Apr 5, 2010

made from scratch...

Okay...I promised I'd share...

My adventure with baking from scratch...

Remember, I was the one who said, "How hard can it be to follow a recipe?"   Harder than you think...First off, no one told me that this made from scratch coconut cake would cost me $20.00 to make...I needed cream of tarter...eight eggs total...cake flour (there's a difference?)...vanilla, coconut (an actual coconut)...baking powder...kosher salt (again, there's a difference?)...maybe for you foodies out there this is staple pantry stuff but not for this three dinner rotation girl.

I have followed recipes...I make pretty decent cookies at Christmas and my macaroni and cheese is requested at family dinners...but for some reason when the recipe said mix all the dry ingredients together, I included the sugar...it is dry after all.  So when I whipped up the butter and the recipe said now add the sugar, I knew I was dead in the water.  Oh well, how much difference can the order make anyway?  I bet some of you bakers out there are snorting at my goof right now...All ingredients in and accounted for...the batter seemed a little thicker than my usual from a box stuff but maybe that's what made from scratch looks like...into the oven with all three layers and now onto the frosting.

Five egg whites, a candy thermometer and a simple syrup later, I had white goo in a bowl...even after beating a full ten minutes there were no white peaks like the recipe said.  I'm not a quitter but I do know when to say enough....Needless to say, I sent my daughter to the store for a couple of cans of white frosting. 

I pulled my rather flat cakes out of the oven, let them cool...frosted them high and smooshed the coconut in all the way around and wa..la..


Doesn't look half bad...

so after I had filled up my family with dinner, I sliced her up...

a sample of my reviews...

it doesn't taste bad, just different...

kind of like coconut pancakes...

more like cookie dough... 

it's a little doughy but the frosting's good...

needless to say, the magazine went in the trash...I am humble enough to admit that I am definitely a Duncan Hines kinda girl.

Happy Monday,
Patty

8 comments:

Robin@DecoratingTennisGirl said...

Patty,
It is really pretty. I am sure if it has sugar in it, I would like it! lol
Have a nice day,
Robin

Junebug said...

I can so sympathize with you. The last cake I made from scratch cost me over $20. and took over four hours to make. It had five steps in making it. One difference it was to die for, maybe the order of the ingredients, hee,hee! It was a coconut macadam nut. After that I am so a Betty Crocker Cake Mix Girl!!

Heather Rogers said...

You are too funny, Girl! I am laughing right now! I am the same way..I would have put sugar in with the other dry ingedients too. It looks fabulous! I am on a plane right now..is there any left? With that pretty table cloth and flowers how bad can it taste..right? :)

Maryjane-The Beehive Cottage said...

It looks yummy and sweet! Love your flowers on your porch to!

Carolyn said...

It looks beautiful....too pretty to eat! :)

Carolyn ~ Cottage Sunshine

Twyla and Lindsey said...

Well, it sure looks good! I must admit, I am a Duncan Hines girl myself! Have a good week! Twyla

Meadowsweet Cottage said...

I have yet to make my first cake from scratch. We love allrecipes.com a whole lot. The recipes get tried, rated and everyone has a suggestion for improvements. So basically, everyone makes all the mistakes for you before you even try to make the recipe!

Darlene said...

A lot of work ... a lot of items in your pantry now that you will never use again ... but boy does this look yummy!! Of course, I'm a coconut lover!!