Amazing Cake...finally done!

Well, it's a Bon Appetit magazine recipe...they're usually well written and easy to follow, which results in delectable amazing-ness! Here's the run-down of cake assembly:
You start by laying down one of the meringue layers. I 'glued' it on to the cake keeper with some frosting. I guess it was necessary, but it make cutting neat slices challenging.
Meringue, frosting, cake, syrup, frosting, meringue, frosting...
I used a decorative tip to cover up the messy frosting edges; I'd like to try making this cake again, just to go for a neater, more consistent look.
And finally, the end result. Despite my qualms over the frosting, it turned out! And since this cake was meant to be a 'thank you' cake, I'm glad it did.

The original recipe calls for fresh mint leaves as garnish, but the ones at S*store were limp and nasty-looking, so I skipped them. As for the raspberries, they were organic (I'm not sure how that's possible in December, but if the label says it, it's true, right?) from the same S*store.

If you'd like to read the actual recipe, check my previous post for the link!

Amazing Cake...in Progress

Well, even if it doesn't turn out to be amazing, the process is! Here are a few quick snapshots of the process, with a few notes to accompany them. My apologies for the teeny tiny captions; they looked quite sizable in Photoshop! If you desperately need to read them, just click on the picture.



















Meringue: I'm not sure if it deflated or not...it was definitely a challenge to cover all 3 rectangles. I just hope they don't crumble irreparably when assembly time comes around!




























Cake: This came together fairly easily. The cake shrank to just below 12" long during baking, but it's not a problem (I think) since the whole thing will be covered by buttercream.



















Buttercream: Speaking of which, this is the one item I'm a wee bit concerned about. The recipe says not to use chocolate with a cocoa % higher than 60%, but I could only find 70% in the store (pre-chopped, too! Bonus!) It seems to be a little grainy and watery. We'll see what it acts like once it's cooled properly.











Syrup: This was a breeze! Syrup = sugar + water, + dash of peppermint schnapps once sugar/water combination has boiled. I have no worries about this one!

Finally, time to bake!

I'm not sure if that post title means that it's finally time to bake, or that I finally have the time to bake! Either way, I plan to start the Peppermint Meringue Cake with Chocolate Buttercream (from Bon Appetit Magazine's December 2009 issue) as a thank you to all the wonderful people I work with. I've even managed not to scarf down the box of After 8s I bought to decorate the top.

The picture is from the magazine...if my version turns out even half as gorgeous, I'll be happy. I know I won't be using fresh mint; it's just too expensive and even the expensive stuff is wilted and sad-looking. If I can find fresh raspberries I'll use them, but they're not exactly cheap either.

If you'd like to visit the magazine's website (and see the recipe too) just visit their website by clicking either of the linked (underlined) words in the text. The first will take you to the general Bon Appetit website, while the second will take you to the recipe.

Wish me luck!