Today I've Been Mostly Wearing

...Unicorn leggings.

As you do. You know things are serious when I'm wearing unicorn leggings. Under a tenner at Target.

Hard to photograph because...unicorns. *Shrugs*

Danny's been posting these status updates in the kitchen. I suspect he has one for, "Everybody PANIC!" Hopefully we won't get there.

This is the bad week, but it is all over by Sunday night.

I don't see the note for, "Send mum for a spa-day." Oh well, perhaps it is in September.

Banana Split Cake cooling. It will eventually be iced. Basically, a banana pound cake with a layer of strawberry, and a ring of chocolate (not visible from outside). I wouldn't let him bake the, "Tunnel of Fudge" because well, Fudge Tunnel. I know, the cake came first, but still.  Today was also rye breads, oatmeal breads, the cake layers for the gold cake and devil's food cake, and a banana bread.

I learned a good trick that is proving useful. To soften biscuits like lebkuchen, or to keep chocolate chips from going hard in the tin, add a slice of cheap, commercial white bread. The biscuits absorb the moisture from it without imparting a flavour like a slice of apple or orange would. It works! You need to change it out after a day as the bread slice turns dry as toast, but it is a good way to extend the life of your biscuits for the fair, at the holidays, or whenever. The springerle really benefited from the bread treatment as they need to age before eating. As the clock ticks down here, the bread trick has been a lifesaver. Sure, I feel stupid buying cheap white bread when there's so much baking going on here, but why waste the good stuff to keep biscuits fresh? Anyway, just thought I'd share a good tip.

Baa

I didn't intend for Mr. Lamb Cake to look so sad, but there you are. He baked, and unmoulded easily which I didn't expect. I thought this would be the trial run where I'd work out the mistakes before Easter. I guess I'll just use the Bunny pan for Sunday.

"Somebody help me."



If you've ever been around a sheep/lamb you know they are *never* that clean looking, but tempted as I was to swirl a bunch of chocolate around his hind quarters to represent mud and poop, I figured Easter is not the time to go for realism in your baking.

Cookies, anyone?

Ghost Turds and Peacock Prints

 I was in Iowa yesterday, and I couldn't resist stopping to admire the Halloween cakes on offer at Hy-Vee

 This cake looks how I feel! I hear you Mr Cake Monster I do indeed. Seeing all these ways to incorporate the hole from a tube pan into cake design has given me all sorts of ideas. All sorts of ideas. Let's not go there.

 I think these are angel food beneath the frosting. I could see bringing one to a party, they're rather cute...



...except for this one. It looks like a ghost took a shit.

That's a giant chocolate chip cookie decorated with...well, not skill anyway. If Danny didn't have allergies i'd have brought it home. "Look everyone, I bought a giant cookie with a ghost turd on it!" How festive is that?

Can you believe it is nearly Halloween and I haven't baked anything other than a few apple dumplings? Perhaps I can manage some sort of ghost excrement to bring to the library group on Thursday. I see marshmallow fluff on the shopping list.

 It was so sunny, taking outdoor photos was nearly impossible. Still, I won't complain because every sunny day at this time of year is a bonus. We could have three feet of snow by now.

 Outfit Particulars:

Danny:
Jeans and shirt both K Mart
Shoes-K Mart
Bow tie-Nobbies
New waist carrier for emergency meds-Sheels Sports (best $25.00 I've spent in a while)

Me:
Black/silver blouse-K Mart
Black pinafore dress-Thrift World
"Sleeveless Jacket" (that's what people call them now. I laughed too) New Life Thrift
Grey tights-Walgreens
Boots-Hand-Me-Ups
Dalmation print shoulder bag-I can't remember. Somewhere in Boston in the early 90's.
Silver Mexican bracelet-Goodwill
Silver link belt-had it since high school
Earrings-K Mart
Silver Celtic brooch-antique store in Massachusetts
Lippy-Revlon Jungle Peach (a 60's re-issue that should have stayed in the 60's)
Fragrance-Yendi

"Did somebody say "Ghost Turds?"
No, I said, "Peacocks"
"Oh."

This is one of those dresses that's prettier in person. The colours are richer than the photo would lead you to believe. It has tiny, cap sleeves which I hate (doesn't everyone?) but a cardigan or jacket solves that issue easily. I will always gravitate to a peacock print, or the feathers themselves. 

I dream about peacock-patterned wallpaper. Someday. 

Outfit Particulars:

Peacock print Chadwick's dress-Goodwill

Cardigan-Goodwill

Enamel leaf pin-Hand-Me-Ups

Vintage rhinestone earrings-Hand-Me-Ups

Bakelite bangle-Goodwill

Tapestry Maddy Bag-Goodwill

Shoes-K Mart

Nan Tights-K Mart

Lippy-Estee Lauder Maple Sugar

Fragrance-A little of everything the enthusiastic sales assistant sprayed on me today at L'Occitaine (the Vetiver was really nice for $58.00)

Hair Products-Prell, and VO5, baby. 

Pose like Olive Oyl! Where's Popeye when you need him?

 Well, I gotta go make a ghost turd bake a cake for dessert.

Whew! We got through Monday. Onward!

White Cake With Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

I was burdened with too many egg whites from making ice cream and pastas, so it was time for a cake. I'd recently made an angel food to deal with a glut of whites, so it was time for something different. I do freeze whites, but after a bit, the freezer space becomes limited. There are only so many egg white omelettes a family can eat, even in the summer with an abundance of herbs to add. Meringues are out of the question with 95% humidity. I don't think it is ever going to stop raining.

White cakes often suffer from being a bit on the dry side. This cake escapes that fate, but only if you use vegetable shortening for the fat. I know to many people that is like suggesting adding an industrial lubricant to their food (I *have* used Crisco on squeaky door hinges, but don't tell anyone!) but it keeps it moist without being damp (no one wants damp cake) and helps it keep longer. If you really can't bear the thought of using shortening, it would probably be best to find a different recipe-this one isn't as good with butter (I've tried it).

Before I get to the recipe, I should talk about the chocolate for a moment. Unsweetened baking chocolate isn't always a readily available product outside of North America, and it may be confusing what I'm talking about.

Many an American child has had a rude surprise attempting a secret nibble of  unsweetened baking chocolate. I'm not sure why the product caught on here the way it did, but most older American recipes tend to call for it. You can use bittersweet chocolate in place of unsweetened, just adjust the overall sugar in the recipe down a bit. Most desserts are too sweet for my taste, so this does give me a bit of flexibility. I like icing on a cake, but I'd rather taste the chocolate and butter without being overwhelmed by sweetness.

They've had this brownie recipe on the box for as long as I can remember. Several generations of Americans have seen these brownies tucked into lunch boxes. They're on the plain side, just like unsweetened baking chocolate. OK, I just wanted to make certain you knew what I was talking about and didn't try using cocoa powder.

You Will Need:

2 greased and floured 8 inch cake tins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1 cup of egg whites at room temperature, then stiffly beaten
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup half and half (light cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Mix together cream and vanilla extract. Add cream to sugar mixture, alternating with dry ingredients in a few additions. Gently but somewhat thoroughly fold the beaten egg whites into the creamed mixture. This will be tricky, so do it a bit at a time. Don't worry if it isn't all perfectly incorporated-you're baking a cake, not diffusing a bomb. Perfection not required.

Pour into the prepared tins, and bake on the centre rack for 25-30 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly and cake pulls from side of tin. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, on a rack, then remove from tin and cool completely on the rack.

Frosting/icing:

6 ounces unsweetened, or bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 cups icing sugar
Cream or milk for thinning if needed

In a pan, melt the chocolate and butter together until smooth. Cool off the heat ten minutes. Stir in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Using a hand mixer, slowly add the sugar on low speed a cup at a time until you have a icing with a good spreading consistency. You may prefer a lighter, less fudge-like icing, and this can be achieved by beating in a bit of milk or cream. This is really a matter of taste, so do as you please. This sets quickly, particularly if you have chilled the cake ahead of time (I filled mine with apricot jam to add some tartness, but you could use all icing if you prefer). Adding a bit of milk buys you time before it sets into rigid fudge.

The cake should be stored in the fridge, but taken out at least 20 minutes before serving.

I made borage ice cubes for the drinks.

Why? Why not?!

Snow Cake-Sunset Cookbook of Favorite Recipes, 1971

I meant to photograph this cake. Really, I did. Thing is, it lasted so long, I kept thinking I had another day to get around to it. I'm not kidding-twelve days is a record for this sort of thing sitting under a dome at room temperature. It never went stale. I was looking for a way to use up a glut of egg whites left from making ice cream, and I found this recipe that sounded a little plain-like an angel food cake with some fat. It turned out more like pound cake. I gathered up my whisk, copper bowl, and Bundt pan and set to work.

The cake doesn't rise much, which makes it a little tough telling if it is close to done or not. Mine took much less time than the recipe indicated, but I had a dark coated Nordicware pan, and ovens vary. If you make this cake, pay attention to it, and set the timer for a good ten minutes less than called for-and keep checking.

I expected to serve it with some sort of custard, or fruit, but the boys were happy enough eating it plain, and though it lasted a good long while (it was just the two of them eating it as I couldn't locate anyone to push half a cake onto as I typically do) they never really got bored with it. That's good enough for me-this one goes into the recipe file under, "Using up egg whites."

You Will Need:

1 cup egg whites (about 8 large) at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 lb (1/2 cup) butter (one stick in US) melted and cooled
Optional powdered sugar (I went for an icing sugar glaze made with water instead)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 2 quart Bundt pan (or any tube-style pan).

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. At high speed, add sugar a bit at a time until you have stiff but not dry peaks (I do 2 tablespoons of sugar at a time which is nuts, I know but it turns out perfect every time. Some things take patience). Beat in salt and vanilla.

Sift the flour, then measure and sift again with the baking powder into the egg whites, folding until well blended. Fold in the melted and cooled butter until evenly blended, and then turn into prepared tin.

Bake 1 hour (but start checking at 45 minutes) until cake bounces back when touched lightly (cake will not rise). The recipe said to remove from pan, but I let it cool in the pan, on a rack for 10 minutes first. Then, I cooled it completely on a baking rack. Do as you see fit. Dust with icing sugar before serving, or glaze as I did with icing sugar/water.  The recipe suggests that fresh egg whites work best for this, but mine were a few days old and it didn't seem to harm it any.

Store cake, covered at room temperature. I can't guarantee you get as long out of it as I did, but this isn't a cake you need to worry about finishing next day. It would be ideal for preparing ahead, or toting to a picnic.

Oh, Be(e)have!

Last weekend, I found a brand-new Nordic Ware beehive pan at Goodwill for $2.99 . Admittedly, there aren't that many occasions (if any) when I have need of a beehive shaped cake-but I like to be prepared for any and all possibilities (with respect to cake, anyway). I now know what pan I will be using to bake honey cake for Rosh Hashanah. The pan has two moulds, so you have to piece the halves together with frosting. That made me think it would also have potential hollowed partially out for an impressive ice cream bombe. See? I'm already finding uses for this impractical pan.

People that know me understand that I have a bit of a Nordic Ware obsession. I've managed to keep it under control (mostly) and have limited myself to two bundt pans, and an aebelskever pan-and now this beehive. If you're not familiar with their mind-boggling array of pans, you may wish to remain ignorant because once you see the pans, you can't un-see them...and you will want them all. I am not being paid by Nordic Ware to say this.

The recipe on the packaging comes from Williams and Sonoma, and that is the recipe I used for the cake: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/lemon-beehive-cake.html?utm_campaign=bazaarvoice&utm_medium=SearchVoice&utm_source=RatingsAndReviews&utm_content=Default

For the bee decorations I used unsalted butter and icing sugar tinted with food colouring. As I shaped the bees I placed them on wax paper I then transferred to the fridge for a good hour before using. You can do sugar paste with egg whites and granulated sugar but then you have to find something close in shape to mould it in (bottle caps, candy moulds, etc.). I've used both over the years, and if you aren't planning to save the decorations, buttercream is the way to go.

Here's the back view.

The picture doesn't convey it, but the cake is quite small (though certainly large enough for Danny and Mr. ETB) and unless you sliced quite miserly pieces, it wouldn't feed more than 8 adults (6 if they're greedy). It is a rich cake though (a cup of butter, and 4 eggs)so you probably wouldn't want all that much anyway, but be aware it is small.

The weather gave us a nice break today, so I took advantage of using the oven before we're plunged back into the extreme heat/humidity thing we've been in. You might think this would be ideal weather for ripening tomatoes, but they are steadfast in their refusal to so much as blush on the vine. Meanwhile, I have an aubergine of near mammoth proportions threatening to overtake the little plot waiting for a tomato to be baked with. I may need to reconsider, as I don't think "Herman" (what, you don't name your vegetables?) is going to wait for the slacker tomatoes. I'm resisting bringing the tomatoes in, wrapping them in newsprint, and leaving them on the windowsill with a banana like my mother always did, but if they don't start turning red soon, I may reconsider.

I don't imagine standing over the plants screaming, "Ripen you bastards!" would do any good either, but it might be satisfying.

Maida Heatter's Black and White Layer Cake

This is a pretty easy cake to make, provided you don't accidentally shut the oven off between layers, and then wonder why the second cake isn't baking. Yeah, I did that. It didn't matter in the end, I went ahead and turned the oven back on and it baked just fine. Sponge cakes are nearly foolproof (and I'm a big fool).

 Maida loved her tinfoil. Every recipe, in all her books has you covering baking pans with the stuff, and then buttering it up. I don't do that. I used parchment that I lightly buttered, and being a cheapskate, I re-used it for the second layer. It worked perfectly. Feel free to butter if you like. For the sake of keeping it simple for modern bakers, I'll try to cut through the really over-complicated instructions to tell you what I ended up doing. I do encourage you to get the book before baking this (most libraries in the US should have it) because there may be something I did that would have been better the way it was published. I'm assuming you have the book and are reading this for a hack of sorts.

You Will Need:

White Sponge:

5 large eggs, separated at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
Pinch salt
pinch cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 10 1/2x15 1/2x1 inch jelly roll pan with parchment. Lightly grease the parchment.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the yolks with 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the vanilla extract. Beat until very pale and thick. I did this by hand with a whisk, but you could use a mixer if you like. Add the flour, and beat just until smooth. Transfer it to a larger bowl. In another bowl, beat the whites, salt, and cream of tartar until it holds peaks, then slowly beat in remaining sugar. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture folding just until combined. Add the rest, fold thoroughly and pour into prepared pan, Smooth top with a spatula. Bake about 20 minutes, or until top is golden.

Take another baking sheet, and invert it. Cover it with wax paper. Invert the baked cake onto the wax paper lining. Remove the parchment, then let cool on up-turned pan. Meanwhile make the black layer.

Chocolate Sponge:

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1/4 cup boiling water
4 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup plain flour
Pinch Salt/cream of tartar

Break up chocolate and place in a double boiler (I just used a heavy pan directly on the heat, but if you're inexperienced with handling chocolate, use the double boiler). Dissolve the coffee in the water and add to the chocolate. Melt on moderate heat, stirring until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs yolks with 3 tablespoons of sugar and the vanilla until light and thick. Add the tepid chocolate mixture, beating only until mixed. Mix in the flour. Transfer to a larger bowl.

Beat the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar until peaks form. Slowly add the rest of the sugar beating until stiff peaks form.

Add 1/3 of the whites to the chocolate mixture, folding carefully but only until blended. Add the remaining whites and fold until combined.

Pour into pan, spread with a spatula and bake 20 minutes. Invert onto a wax paper lined pan as with white sponge.

Make the Buttercream:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons heavy cream
8 ounces plus 1 tablespoon butter at room temperature
7 egg yolks
1 cup icing sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Break up chocolate and place in a double boiler with the cream and 1 tablespoon of the butter. Cook over low heat until everything is melted and stirred smooth.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks at high speed for a few minutes until pale and thick. On low speed, add the warm chocolate mixture, scraping the bowl with a spatula as you go. Transfer it back to the double boiler, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes (you don't want to cook the eggs). Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, and place it in an icewater bath to firm.

While it cools, beat the butter, icing sugar, salt and extract together until smooth. Add the chocolate mixture, and beat until smooth and silky.

To assemble:

I placed the cakes atop each other, used a ruler to measure, and cut it into thirds. Maida has a more complicated method. At this point, line a flat board or cake plate with wax paper strips to catch any drips, and begin frosting the layers. Don't use too much or you'll run out of frosting. When it is all assembled, Maida wants you to weight it all beneath a board to chill. I did not do this. I chilled the layers for 20 minutes, then frosted the sides and top.

The cake can be frozen.

Let the Baking Begin

Today I finished a few day's worth of preparing candied pineapple, cherries, mandarin orange segments (it worked!), cranberries, ginger, orange peels,dried bananas (those are just for porridge toppings), and apple slices. I have a large Buddha's hand citron waiting to be candied, but otherwise I'm ready for the puddings and Christmas cake. It wouldn't be such a terribly big deal if I didn't do all the fruit myself, but I do, and it is. I'm going to soak in a warm bath until I shrivel up like a prune. I hope no one tries to stick me in a pudding.

Now, to get the Barmbracks baked for next week!

Catalogue Cake

The catalogue from Penzy's Spices comes filled with customer provided recipes, and I'm sorry to say I never tried any-until today. Called, "Great Chocolate Cake"  it is well named. I skipped the frosting recipe provided and just went for an unadorned cake. This cake really doesn't need more than a dusting of icing sugar at most, though I'm filing away the frosting recipe for the next carrot cake I bake. Barb and Joe Onofrey of Gettysburg, PA-you bake Great Chocolate Cake! Thanks for taking the time to submit it to the catalogue. We've already clipped it out, and affixed it in my blue recipe book to join other well loved recipes held in place with yellowed Scotch tape. This one is a keeper.

I admit, I'm a sucker for cakes made with cooking oil as all that beating butter and sugar together is work. Any cake I can manage with a couple bowls and a wooden spoon is my kind of cake. They stay fresh longer as well. I have no doubt that the cake will taste as good Friday, as it did today-that's what you get baking with oil.

You Will Need:

3 cups plain flour
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I used a combo of soy, and corn)
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarb)
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt. In another bowl, combine sugar, oil, buttermilk, and egg. Beat well (I did this with a wooden spoon rather than the mixer). Add the dry ingredients, mix well. Add the baking soda, then the boiling water. Mix well, and stir in vanilla-the bather will be thin. Pour into pan, and bake 40-45 minutes. Let cool about 15 minutes in pan before turning out onto a rack (The recipe didn't say to do this, so I followed my baking instincts. You may be able to cool it in the pan, I don't know).

We froze half for, "Emergency Cake" which becomes more important as the various holidays start creeping in. This would be cute with orange frosting for Halloween.

Here's the frosting recipe provided:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Cream together the cheese and butter. Add vanilla, and powdered sugar (icing sugar) until light.

Pat's Pumpkin Bundt Cake

This recipe comes to us from my cherished, Jewel-Osco 100 Years of Fresh Family Favorites cookbook. I added the cream chesse-ish frosting because serving a plain cake around here would have them thinking I was angry or something. The wailing, "What did we do wrong?! No frosting?Please don't beat us mummy..."

This is the sort of thing you (I) bake when baking seems like a bit of an effort. It isn't quite as simple as the delightfully named, "Dump Cake" but it is pretty easy. I'm sure it was the most difficult recipe in the collection as it didn't start with a mix, or involve Cool Whip. Or 7-Up. Or Jell-O. "Poke Cake" sounds pretty awful as well.

I blame the fact that I even considered, let alone baked this cake on Brian Francis at Caker Cooking.
http://cakercooking.blogspot.com/

I also blame him for the Cool Whip and carton of orange sherbet sitting in my freezer, but we'll get to that in a later post. While this is bordering on a "bit fancy" as caker baking goes, the cookbook from which it hails has "Church Basement" written across it in robin's egg blue eyeliner. I can't wait to make "Lazy Pierogi" which is a noodles and a tin of  sauerkraut (and some other stuff) in a casserole.

 

Look deeply into the dark mystery of the Bundt Cake. I see terrible things. Terrrrible things. Mostly calories, but fuck off, I'm recuperating-I need those calories.

So, Pat's Pumpkin Bundt Cake (which is next to Patti's Ho Ho Cake) is easy to make because you pour an entire cup of salad oil into it (no creaming butter and sugar together here). The eggs need not be separated, and don't tell anyone, but I used a large bowl and tossed in all the dry ingredients at once (I'm a radical, I tell you). I never bothered to sift. I want that on my headstone when I die, by the way.

And all is well! The invalid (that's me) baked a cake, everyone sighed in relief that we're semi back to normal, and for the five minutes it took putting together, it came out sorta nice. I made a couple changes exchanging mixed spice for cinnamon (because the mixed spice was at the front of the cabinet, and I would have had to dig for the cinnamon) and I only had 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and was too lazy to stand and mush molasses into granulated sugar to make up the rest-so I used 1 1/2 cups white. Skipped the nuts too, obviously.

You Will Need:

4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups tinned pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon (I used mixed spice)
1/2 cup chopped nut (skipped it)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (also skipped it-because I was out and it would take three minutes to drive to the grocery store from my house)

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the sugars, alternating with the oil. Mix well. Add the pumpkin and mix well. Add your dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into pan. Bake 1 hour. That's enough time to set your hair, or read the weekly sales circulars.

To unmould:

Let cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Give the pan a good thwack on the counter. Unmould. When cool, ice as desired. I used about 3 tablespoons cream cheese, 2 cups icing sugar, and enough milk to make it (sort of) spread. I'm sure you could come up with something better.

Hey, everybody Mama made Cake!

Plum Sponge

I'm down to the last handful of fresh prune plums *sob*. At least the Concord grapes will be along soon to console me (fickle, I am).This is a beautiful dessert, and much easier to make than it appears, and I can't think of a nicer way to use the last of what were the nicest box of plums I've ever purchased.

The components are rather straightforward-spongecake, whipped cream, and poached plums. The recipe can be halved easily if you find it too large (you will have extra cake and plums but that isn't a problem around here). Assemble the cake several hours ahead so the cake can soften.

For the Plums:
2 lbs. fresh prune plums pitted and halved
Juice of a lemon
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Combine all and let macerate for 1 hour. Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer and cook until plums are softened-about 15 minutes. Remove plums with a slotted spoon, strain liquid and return to pan. Reduce until you have a thickened syrup. Cool. Pour over plums.

For the Sponge:
6 eggs, separated at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup water
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Grease and flour a jelly roll pan or 1 large rimmed baking sheet. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Beat eggs, sugar, and water together until light and thick. Slowly beat in flour and baking powder. Beat egg whites until stiff. Carefully fold into flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake 8-10 minutes for small sheet, about 15 for large. Remove from oven and carefully loosen sides of cake with a sharp knife. Invert onto a rack and cool. You can also treat it like a jelly roll and invert it onto a towel dusted with icing sugar if you prefer to roll it for presentation (which would also be really impressive).

When cake and filling are cool, cut into two or three layers (or roll as for a jelly roll)and brush each with a bit of the plum syrup and some apricot jam (optional, but why wouldn't you want apricot jam with your plums? The combination is a knock out). Layer on some plums, top with the second layer, and repeat with third if using. Let the cake sit in the fridge for an hour to set. Meanwhile, make a whipped cream sweetened with icing sugar (the cornstarch in the icing sugar helps it to stabilise). Frost the cake, and decorate as desired (I used bits of plum jelly candy). By the second day, the cake will soften into something resembling a trifle, which I would absolutely add custard to because hey, why wouldn't you add custard if you already have a trifle. But no jelly-this isn't a school dinner.

Italian Prune Plums-and a Kuchen

Thirty pounds of fresh prune plums sounds like quite a bit, until you start using them. I'm down to my last couple pounds, and giving serious consideration to purchasing more. They were incredibly cheap, excellent quality (only two bad ones out of 30 lbs.) and I adore them. The season is so short, you have to act quickly if you want them.

So Far:
Chinese plum sauce
Plum chutney
Plum conserve (with orange, dried cherries, raisins, and ginger)
2 batches of pie filling (freezer)
Plum flavoured gin (similar to sloe)
A fermented sauce of pureed prunes and yeast (still fermenting, that ought to be strange)
Prunes
Fruit puree for the freezer
Plum butter

Still to do:

Salted, dried plums (you plunk them in drinks and they fizz-kind of an acquired taste)
Pickled plums
A crumb topped plum pie


So, the kuchen. The cookbook called it a 'torte" but it isn't. Not only is this a breeze to make, it is delicious. Think of it as an inverted upside-down cake, that is, the sugar and spice are on to with the fruit. Unlike the typical upside down cake, it is less sweet, and you can really appreciate the tartness of the plums.

From, America Cooks, The General Federation of Women's Clubs Cookbook, 1967

Vienna Plum Torte

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 plums (I used prune plums)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (I used mixed spice)

Grease an 8x8 square pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream the butter, and add 1/2 a cup of the sugar slowly until light. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into creamed mixture. Spread evenly in pan.

Slice plums in half. Place cut side up on top of cake in rows. Mix the remaining sugar and spice together. Top the plums with the mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Serve warm or cold.

Chai Poundcake

I put some of the chai concentrate to use in this poundcake (I also made ice cream). I've already made a second batch of concentrate as Danny has been having some mixed into a glass of milk for elevenses. I've been joining him, though I pour mine over a glass of ice and add a bit of milk, rather than adding the concentrate to a glass of milk.

This is a "keeping" cake. Make it, wrap it tightly, and let it mellow several days in the fridge before serving. Be sure to serve the slices at room temperature. I served it with pickled/spiced peaches and a bit of whipped cream.

You Will Need:

1 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening (this helps it keep and stay soft-don't skip it)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (or a teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed in granulated)
5 large eggs
3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chai concentrate
1/2 cup heavy cream

Grease and flour a large tube pan, and set aside. Do Not preheat the oven (trust me on this one). Cream the butter and shortening until light. Slowly add the sugar until incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift together the dry ingredients. Mix together the chai concentrate, vanilla extract, and cream. Add, alternating with the creamed ingredients. Pour evenly into pan. Place pan on a baking sheet, and place in cold oven. Set to 325 degrees F. and bake about 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done. Cool in pan on a rack twenty minutes. Carefully unmould, and cool completely on rack before wrapping tightly to store. They call it a "pound* cake, but mine weighed in at four-this is a substantial cake.

*Yes, I do know that has to do with the original weights of the ingredients.

Because you were a good reader, and read to the bottom of the post, I'm going to reward you with a beautiful early 20th Century photograph of the painter Gustav Klimt who looks like he was the sort of man that would have enjoyed a good poundcake-and a comfortable smock.

Rum Raisin Layer Cake

Oh, the lengths I'll go to using up egg whites left from making pasta and ice cream. By the time you add up the expensive dried fruit, butter, and cake flour I would have saved money tossing out the whites-but I can't do it.You have no idea how many egg whites I have in the freezer. Anyway, this cake is a beauty-a mistake really but it turned out so well, I'm going to share the recipe.

First, the extract. When the hell did I buy a large bottle of rum flavoured extract? I can't imagine either, as I have no qualms about using rum in baking. I wonder if I bought it accidentally, mistaking it for lemon? I went ahead and used it to great effect, which came as a pleasant surprise. I also made a batch of coconut/pineapple ice cream, and a few drops of the extract made it Pina Coloda-like, which is nice if you like Pina Colodas, which I don't. My mother adored them, and used to keep a bottle of that pre-mixed bottled drink in the fridge for an afternoon cocktail. "It has the rum already in it!" she declared the first time she brought a bottle home. Forget the copier machine, or the PC, or the moon landing-Pina Coloda mix with the alcohol already in it was the apex of 20th Century innovation. I should hunt down a bottle of that stuff and see if it makes a good ice cream. Anyway, yeah-rum extract works better than I would have expected, though I don't think you save anything in terms of alcohol because extracts are mostly alcohol.

So the cake, you want to know about my screwed-up cake that turned out perfect. I accidentally mixed the sugar in with the cake flour, instead of creaming it with the butter. I wasn't about to toss it out and start over, so I cut the butter into the flour mixture until it was a very fine crumb. Instead of beating the egg whites (because what would I fold them into?) I went ahead and dumped them in. Know what? It worked! Sure beats hell out of standing there with a whisk and a copper bowl beating egg whites. See, I've learned from my mistakes. The Old Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook had recipes that incorporated the butter and eggs this way, so I figured if it wasn't the lightest cake I ever baked, I'd get something. It wasn't heavy at all-it was a lovely cake.

The heat is expected to return by the weekend, so this might be the end of my cake baking for a while (again). I'm glad it turned out as well as it did.

You Will Need:

For the Filling:

1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Juice of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon rum extract

Mix all except the extract in a saucepan. bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until thickened. remove from heat, stir in extract, and chill before using.

For the Cake:

1/2 cup softened butter
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon rum extract
1 cup egg whites

Grease and flour 2 9 inch cake tins. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until very fine (use your fingertips at the end. The mixture should feel like damp sand. Mix in the milk, cream, and extract until smooth. Beat in the egg whites at high speed with a hand mixer until light-at least three or four minutes. Pour into prepared pans and bake until they test done-about 25 minutes. cool 10 minutes in pan, then unmould onto rack. Cool completely before filling.

For the Icing:

5 tablespoons softened butter
5 tablespoons softened cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Enough icing sugar to make a spreadable icing (about 2 cups)

Beat butter, cream cheese, and extract until light. Slowly beat in the icing sugar until you reach the desired consistence. Decorate with raisins (no really, that is part of my recipe instructions-don't screw with me, I put a lot of thought into this-use the bloody raisins. If you want to improvise, and make up the rules as you go along, take up cricket. Put the goddamned raisins on the cake you ___________________.

Rum Raisin Loaf

I've been accumulating egg whites again. That isn't hard to do if you make your own pasta, but there are only so many angel food cakes and meringue shells a family can eat. I'll tell you what I never tire of eating-rum soaked raisins, that's what. I could happily skip the ice cream and just eat the raisins in rum, but my family considers that gauche, kind of like dumping salsa sauce atop a bowl of Cherrios (don't knock it till you've tried it). To save myself the funny looks (because they scrunch up their noses like poorly rabbits when I stray from acceptable uses of raisins and salsa (never together, mind) I baked a loaf cake, and used up the extra egg whites, so hooray for me, and yes, I saved out some raisins for snacking-just don't tell.

The cake itself is really moist for a white cake, though a stick of margarine can do wonders with that. Yes, you read that correct-I used margarine. I find that cakes I intend to keep for a while do better with a good quality margarine than butter. You could use shortening if you prefer-or butter, or half of each. You get the idea. What you must do is resist cutting into it for at least 8 hours, though a day would be better. The cake really does improve overnight, but you aren't going to listen are you? The loaf should be stored tightly wrapped in wax paper, then in a layer of cling film. My house is comfortable at the moment, but if it gets really warm, it would be OK to store it in the fridge. Bring the loaf to room temperature before serving. When it does finally go stale, toast it and serve with jam.

You Will Need:

1 cup raisins soaked overnight in enough rum to cover, then drained. (save the rum for the next use, or what the hell, drink it).

2 1/4 cups plain flour plus 2 tablespoons divided
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf pan. I have a long Pullman loaf pan which I prefer for these cakes, but regular 9x5x3 pans work as well.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the soft margarine, milk, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the eggs all at once and beat until smooth. Toss raisins with remaining flour. Fold in raisins. Pour into pan and bake 40 minutes or so for a Pullman loaf, 50-60 for a regular loaf. Check frequently to avoid overbaking. Cool 15 minutes in tin, then unmould onto a rack and cool completely before storing.

Trifle on a Plate

I was tempted to call it a, deconstructed trifle, but knowing my audience you'd start sending me mail asking what the hell the dessert had to do with Derrida. So yeah, fuck it, I made trifle on a plate.

I made a few...OK several batches of ice cream last week, and damned if I was going to toss out egg whites. Sure, I could freeze them-along with all the other containers of frozen egg whites in my freezer (the downside of making large quantities of pasta and ice cream) but angel food cake is really so easy (almost) any idiot can can bake one and I've been rather idiotic of late. I also had really perfect peaches and blueberries to work with, and didn't feel like baking a pie. yeah, I know, I must be sick again.

I can't say there is any particular secret to making a good angel food cake, except that you should take your time adding ingredients. By adding the sugar slowly to the egg whites, and the sifting the dry ingredients over and folding a few tablespoons at a time, it prevents deflating the delicate whites. This is a good rule of thumb for most cakes that rely on eggs (yolks or whites) to rise. Slow down. If you can't, bake brownies-everyone likes brownies and you can dump it all in a single bowl.

I used the "De-Lux" (I hear that as, "deeee-lux") angel food cake recipe in the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, because I know it works. Employing icing sugar in place of the granulated in the dry ingredients is genius. It makes for a really light, sweet cake. We've all had tough, heavy angel food cake. If I wanted that, I could buy one at the supermarket.

I've baked this cake before, HERE. This time, I used coconut extract in place of the vanilla.

The custard is pretty straightforward:

2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, combine eggs, cornstarch, salt, sugar. Whisk in milk. Heat over medium heat and bring slowly to a boil, whisking constantly to prevent it scorching. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in extracts. Remove to a bowl, cover with cling film pressed on the surface, poke a few small holes with a sharp knife to vent. Chill until ready to assemble trifle.

The Fruit:

Toss ripe peaches and blueberries with the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Add sugar to taste. Let sit at least 30 minutes to release juices.

The whipped cream:

Beat chilled whipped cream in a chilled bowl with chilled beaters (or whisk). Add icing sugar to taste and a small bit of either vanilla or coconut extract.

Assemble:

Slice angel food cake carefully with a serrated knife to prevent squishing (yeah, that's a technical term, don't believe me go ask Harold McGee). You'll need two thin-ish slices for each serving. On one slice, dollop some custard. Top with some fruit and another bit of custard. Arrange second slice atop first. Add a bit more custard, more fruit, and the whipped cream (stop channeling my mother and use a reasonable amount of whipped cream. A teaspoon is not a reasonable amount of whipped cream. Maybe a bit more...closer...yeah, just dump it over the cake. That's better). Drizzle some of the juice from the fruit over it all so you can make your dessert all elegant-n-stuff.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake-A World of Baking, 1968

This is a substantial cake. That means, heavy in case you didn't get my attempt at being a stylish writer. Being substantial (or heavy) isn't a bad thing when it comes to a chocolate cake, mind. Could I have gone with a seven minute frosting for a better balance than a thick sour cream number that has nine ounces of semi sweet chocolate and 1/3 of a cup of butter along with the sour cream? OK, clearly you guys don't get my writing style...you aren't expected to answer that. Yes, surely I could have made this cake lighter, but what point is there in eating cake if you're not going to spend the remainder of the evening fully aware that you've just consumed cake. I mean, if you want light, go eat a bloody rice cake. This is cake for people that want cake. And chocolate. And sour cream, butter, cream cheese...

I was left with quite a bit of extra frosting as I used apricot jam for the centre (I just made 8 pints of the stuff, what did you expect me to use?). I couldn't bear to toss it out, but I have no idea what to do with the remaining two cups of frosting. I doubt it would freeze well. Anyone want to come over and have frosting shots? The stuff firms up really well, I wonder if it could be dipped in chocolate like truffles?

This is the second cake I've baked from A World of Baking by, Dolores Casella. I also own her book, A World of Bread, but have yet to bake anything from it. Weekend project, perhaps. I made a few changes in the recipe such as using unsalted butter, regular sugar, and semi-sweet rather than sweet chocolate.

Let's make some damn cake, shall we?

You Will Need:

For the Cake:

2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarb.
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 pound cream cheese
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Grease and flour 2 9 inch pans. Set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarb, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl cream together the cream cheese and butter. Slowly incorporated the sugar. Then, beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. Beat in the chocolate until well mixed. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk starting and ending with the dry. Pour into pans, tap gently on counter to release air bubbles. Bake 30-35 minutes or until it tests done. Cool in pans 10 minutes before turning out on a rack to cool. The book says 5 minutes, but my experience says 10. Do as you see fit. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

For the Frosting:

9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped(the original called for chips, but I used Baker's Chocolate)
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-4 cups icing sugar, sifted

In a heavy bottomed pan (or using a double boiler if you are too ham fisted to manage melting chocolate without screwing it up) melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring to prevent scorching (a heat-proof spatula works really well for this). Remove from heat and cool slightly. Blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until the frosting hold a shape. Done properly, this is a lovely frosting that swirls easily.

Fig and Raisin Buttermilk Spice Cake With Butterscotch Sauce

This cake is deceptively light, so eat with caution. I baked mine in two 8 inch layer pans, and promptly froze one layer. You are of course free to bake it in a 9x13 pan, but I don't want to hear about it when you confess to demolishing most of it in a sitting.

I did not think the cake required a frosting, but it needed, something. I already had a jar of butterscotch sauce on hand, so I used it, but whipped cream, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream would be great too. If you must frost this cake (some people have different expectations when it comes to cake) a cream cheese frosting would probably be good, or a creamy white frosting. Much as I like penuche (and I really do love it) I think it would be a bit heavy for this light of a texture cake. Save that for your gingerbreads, or heavier spice cakes.

For The Cake:

3/4 cup dried figs, soaked an hour in boiling water and then drained and cut-up fine
1/4 cup plumped raisins
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarb.
2 teaspoons mixed spice
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup whole milk

Butter and flour two 8 inch round pans or 1 9x13. preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light. Sift dry ingredients together. Set aside.

Beat eggs, one at a time into the creamed butter and sugar. Add dry ingredients alternating with milks. Fold in fruit at the end. Pour into pans and bake 25-30 for layers, about 40 for the sheet. Cake will pull from sides and have no crumbs clinging to a toothpick when done. Cool in pans on rack 15 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on rack. Serve with butterscotch sauce (recipe follows).

Butterscotch Sauce:
(From Best of Food and Wine, 1987)

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon (not a typo) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice, strained

Melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Stir in corn syrup. Whisk in the cream. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened (it will thicken more upon cooling) 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in the vanilla and lemon juice. Cool to room temperature, then chill. Store, tightly covered in the fridge. keeps several weeks.

Sesame Cake That Smells Like Chinese Takeaway

Still impressed with the sesame cookies last week, I toasted a bunch of sesame seeds and ground them up to make what I thought would be something between a nut butter and tahini. What I got was the smell of toasted sesame oil like you find in Chinese takeaway. I loathe Chinese food. I grudgingly make it for my family, but not without reminding them what a trial it is, though I usually omit the sesame oil as it is really the smell that bothers me more than the taste. That said, I could go happily through my remaining years without ever being forced to look at a plate of the stuff, but I understand that I am clearly the oddball.

Strangely, simply toasting the sesame seeds smelled pleasant, it wasn't until I ground them that the house started smelling like the Kowloon on Rt. 1.

The cake was really popular, much like Chinese takeaway, I suppose. I have the cake under a dome in the fridge, but I'm still met with the overpowering smell of sesame every time I open the door-pungent stuff, that. I'm posting the recipe because everyone (myself excepted) enjoyed the cake, though it will be a long time before I am persuaded to bake it again. I'll put the recipe here so they can bake it for themselves someday...when I'm dead. The original recipe for the cake is from my 1966 Better Homes and gardens Pies and Cakes Cookbook.

And yeah, I still can't frost a cake worth a damn.

For the cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds, cooled
1/2 cup shortening (I used butter)
1 1/4 cups milk (I used whole) Divided
2 large eggs

Sift together dry ingredients. Add shortening and 3/4 cup of the milk. Beat 2 minutes. Add remaining milk and eggs; beat 1 minutes. Pour into 2 greased and floured pans. bake at 350 degrees F. for about 25 minutes, or until cakes test done. Cool on racks 10 minutes, then cool completely on a rack before frosting.

For the frosting:

1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds ground into paste
1/3 cup cocoa
2 2/3 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream (more or less depending)

Beat together the first three ingredients. Add the cream slowly, beating until you have an icing that can be spread easily. It firms upon chilling.

Watermelon Cake-A World of Baking, 1968

I bought my copy of Delores Casella's, A World of Baking at the retired teacher's yearly booksale in Lincoln, Nebraska. Because it was the last day of the event, I took advantage of the bag sale, and bought anything that looked interesting. I found it tucked away in a bookcase last evening, and thought it was about time to bake something from this interesting little cookbook.

Reviews on the web sounded encouraging, so I set aside my reservations reading through the recipe. Though the book was published in 1968, many of the recipes are much, much older. This cake was from the "historic" section and as I struggled to fold the egg whites into the heavy, dough-like white batter, I gained a greater appreciation for the upper body strength of 19th Century women baking without the assistance of electric hand mixers. Even with the mixer, this cake was a workout.

The two different batters mean you are basically making two cakes. I would have been irked by this, except that one cake made use of the whites, and the other the yolks. That had me less irritated. I won't lie, this cake takes effort, and while I didn't think the result was worth it, the cake was devoured amid praise (between mouthfuls of cake, of course) from the boys. The recipe did not suggest a frosting, so I resorted to a butter/shortening mixture with icing sugar as I knew it would stand up well in warm weather.

I should have made the pink batter deeper in hue. It barely stands out, and unfortunately, it is difficult to see the distinct layers as they also blended a bit (I followed the instructions to spoon the batter on rather than pour, but eh, whatever). Currants might have sunk less than raisins (to look like watermelon seeds), but overall with a bit of imagination I suppose you can see where it is meant to resemble a watermelon. OK, maybe one of the really deformed watermelons you sometimes get if they grow against a rock or something. Fine, it isn't a pretty cake, but it is flavoured with rosewater and vanilla and heavy as it is, my family liked it. Old fashioned cakes do tend to be a bit on the heavy side, and I may have overbaked it ever so slightly, but at worst, I can always scrape the frosting off when it goes stale and make a trifle. I don't think it will get a chance to go stale. Me? I would have binned it after the first bite, but I'm probably not a good judge of cake-I just bake the bloody things.



For the White Cake:

2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarb
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 large egg whites at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pink Mixture:

2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarb.
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup buttermilk
Pink food colouring
1/2 teaspoon rose water
1 cup dark, whole raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Set aside.

First make the white cake:
Sift the flour with the bicarb. Cream the butter and sugar until light. Add dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into batter along with vanilla extract. Set aside.

For the pink mixture, sift the flour and bicarb. Cream butter with sugar until loght. Beat in egg yolks. Add flour alternating with buttermilk. Beat in food colouring and rose water. Fold in raisins.

Divide white batter in half. Drop by spoonfuls, the white batter in the bottom of the pan. Drop with a spoon again, the entire pink mixture. Carefully drop on the remaining white batter on top.

Bake about an hour (mine took almost an hour and twenty minutes) or until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove and cool on a rack.

I frosted mine green which I thought would look cool against the pink and white, except that the pink didn't show up, so now it looks like a funny green/grey cake. I do think I got the colour of a watermelon rind pretty accurate but the overall effect was kind of a disappointment.