It's a Three Cake Day

Crazy man is at it again. I started the day off with another St. Patrick's Day cake, and then I decided to make a lemon buttermilk cake from the Culinary Institute of America to see what the best chefs in the land can come up with. It's an amazing cake--perhaps the best lemon pound cake I've ever eaten. I actually enjoyed it more than the cakes I've been making, though perhaps it's because it wasn't chocolate for a change. Regardless, this was an all butter cake, and the texture was fantastic.

I've been thinking about it all day, and when rehearsal got over an hour and a half early, I decided that I was going to try another cake, though first I went for a bike ride, to help take care of all of the effects of these darn cakes. When I came home, I modified my recipe to utilize all butter instead of oil, which I've been using, since oil usually results in a moister cake.

It just came out of the oven, and it smells fantastic, but I'm still having the same issue with the cake cracking. It's ridiculous how much it cracks, and I just can't see myself winning anything with a cake looking like that, even if it ends up on the bottom. I just inverted the cake, and it cracks so bad, that the bottom edge looks like it's nearly separated from the rest of the cake. That's a definite deal breaker.

It's time to go back to the very beginning, and remake the cake that started this yen for creating my own recipe, and make the Chimay cake that has been such a huge success every time I make it. It uses beer and cocoa too, and I need to remind myself how that cake looks when it comes out of the oven.

Frustration is setting in, but I'm stubborn.

One more thought that is hitting me, just now. Perhaps there is too much batter for the pan. This could be another Eureka moment, since one of the symptoms of too small a pan is "volcanoeing," which is what my cakes have been doing.

I see a couple more cakes in my future tomorrow.

Lydia asked me a question today, after I dropped off four cakes for her clan to try: "How many cakes do you usually make a week, Mr. Dan?"

That's a very good question.