Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: The Everything Cake

October 10, 2023 at 1:01 am | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 Comments
Tags: baking, brekkie, cake

Dorie’s The Everything Cake is really a base recipe, made to be tinkered with according to what you want it to be. It’s a blank canvas for add-ins like citrus, berries and nuts. I decided to do my own thing and brown the melted butter, as well as add some malt powder to the mix. I planned to glaze the cake with some leftover chocolate ganache I had in the fridge and throw malt balls all over the top. All that sounded good, and then I took my “playing around” a bit too far…

About a month ago, I did the baking work for a cookbook photo shoot and wound up accidentally scaling out the dry ingredients for a scone recipe twice. Rather than discard a quart container of flour mixed with salt and baking powder, I brought it home at the end of the shoot to make things like pancakes and fritters with– stuff I would just eyeball measurements for anyway. As I was making this cake, I thought, “Why not use up some of that pre-mixed stuff in place of the flour, salt and BP in the recipe? What could really go wrong?” Well, I think my dry mix for scones contained more leavening than was ideal for a cake, because it rose nice and tall around the outside but sank big-time in the middle. Oopsies!

I did the only thing I could think of to do with a cake with a crater in the middle– I filled it with ice cream. The ganache and malt balls still got used, and I have to say it was excellent. Do you really learn a lesson when your screw-up results in an ice cream cake? I’m not so sure, but I would like to try this again sometime as a more level cake.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

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Love a blank cooking canvas, and making a recipe different each time.

Comment by Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen— October 10, 2023 #

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Well this turned out a happy surprise for you…Mark would be thinking this version is his choice. But he did enjoy the citrus version as well. I learn the most interesting baking tips from you…always something to learn here every week. It’s a beautiful dessert.

Comment by Kayte Gerth— October 10, 2023 #

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Well isn’t that beautiful…and super delicious looking!! So appropriate for the everything cake to try out another version…I would be particularly fond of yours! I just love seeing your creations…so good!

Comment by isthisakeeper— October 10, 2023 #

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I would call this a happy accident. Who doesn’t love more ice cream.

Comment by Diane Zwang— October 10, 2023 #

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Honestly if you didn’t tell us, we woudn’t have known! What a beautiful “save” !

Comment by Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)— October 11, 2023 #

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Talking about baking experience, this sounds like an adventure. Best of all, the cake looks amazing. You can fool anyone with this beauty.

Comment by Shirley @ EverOpenSauce— October 11, 2023 #

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