Week 1: Basic Golden Cake Layers with Whipped Ganache

"There's something magical about the process of making a cake form scratch, a process that transforms a few simple ingredients - butter, sugar, flour and eggs - into a culinary artistry. "

-Tish Boyle

For my first cake I decided to go for simplicity: Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Growing up my grandma would make this combo every year for my mom's birthday. I always looked forward to it and it's one of the reasons I love cake the way I do today.

The recipe is on page 120 and it's called "Basic Golden Layers".  It was very basic - cake flour, baking soda, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and milk.

The recipe refers to a heavy duty mixer, which I do not own. I used a hand held mixer instead. For this basic recipe the hand held mixer worked fine, but I can see if I continue with this endeavour I'm going to have to invest in a heavy duty mixer.

I chose the Whipped Ganache from page 321 for the frosting. The ganache was also very basic - cream, bittersweet chocolate and a dash of Grand Marnier.

Ta-Da!

Light, soft yellow cake covered in airy chocolate frosting! Delicious! Far above any thing I have EVER made out of a box.

The cake was wonderful. Not too sweet - just soft and light.
The frosting reminds me of chocolate mousse. Very chocolaty and also light.
Quite the decadent dessert!

For my first cake I am very happy. I think the next time I make this Golden Layer cake I will try a different frosting, something non chocolaty. I think vanilla or even just a basic white to make the dessert a little on the lighter side. Fresh berries on top would also compliment this cake well.

The frosting was very rich. I loved it, but I think it needs a different cake. Not sure exactly what cake that is yet.

This is going to be so fun!

Jodi


Notes:

• for the 25-30 minutes instructed as cook time, definitely start with 25. I did 30 and the cake was a little dryer than I like)
• work on evening the batter out in the pans before baking
• next time use more frosting on the first layer. There is more than enough frosting to have a thick middle layer.

The Beginning

I read about a new cooking booked called The Cake Book by Tish Boyle in Cooking Light magazine. Before I go on, I would like to add that there is nothing "Light" about The Cake Book.  

Cooking Light's description from the: "Boyle demonstrates her complete and utter mastery of all things cakey, and she gets right down to the business of making exceptionally precise cakes, icings, fillings, and garnishes. Her straightforward, no-nonsense style will appeal to the busy (and serious) baker. And while the cookbook is comprehensive and encouraging, you won't be wading through sentimental accounts of her first baking experience with grandma." (Cooking Light)

For some reason the description and the photo of the book caught my interest.  I've always been a cake lover. Light fluffiness covered in creamy frosting - really, I don't see where anyone could go wrong. But the cakes I've made have always come from a box of Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker. As I've gained more experience in my own kitchen, I've realized that there isn't anything you eat anywhere that you can't make in your own kitchen. And nine times out of ten, it's better when you make it from scratch.

So why not cake?

I put the book on my Christmas wish list. And here we are.

My goal is to make a cake every week. I'm gonna try!

Thanks for reading!

Jodi