to taste-test all the scraps from cutting out the rounds. This cake is amazing. I love the texture of this cake.
I’ve recently fallen in love with Swiss buttercream. The DB Yule Log that we made in December was the first time I had ever made it and I’m in love! Don’t be intimidated by the eggs. The frosting is worth the extra effort.
As I mentioned, I used the lemon buttercream and raspberry preserves for my filling.
I definitely underestimated the amount of time it would take to decorate my mini-cakes. I found that the buttercream and preserves were very slippery and the layers slid around when I tried to frost the sides. So I decided to apply a crumb-coat of frosting first and throw them into the freezer for about 5 minutes. Then it was easier to apply the final layer of frosting. I didn’t worry about making it pretty because I knew I wanted to put coconut on the outside.
Everyone at the get together I went to loved these little guys. The texture of the cake was AMAZING. So soft and smooth. I will definitely be making this cake again.
Thanks to Morven for hosting this month. Click here for the entire recipe.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
This looks great! After apple picking last year, I was desperately searching for ways to use the apples in savory ways. Now one of my favorite recipes is a calzone filled with apples, proscuitto, brie and sage. SO good!
My husband used to laugh at me when I told him that as kids we would do apple pie filling and cheese in the hobo pie maker. It was fabulous…I’m going to show him this post to prove that I’m not crazy. We’re apple picking this weekend, so I’ll be sure to try this out!
I definitely need to think of some savory ways to use up all of the apples we pick every fall, and stop making sweets! This looks like a great recipe!
http://www.madeinmelskitchen.com
What a great apple treat. I’ve got loads of apples this years from my trees and am looking for yummy recipes to use them up. After all, a girl can only eat so much apple sauce LOL.
*kisses* HH
I didn’t realize this was going to be a sweet sandwich. It looks so yummy! I once had a grilled cheese sandwich with thinly sliced apples in the middle and it was delicious!
I love what you did with your leftover apples! This looks incredible…love the apple and cheese combinations!
This recipe looks really tasty! I tried a similar flavor combo, but it was apple, cheddar omelete. I needed as apple with more flavor- the one I used wasn’t tart enough!
What a great way to use up apples…yum!
This made my mouth water. I have to make this soon.
Looks delicious Jen! I love the combination of apples and gouda! After my apple picking adventures I am definitely seeking lots of good apple ideas as well!
This looks like a great comfort food sandwich! I spent yesterday baking apple pies and snacking on cheese and crackers. I snuck in a few apple slices on my cheddar & crackers – yum!
Um YES please! ps. everyone in the office loved your brownie recipe- it has totally become my go-to 🙂
I love making grilled cheese with a really great goat’s milk gouda–it’s our new favorite grilled cheese–but I think I’d die and go to heaven if I made it this way! thanks for sharing.
This looks delicous! I love the combination of apples and cheese. It is great to see a savory apple recipe…I have lots too!
HUSH! oh my…looks amazing!!
I HAVE to try this!!!