The Wedding Cake Project: Part 3

So… when I said I would post my cake recipe tomorrow, I guess I really meant in a couple of days.  Sorry about that.  The weekend just got away from me and I couldn’t find a moment to sit down and type up the recipe.  (In my defense, this was a fairly long and complicated recipe to type up.)  Anyway, I finally squeezed in some quality computer time last night before bed and was able to churn this recipe out.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, this lemon cake with lemon curd turned out to be absolutely delicious.  It is definitely making it to my wedding cake menu.  But, I do want to warn you, contrary to its name, this cake is not light at all.  In fact, it may be one of the densest cakes I have ever eaten.  Nonetheless, it is still fantastic and incredibly flavorful.  But, if you have your heart set on a light and fluffy cake, this is not the cake for you.  That being said, I highly recommend it and hope you take the time to make it.  It will be well worth your effort.

The Wedding Cake Project: Part 2

OK.  I will be the first to admit this isn’t the prettiest cake I’ve ever made.  In fact, if a cake looking like this appeared at my wedding, I would be pretty disappointed.  I might even be forced to hide it and make a mad dash for the grocery store.  It is definitely lopsided and the crumb layer didn’t hold all the chocolate crumbs in place, giving it a very messy, haphazard look.  But I’m not going to stress.  That’s the whole point of my experiment, right?  I’m not going to be able to do everything perfectly the first time, so I need to vet all of the issues beforehand.  So much of baking is trial and error; I need to cut myself a little slack and focus on the positive.  Taste-wise, this cake is a winner.  I based it off of the classic Nutella and Strawberry Crepe and am incredibly happy with the flavor profile.  It has the perfect balance of chocolate-y richness and butter-y lightness, topped off with strawberries.  The aesthetics are a minor problem that can be easily corrected.  And, quite honestly, the next time I make this cake I will be in a much more controlled environment, and will have the proper baking gadgets at my disposal.  Saturday was just an impossible day to put together a cake.  It was so hot and humid that the butter cream was separating as I mixed it and was melting as I spread it on the cake.  I tried chilling it in the fridge to make it firmer, but my poor, little refrigerator just couldn’t keep up.  I was fighting a losing battle.  But, in the end, I was able to create something delicious for my friend’s birthday and that makes me happy.  See below for the recipe if you want to give it a try.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with

Nutella and Vanilla Butter Cream and Strawberries