Lemon-Raspberry Cake

This may have taken all day to make, required two trips to the grocery store (with 3 children in tow… not an easy or simple feat), and caused undo stress trying to keep my middle child from poking holes in the entire thing as he tried to eat the icing as I was decorating it… but it was worth it.

The cake itself was a little heavy: I whipped the egg whites in the stand mixer, as the directions instructed, and about 10 minutes later I called it a day.  I should have used the hand mixer.  But it was still delicious, and the icing was amazing.

If you do make this? Make sure you have enough eggs on hand.  It requires a full 14.  You can knock out some by using store-bought lemon curd, but the homemade lemon curd was so rich and delicious and not at all hard to make, so I do recommend making it.

Happy birthday to B, the most wonderful husband ever!

Lemon-Raspberry Cake, from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe, by Joanne Chang.  Pg 172

Hurry-Up Cake

A cake recipe from World War II, reprinted in the most useful cookbook in the world, this is my go-to recipe when I have leftover egg whites from another recipe.  Which just so happened to be the case, since the pineapple upside down cake called for 3 egg yolks, and this recipe calls for 3 egg whites.

This cake doesn’t have a lot of flavor, but it’s so light and fluffy that I think the texture makes up for it.  I’ve heard complaints from others who have tasted it that it’s bland, but I like bland!

The frosting was a buttercream recipe that came on the back of the powdered sugar bag.  I made it too liquidy so it looks a bit gross.  And it’s a bit too sweet for my tastes.  But, a cake needs frosting and so it goes.

Hurry-Up Cake, from Square Meals, by Jane and Michael Stern.  Pg 230.

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Though it was a bit more labor intensive than my usual pineapple upside down cake, I was eager to try it.  So far, it’s the only slightly less than stellar recipe from my Flour cookbook.

It may have been my fault… perhaps I set the oven wrong.  But I don’t think I did.  And the cake was definitely over-cooked.  I would lower the temperature to give it a nice, slower bake.

Interestingly enough, the cake was much better on the 2nd day.  Next time I’ll make it a day ahead, and cook it slightly less.

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe.  Pg 189