Friday, October 20, 2023

In Which We Bake

Quit bragging.

 My dear friend drumstick had his 50th birthday this last weekend.  50!  Can you imagine?  What a baby.  I told his wife, Hotfoot, that I'd make a cake for his birthday because earlier this summer he had said how much he liked my streusel cake.  Hotfoot said that was a great idea and then asked if I could possibly make two because they were going to have a big party and one cake might not be enough.  If anyone else had come up with that idea, I would have said, "Oh you know what? No." But I love them both as if they were my own poorly behaved, not very bright children so I agreed.

Both drumstick and Secret Agent Fred had told me their idea of the definitive birthday cake is chocolate with "white icing." They agreed when I asked them if they maybe were referring to "vanilla" since apparently that's too exotic for either of their tiny little brains.  

Everybody at the party laid into both cakes like some kind of pastry locusts.  I didn't get any of the streusel and only a couple of bites of the chocolate.  I guess such enthusiasm is gratifying, but I wouldn't have minded getting an entire piece.  Also gratifying was two of the guests asking me for the recipe.  Could there be any more flattering response?

Anyway, couple of nights ago I decided to recreate the chocolate cake so I could have as much as I wanted.  Naturally, It did not turn out as well as the party version; the cake is delicious, but for some reason,  the icing refused to cooperate.  It tastes okay but it's a sticky, slaggy mess at the best of times and this time it refused to come together and instead turned into sort of a tasty glue.  

Not pretty, but delicious.

Boys are who might be delicious, they certainly are pretty:
Cute and goofy, what an unbeatable combo.



The meaty appeal of Paulo Victor Melo.



Jett Way was in our last post, but I find him just so darn irresistible. And why is "irresistible" spelled that way anyway?



Speaking of frequent flyers in the mrpeenee photo selection, Marbys Negretti.



Lanky



An absolute landscape of pussy.



Beefiness may not be next to godliness, but it is somewhere close by.



The beach is closed for the season.  Sigh.



Inked up and ready to go.








14 comments:

  1. I started baking decades ago after getting moldy pastries at a bakery. Most people are put off by the idea of baking. So much work is their thought. After a couple of attempts it gets easier. Every time I make something and service it I get rave reviews. It really isn’t that hard to do.

    At the moment I working my way though a gingerbread apple sauce trifle. This is the recipe.

    https://www.nickmalgieri.com/recipes/apple-and-gingerbread-trifle

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    1. I discovered the way to have fresh cakes available all the time, is to bake. And it DOES get easier with practice. I actually like it. Thanks for the delicious sounding recipe, perfect for fall.

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  2. Not being Mary Berry, I have never baked anything. Not even a scone.

    Speaking of "Marys", I'll have the goofy chav at #1 please... Jx

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  3. The goofy chav certainly has his charms.

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  4. Sometimes the odd looking cakes have the best flavor, as do most things in life!

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    Replies
    1. I've been enjoying the cake, but yesterday a friend's mother gave me some cookies made from traditional Hungarian recipes that are so fabulous the cake has sort of been demoted

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  5. I checked an old copy of "The Joy of Cooking," and it seems several things can make an icing misbehave -- even the humidity in the air!

    Send Mr. Lanky to misbehave in my bed....

    Anonymous, too

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    Replies
    1. I didn't have any milk, which is what the recipe calls for, so used heavy cream instead and I think the excess fat screwed up the whole thing

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  6. You know I would just adore to try your cakes!

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  7. Your cake certainly does look delicious. I always find that one inevitably only gets a tiny slice of pretty party cakes (if any at all in your case), so I much prefer unpretty home cakes where suddenly having only three quarters left after one slice is okay.

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    Replies
    1. I think being selfish is underrated sometimes.

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  8. A whole cake to self sounds idyllic - I might try it next week.
    Sx

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  9. I had to come say "Hi" as the title caught my attention! As I prefer to be a contrarian, I waited until after the pandemic baking party frenzy to start getting into baking. So now I try something new to bake about once a month. I'm glad you made your own cake to have, unfortunate that the icing couldn't rise to the occasion like the preceding men in this post!

    I just bought a big book of making Afternoon tea cakes and savories to try yesterday. I can't wait to try a recipe from it, but we already have cheesecake to finish. Adieu!

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