One of my weekend projects:
After a year of blogstalking Sweetly Raw, I decided to buck up and buy Heathy's dessert recipe books. She had a great sale going on in December (not that I needed an excuse to buy myself another Christmas present). Heathy's books are a feast for the eyes: full of beautiful pictures and creative, droolworthy recipes. I decided that I was going to make a layered cake, using a concoction of recipes from her books.
Layer 1: Double Chocolate Maca Cake from Just Desserts
Layer 2: leftover Chocolate Ice Cream from The Ultimate Raw Ice Cream Cake
Layer 3: mysterious Chocolate ganache from back of freezer
Layer 4: Caramel Sauce #2 from Just Desserts
Layer 5: Coconut Whipped Cream (delish and low nut!) from Sweetly Raw with chocolate sauce swirls
This was a learning experience. Here are a few things I vow never to repeat.
1. Making a middle ganache layer that freezes hard as steel. Way too difficult to cut a clean slice!
2. Getting excited and removing the springform before all the layers were frozen solid.
3. Trying to cut a piece after removing the springform from the less than frozen cake.
4. Trying to squish the springform back on a quickly drooping cake.
5. Offering to split a piece with TH and letting him eat the first half (he encroached on my halvsies!).
This was really fun to make, even though it took all weekend. It wasn't super cold outside so I'd put a new layer on and have to leave the springform outside for quite a while before it was ready for the next layer. (Can you blame me for hastily yanking off that springform?)
I'm going to post a messy slice pic, even though I'm so sad that my experiment didn't turn out as pretty as the recipe book pictures. It's all good though, because it tastes like supreme, rich, creamy, chocolatey delightfullness.
Question: Have you ever made a layered ice cream cake? What's the secret to beautiful layers? Do I just have to be more patient with the freezing process?
You think that's a messy slice pic? Wow I need to way better at my non messy photos to get up to your standard ;)
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative I love what you came up with. Oh and I bought Deliciously Raw purely because you raved about it so much. I see loads of her recipes in my future. Thanks for the hot tip lovely!
You are so sweet! In my head I had a picture of a clean, gorgeous, slice, showcasing all the individual layers. Instead the ganache was too hard to cut and the caramel just oozed all over the place. Someday! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you will love the recipe book! I look forward to hearing about your favorites.
I agree, the photo looks great. I am jealous of your sprint-form pan. I want to make the persimmon dessert in Delightfully Raw, but I don't have a pan. I may try to snag one from my mom if she has one. I love your layers.
ReplyDeletePS-thanks for reading and commenting on my blog. I appreciate the encouragement. Here is me shamelessly dropping a link: http://www.getrealaboutraw.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing the whole process! Sounds delectable, and I agree with the frustrations of 'getting it right'! I found a springform pan at Value Village, and felt so spoiled to have one, but it's a little warped and funky and you do have to get it just right. I think making sure the layers all have similar textures helps a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not a very visual person at all, so for me if it tastes great, that is far more important than anything else!
love
Ela
@CC
ReplyDeleteHey CC! I hope you try the persimmon dessert and share how it is! I've made persimmon mousse from Sunny Raw Kitchen and it was excellent.
I love your blog! I can always relate to what you are talking about and I think it's quite humorous. :)
@Ela
ReplyDeleteHi Ela! Thanks for the layering tip- that makes a lot of sense. I love that you found your springform at VV! :)