Wednesday, September 24, 2008

THE SURROGATE BAKER

My 1st blog award !

The bakers at TWD have decreed that it is time to bake Dimply Plum Cake. It would be poetic justice if the cake with the worst name in the cookbook received high praise. But, no. Bad things happen to good people. Bad names beget bad cakes. There are dimply thigh jokes & bad reviews of this cake. When Tuesday arrives, I make sushi and post a picture of Nancy's cake. Nancy at Dogs Eat The Crumbs loves this cake. She made 2 cakes (peach and plum) and I figure that she is my surrogate baker.

But Nancy encourages me to bake this cake. Because she has given me a blog award, I cannot let her down. I will bake the cake making a few changes suggested by other bakers. I will bake it an extra 10 minutes, use cinnamon instead of cardamon, add 1/2 tsp almond extract and use white & wheat flours. I also add 1/2 C of ground almonds and 3 T of fresh OJ. The batter tastes soooo good. I have no idea about the cake itself. I'm flying to Chicago tomorrow for my sister's birthday. She has a new coffee maker and I'm bringing the coffee cake & the same birthday card we have exchanged for years.


In her book, Dorie says the cake is best eaten the day it is made, that the texture changes on day 2, but it becomes moist again on day 3. I'm shooting for day 3.

Hot out of the oven

50 minutes earlier

60 minutes earlier

An extra 10 minutes to clean the pantry !

THANKS NANCY FOR THE AWARD. I WILL PASS IT ON !


7 comments:

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Ooh, yours looks so good. Love those little plums. How did it taste with your sister's coffee?
Nancy

Casasailer said...

Thanks for the welcome! I actually bought the dilly beans at Chicago's Green City Market. If you are still around tomorrow you should go check it out with your sister

27Susans said...

Nancy - We're having the cake later today so it is still a mystery. I wanted to skip day 2 which Dorie says is "texture like corn bread day."

Casasailer - I'll mention Green Market to my sister. I'm here all weekend. We are going to bake & blog together. Now we are off to Loeman's.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the welcome! Your cake looks great! Have you tasted it yet?

Bungalow Barbara said...

Darling plums! Hope you liked it!

27Susans said...

Cake was way too dry - maybe with the addition of the nuts it needed less baking time. I gave it 50minutes as some bakers suggested. It might have been better on day 1.

Anonymous said...

Susan,

Thanks so much for the well wishes. Just don't mix stairs, water, bare feet, and camera equipment, as it makes for one crappy tasting 'cake' :P. On the other hand, your cake looks awesome. Plummy=yummy.

BTW, congrats on your award!