Thursday, October 1, 2009

Sweet and Simple Bakes - St. Clements Cake

My father has an expression he often used when as a child I tried something and failed. He would say you get an E for effort. I guess in his eyes that was like an A. Well this months Sweet and Simple Bakes is one of those E for effort times.

First off the recipe is in grams and I don't have a scale. Yes, I am going to invest in one. I am actually waiting for this measuring cup to be available. I converted the recipe as best I could. Second, my butter was too soft. I was determined to make this cake, so I went ahead and made the batter. It looked and smelled great. I made the cakes in two small loaf pans. When I peeked in the oven, I noticed one was overflowing like a lava flow in the oven. Next we have the burning smell, on goes the fan and we open the doors. The good news, the smoke alarm didn't go off.

Once I had the smoke cleared from the kitchen, I needed to determine if my cake was done. The recipe said smaller pans 30 minutes and golden brown. It's been 30 minutes and it's golden brown. I used a tester and it APPEARED to come out clean. I pulled them out of the oven. I glazed them and then watched the middle sink and sink and continue to sink.

As I said it's a day where I get E for effort. The two pieces in my photograph are the two best pieces out of both cakes. This cake has a great texture and the wonderful flavor of citrus. I will make it again...after I get a scale.





The recipe can be found here. You will find the links to all of the talented and creative Sweet and Simple Bakers here.

On another note, I love all things chocolate and want to start a baking group around Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard. If you'd like to join me in this yummy baking adventure, please leave me a comment.

11 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm sorry it didn't go quite to plan. Until you get your scales, for your information, you can type "cup butter grams" into google and it will tell you how many grams are in a cup of butter. That should help you with the English recipes!
    Rosie of BooksAndBakes

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  2. I think you were incredibly brave to attempt it without scales! And it seems to look great in the photo.

    At school we'd get a grade for how well we did and then a mark for our effort (1 was the most effort then down to 5). So you could get a C but still get a 1 for effort! So don't worry about the grade, it's the effort mark that counts!

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  3. Sorry to hear about your attempt. Over in this part of the world, I have problem converting cups to grams. LOLz.

    I am sure your next challenge will yield better result.

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  4. Sorry to read that you didn't have much luck with this bake but the pic of the slices you took look great to me. Definitely do a google search next time your using grams. I have to do the same when it comes to american recipes and converting sticks of butter into grams!

    Thanks for taking part and hope you will join us in our next bake.

    Maria
    x

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  5. 1. I'm in for Chocolate Epiphany! Let me know the details.
    2. I had problems as well w/ my cake but in spite of it all, didn't it taste wonderful?! I loved all that citrus. It was like eating a piece of cakey fruit. You get an "A" for Astounding!

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  6. Ohh sorry to read about your bake and Thank you so much for your lovely comment in my blog.

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  7. What a shame you had so many problems! Well done for maintaining a positive outlook.

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  8. What a shame you had all that trouble - your cake looks great though : )

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  9. Brave of you to try despite the measurements ...I had the same issue but thankfully it turned out well..and its definitely worth the effort!

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  10. It turned out very well even with the problems. Converting can be confusing can't it? It is a lovely cake.

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  11. That's a shame it didn't turn out exactly right. You do need a scale. I'd say A for effort, I'd not have even tried without a scale!

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