Gateau Victoire

David baked a delicious Gateau Victoire yesterday for dinner with his brother's family. He based his cake off a recipe in David Lebovitz's book Ready for Dessert, but instead of using cognac or port as suggested, he used Aberlour Scotch. It was rich and had a perfect flourless-chocolate cake texture. Delicious!

Hazelnut Dacquoise #3

It's been a while, but I wanted to post some photos of a hazelnut dacquoise David baked for my wonderful colleague Ann K for a birthday luncheon in early October. I think they liked it!



Yum. This is truly one of my favorite cakes of all time. I only wish we got a chance to, um, "sample" some.



Our lovely friend Jean gave us this expandable cake carrier as a birthday gift; we're putting it to good use! The cake looks safe ensconced in its plastic dome! (It was still an adventure driving it twenty miles, though. I had to protect it from sliding around and ruining the ganache and almonds!)

This Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed some phenomenal Irish Coffee Cupcakes (from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert). This cupcake recipe features a delicious chocolate crumb cake, cream cheese filling with a whiff of Bailey's, and a chocolate-whisky glaze. I've already had one for lunch...amazing.

Thanks to Antonio and David for whipping these up. Glad to have Sophy and Amanda here to share!

Homemade Nutella Tart

David made this tart for a college roomie reunion yesterday. What could be better - friends sharing a good dessert? This was delicious, possibly my favorite yet. From the Flour cookbook. Thanks to Jean, Christopher, Kate, Debby, and Sam for trying it out!

P.S. Special thanks to Jean and Christopher for an early birthday gift - a cake/cupcake carrier. We're definitely going to use this regularly!

Rum Cake Experiment

David wanted to try making his own rum cakes, so he used two recipes - one inspired by David Lebovitz's book Ready For Dessert: My Best Recipes, and the other (of course!) from Joanne Chang's Flour. The result? Two delicious rum cakes! So glad that Candice and Shuko were able to join us!

According to the directions, you're supposed to poke this cake 60 times and then pour the rum syrup in. This is a fun activity.

There's the star of the show: the rum syrup...

I love this bundt pan shape: isn't the cake pretty?

A close up of the glaze on the cake!

This rum cake, a nutmeg spice cake with rum buttercream, was definitely a hit. My photos don't quite do it justice...

A light crumb, but fall season taste (David went heavy on the nutmeg for this one). The buttercream was delectable.

Lemon raspberry cake with lemon buttercream...Part 2

So this was the real deal, a cake built not for a test kitchen but for an afternoon party. I hope they enjoyed it! I know I felt a little sad that I didn't get to try it....

This version of the cake, which David originally made earlier this month, featured a lemon chiffon cake instead of the cake in the Flour recipe book. He also used the lemon chiffon cake in the strawberry cake below, and it was delicious.

Strawberry lemon chiffon cake

One of my favorite desserts is strawberry shortcake, and I eat it woefully seldom. With help from a Smitten Kitchen recipe, David made this cake for a lovely summer barbecue.

Two layers?

Three layers?

I think it needs another layer of whipped cream....

And some cheerful strawberries on top...

Ta da!

Test Kitchen #1

Thanks to Antonio, Candice, and Katie for coming out to eat cake with us yesterday!

David with the finished product

Jasper: "I encouraged you ALL THE WAY through my amazing powers of telepathy. Don't I get a slice too?"



I think this looks like a good birthday cake, don't you?

Lemon-raspberry cake with lemon buttercream

Tasting 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 6. Please RSVP if you can make it!

A sneak peek at the preparation...

Hazelnut-almond coffee cake with brown butter icing

Past Experiments

Owl cupcakes (from Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson)

The New Tiramisu (from the Flour recipe book, by Joanne Chang)

The Hazelnut Dacquoise (from the Flour recipe book, by Joanne Chang)