So, looks like a giant snowball . . . food photographer I am not. This was my first Super Bowl in 2 years, I missed the last one while I was living in Nairobi. I really do love football, and the excuse to eat food that is really bad for you, like Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip and Chili with Cheese and Sour Cream, Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread, and cake. Oh, the cake. I am definitely crazy, as I made 2 cakes for, oh, let's say 8 people. Like a quarter of a cake per person. To say there were leftovers is an understatement.
This is one of two cakes, the Coconut Cake with Raspberry Jam. It was pretty spectacular, although I certainly learned some lessons with this one. I am not a cake maker, I lack that creativity when it comes to decoration and whatnot. And on this one, I made 3 layers, cut them in half, and then alternated jam between each layer before coating the entire thing in frosting. So, rule number 1 - you cannot put the uncut cake on its side and try to cut it in half. That is a great way to get it to break, which I did, and then mended it with frosting. Rule number 2 - make the layers even and flat so you don't end up with a big dome when you are done stacking the layers. It is a lot harder to frost that way, and the jam in the middle tends to run out when you do it that way.
All in all, taste-wise it was pretty darn good. It tasted like real coconut, which I'd attribute to the coconut milk and the back of shredded coconut I put in the cake batter itself. It went so nicely with the raspberry jam, awesome flavor combo. Next time I might more frosting so I could alternate the layers between frosting and jam, because all 5 layers of jam was maybe a tad bit too much.
Who dat at the door?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure it's a sin to masterbake on a Sunday, but that didn't hold Melissa back for the SuperBowl.
You could tell she had been masterbaking all day, and probably all weekend. She was a little flush, coy about why she had locked herself in her apt all weekend, and I'm pretty sure her cookbooks are all sticky now (from the frosting, of course).
But who am I to judge when the woman shows up to a SuperBowl soiree with some fantastic jalapeno cornbread, TWO massive cakes, and a sampling of cookies? Ridiculous. It was like Melissa had hijacked a bakery delivery van (which I'm not ruling out).
The cakes were fabulous - and I continue to sample them now two days after (please come over for dessert if you like, we have plenty to share). I particularly liked the carrot cake the day after - nothing goes down as nice with a cup of tea and some Jon Stewart than a slice of carrot cake.
But I must admit that my favorite of the bunch was the cornbread - because baby, I love me some cornbread. Like a trophy wife, the cornbread made my chili look good, and that's what counts. And it tasted divine.
I'm going to be calling the masterbaker for all the sports events ahead - Winter Olympics, the NFL combines, AA baseball spring training, the Indonesian badminton regional tryouts, and all bowling events. Go Saints!