Mirror, Mirror in My Cake Pan, who’s the fairest of them all? 

There’s a new rally cry in blog land . . .

“It’s a Peabody” . . .

at the very least among the Daring Bakers. 

I can’t really explain to you why I first joined this Daring Bakers group.   It was partly because it looked like fun (I’m always in for that) and partly the challenge of doing recipes I might want to do but ordinarily didn’t seem to get around to (I joined after the group did croissants and I still want to do them).

What I can tell you is why I stay in the group.

I stay for a challenge and the endless learning opportunities.

I stay for the fun I feel among friends.

I am not here to be perfect.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think I’m reading any blogs out there where the blogger always intends to follow the recipe to the letter.   Do you often set out to follow a recipe exactly and then blog about it?  I find it very difficult to follow directions, I’m always thinking: Wouldn’t it be better this way?  I don’t want to use x when I have y.  I know a better way to do that.  Do you engage in that kind of inner dialogue with yourself when you’re cooking.  I thought so.

The founders of the Daring Bakers Ivonne & Lisa have tried very hard to keep this a fun and worthwhile experience and they are doing an excellent job of that.  “Rules” are not something that either one of them is big on and neither one of them is looking for an enforcer job.  But there is one Rule that is the Hallmark of being a Daring Baker. 

Follow the Recipe

Now, I find that a total challenge.  Forget about I’ve never made whatever the challenge is for that month.  There are two critical issues here for me

Read the recipe.

Do what it says.

Yes, I can read but sometimes I read what I think it’s going to say and the actual words go somewhere else or maybe they hide behind curtains until they decide to reveal themselves.

Between reading

...cut out 8 ¼ inch circles of cake.

and

...10-inch springform pan...Cut out a cardboard circle that is exactly the same size as the bottom inside of the pan...

and reading it all at least 15 times before I started for the first time, I managed to cut out cake rounds to exactly fit my springform pans.

And that’s the edge I got.  Ah, you know what?  That’s not what it’s suppose to look like.  Because when you put an 8 1/4 inch cake round into a 10 inch cake pan you end up with a gap all the way around.  And what would that gap be for?  Oh, that would be for the Strawberry Bavarian Cream to fill and thereby become the frosting on the side of the cake. 

Gasp!  Isn’t hindsight wonderful . . . you see what I mean about the words hiding behind the curtains.  With hindsight, the curtains part and all things become clear.  Actually, it was only when I was idly staring at the picture Peabody had sent out with the challenge that I saw the error of my ways and my faulty following of the directions.

Not perfect perhaps but much more like what the edge is suppose to look like.  Yes, I made the cake a second time.

You will find the recipe in it’s entirety at Peabody’s Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.  It was taken from Cakes & Pastries At The Academy by the California Culinary Academy 1993 and was written for professionals.  If you are a professional or have attended  some professional culinary classes, you are probably familiar and comfortable with the way those recipes are written.  Many average home cooks are not.  I consider myself to be an average home cook with maybe above average curiosity.  These professional recipes are often (as is the case with this recipe) written involving several “sets” of steps.  In this recipe we had separate lists of ingredients for 1) the cake, 2) the bavarian cream, 3) the mirror and 4) the juice.  Then you get the directions for each of those steps one after the other.  Directions for the cake follow the list of ingredients for the juice, next are the directions for the cream and so on.  When you aren’t familiar with the format it can seem awkward to say the least.

Then there is the question of experience.  In reading through this recipe, I had the thought that it would be possible to think/consider using the boiled strawberry pulp for the puree.  There were no directions given for making the puree.  The juice is made from fresh strawberries and they are leftover, so why not use them?   If you’ve ever boiled a chicken or beef bones to make stock, you know the leftover meat has no flavor.  So, it’s easy to translate that to the strawberry pulp would have no flavor and so it wouldn’t make flavorful bavarian cream.  The list of ingredients did call for more strawberries.  AND then you have to decide how to make puree, is it just strawberries, do you add water, do you add sugar.  My blender has a button labeled puree, I called it puree.  But, I believe others out there may have some other experiences with puree recipes.

Mind the gap!

That white is the reflection of a white globe light hanging above the mirror in my pan.

Mind the gap and do understand that there were several of us Daring Bakers who had to make the Bavarian Cream more than once because it was eaten before it could make it’s way between cake layers.  This cake is all about strawberry flavor, it’s all about this Strawberry Bavarian Cream.

Of the two cakes, I maybe liked the first one the best even in light of it’s terrible edge.  I think it was a little bit of genius to cover all that raggedness with beautiful fresh strawberries and gorgeous mint.  Made for a smashing good color POW don’t you think?

Now there is a saying out there that goes like this

Success is a poor teacher.

I think it’s one of the main reasons I’ll be staying a Daring Baker.  I can only hope I start to learn from my mistakes, start really reading what’s really written and never leave the curtains closed.  Open the curtains and let the sunshine in - even if it lights up your mistakes. 

Perfect is not what being a Daring Baker is about for me.  Being engaged, baking with my friends, going down paths I wouldn’t have gone on my own, that’s what being a Daring Baker is about for me. 

Thank you so much Karen & Ilva for all those wonderful fun baking moments!! 

And Thank You to all my Daring Baker friends who make this a great experience each month by sharing all your ups and downs and wisdom with ALL of us.

What do you think?