Fail Cake I

Project: Raspberry Lemon Cream Cake (Canadian Living Special Issue: Market Fresh)

I love to bake. I think that's clear. And I love it when people tell me how great my baking is. So you can bet that when I was invited to a party for the end of the softball season, I was doubly excited (1. for the end of softball season...because I was SOOO bad at it, and 2. for the opportunity to bake for people).

So, I decided to make this cake.

The blurb in the magazine suggests that this:

"...tender sponge cake holds layers of fresh raspberries in a creamy lemon filling..."

What could be better than that?

3 cups raspberries
1 tbsp icing sugar
6 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 pkg unflavoured gelatin
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/3 cups whipping cream

Line the bottom of a 9" springform pan with parchment paper; grease side. Set aside.


Set eggs in bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.

I'm not entirely sure why I took a picture of that part...except to show you some local eggs perhaps? Iono.

In electric stand mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually beat in sugar for a bot 10 minutes or until pale yellow and batter falls in ribbons when beaters are lifted. Transfer to large wide bowl; fold in lemon rind and vanilla.
I think putting some vanilla in a shot glass was my lame attempt at being Bakerella or something. As though my phone's camera is as good as hers, and as though my freezer top is as clean as her...fancy food-picture-taking studio. ANYWAY, after all that's done, you have something that looks like this:
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; sift one-third over egg mixture and fold in. Repeat twice. Transfer one-quarter to another bowl; fold in butter. Fold back into remaining batter. Pour into prepared pan.You know, since I showed you the local eggs, I thought the local flour deserved some spotlight.

Bake in centre of 325F oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in centre and side pulls away from pan. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove side of pan; let cool on rack.

This is not what happened. What happened was that about 10 minutes into baking, my smoke alarm started screaming at me because the top of my cake was beginning to char. Opening the oven caused my not-at-all baked cake to fall, resulting in a flat and not-at-all picture worthy sponge cake. Probably because of my stupid apartment-sized stove in my stupid apartment-sized apartment. Frown.

In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 3 tbsp water; set aside.

In heatproof bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon rind and lemon juice. Place over simmering water; cook, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes or until translucent andthick enough to softly mound on spoon.You know, just incase you weren't sure what they looked like...these are lemons. If life gives these to you, you should make lemonade. Ba dum bum.Despite my bad jokes, the lemon sauce turned out just delicious.

Strain into large bowl. Stir in gelatin mixture until melted. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes, for about 1 hour or until cook and mixture can mound on spoon.

In bowl, beat cream; fold one-third into lemon mixture. Fold in remaining cream. Fold in 2 1/3 cups of the raspberries; set aside.
Line bottom and side of same pan with waxed or parchment paper. Cut cake horizontally into thirds. Place to layer, cut side up, in pan. Spread with half of the lemon cream. Top with middle layer, remaining lemon cream and remaining cake layer, cut side down. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

Remove side of pan. Sprinkle top with icing sugar. Arrange remaining raspberries around top edge.

Easy peasy, right? Well...if your cake doesn't rise in the oven properly, getting it into 3 layers is sometimes difficult. And sometimes the end result of the cake is as follows:

Shit.

Can't take that to the party. Tears ensued. Bad words were heard down the street. Light bulb moment followed.

I whipped up the leftover whipping cream (I always buy to much; I like to think it's because I'm prepared for times like these, but deep down I know it's because I'm a poor economic planner and giant food-waster), spread it over the offending bald spot on top of my cake, and voilà!Behold my masterpiece! Pay no attention to the non-masterpiece-y side of the cake.

Fin.