Making Things Taste Good

So, we can all agree by now that I love to make cake. However, the part I really like is the part where I get to make it look pretty. I love working with fondant and piping icing, but I don't feel like I particularly excel at making any of the desserts I make taste great...and I do want everything to taste as good (if not better) than it looks. Therefore, I am now on a mission to make things that taste good.

The opportunity to practice this more often has presented itself recently. Our friend, Slugger (Kelly), has started joining us every Tuesday for dinner, playing Nintendo with the family, and watching LOST. So now, I have a reason or excuse to make a dessert since we are having a dinner guest.

This week I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake from the "Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters" cookbook. This is a chocolate cake with chunky peanut butter mixed right into the batter with a rich choclate frosting and peanut garnish. This cake recipe was a lot more difficult that I expected it to be...and I bake...a lot. Anyhow, I wouldn't call it a complete success. It tasted alright, not great. The cake was a bit dry and crumbly and the taste was very rich. I thought that best part was the peanuts pressed into the sides of the frosting. They provided and interesting crunch and saltiness you don't find in most cakes.

Overall decision: 6 out of 10. Taste of cake not worth the effort of this recipe.

I'll try again next week.