Sunday, March 30, 2008

The Perfect Party Cake

Moven over at Food Art and Random Thoughts is the hostess for this month's Daring Baker Challenge. I was going to sit out it out as it has been a challenging month for me in so many other ways .... did I really need another challenge this month? As well, I was scared to have a big beautiful cake sitting around the house for L and I to devour. When I woke up yesterday morning I told L how I was going to use this months challenge as one of my two, to not do. Even though I felt it would be the easiest one I have done as of yet. Well ...... he convinced me that I should not give up and I should do it.

So, yesterday at 5pm, I was making Dorrie's Party Cake, to take over to an impromptu dinner party at our friend's J and A's home. Was I crazy to try to make a cake at 5pm for a 730pm dinner party!?!?! Kind of.......

The recipe is so simple to follow, everything just started falling into place, so easy. The house smelled of sugar, buttermilk and sweet Meyer Lemons - was delicious! Then came the time to whip up the buttercream .... I could not keep my fingers nor my sweet little god-daughters out of the shiny meringue and buttery goodness - we were being pretty naughty over the kitchen aid!

I used tart raspberry preserves for the filling as the recipe calls for. I was worried I may run out of buttercream to frost the cake so I did skimp on the buttercream between the layers - now I know better. I opted out of the coconut part of the challenge only because I am not a big fan of flaked coconut.

I was finished with the challenge by 645pm, just enough time to wipe off the flour from my hands and pretty up for a dinner party. The cake turned beautiful and what a wonderful combination of flavors. The tartness of the buttermilk, the sweetness of the raspberry preserves and the freshness of spring that came from the Meyer Lemons was really nice. The cake was light and not to dense and the buttercream was amazing light and fluffy. We served the cake with a chilled glass of Lemoncello - everyone loved it!

Thank you L for convincing me not to give up on this challenge and Thank You Dorrie for creating a beautiful recipe - we will be using this more often!

17 comments:

Unknown said...

It's always nice to have someone to push you to do something isn't it!? Great job!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Sometimes the help we need with a challenge is somebody we love to say "Oh just give it a go." So glad you baked the cake and enjoyed it. I always use buttermilk given half a chance! Hooray for cake.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes blogging events can consume our time or life can get in the way. It's still nice to find the time and make some pretty little cake to make the world seem right again.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A pretty cake! very well done!

Cheers,

Rosa

KJ said...

well done. your cake turned out just lovely.

Lynne Daley said...

The challenge to make the cake for an impromptu dinner was greater than the challenge of making the cake. Great job!

Andrea said...

I bet the Meyers lemons were wonderful in this cake! It sounds like your challenge was a success! And serving it with lemoncello...what a great idea!

Chou said...

I'm happy it went so well, and even happier that your little goddaughters got to take part in the process. Some of my best bonding moments with my niece involve cooking.

glamah16 said...

Im gld you did it. It all turned out perfect.

test it comm said...

Your cake looks good! I can't believe that you made the cake so quickly! It took me a long time to make it.

Helene said...

I bet the cake was delicious with a glass of Limoncello! Glad you decided to join in, your cake looks gorgeous!

Cynthia said...

wow your cake looks pretty darn good for a last-minute attempt!

i've been reading all these rave reviews abt meyer lemons but how are they very different from the normal ones? maybe it's time i bought a few to see the difference!

Unknown said...

i think it was definitely worth the challenge. the cake looks delightful! well done!

Unknown said...

I'm glad you went through with it - that is what being a Daring Baker is all about. Sounds like it went well!

Jenny said...

See, sometimes the challenge isn't the recipe itself but the challenge we give ourselves in getting to it! Making it last minute like that adds to the excitement!
Your cake looks great, btw.

Lunch Buckets said...

You did cut it close didn't you!

betty said...

Wonderful,yummy site-thanks for the pictures and info! Betty