This cake is duck soup
Helicopter view
It was a hot winter night in LA. A chopper hovered over the Boulevard and a frightened skunk cleared the streets down below. In the apartment, the Olympics flickered in the background and the dog panted from lack of activity. It was the kind of night for love or murder. Or a birthday cake.
The dame’s name was Stephanie. She was a real dish with a nice set of pins. She liked her cake sweet and her wine sweeter. She was a shamus back in the day, but now she was straight as an arrow, except she did like her giggle juice. Her present was going to be a stack of berries and a string of oyster fruit, but a cake would have to do this time. We were meeting at a hash house downtown to nibble one and maybe dip the bill. Little did we know we were about to go over the edge with the rams. Glad none of us ended up under glass.
Whoa, someone just discovered the Gumshoe dictionary.
The fondant that wasn't there.
This is how it really happened: Stephanie requested yellow cake with chocolate icing for her birthday. Always keen to try new yellow cake recipes, I took the opportunity to christen yet another Christmas present—the “All Cakes Considered” cookbook. It chronicles a series of cakes that one of the producers made each week for a year. I am quite the fan of NPR and although I’m still battling through the workday when “All Things Considered” airs, I trust that the smart people there know how to make a good cake.
This is a whipped cream cake, which means that instead of using the typical base of creamed butter, it calls for two cups of heavy cream, whipped. I wish I knew enough about the scientifics to explain why and how the finished products are different, but that will have to remain a mystery.
Whipped Cream Cake (adapted from “All Cakes Considered”)
Makes 2 9-inch or 3 8-inch layers
Whipped cream action shot.
2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 t. salt
4 t. baking powder
4 large eggs
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 t. vanilla
Place you mixer bowl and wire whisk attachment in the freezer. This helps the whipping process (another mystery).
Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350º. Spray the cake pans with baking spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again.
Parchment circles from Surfas are my new love.
In one bowl, measure your sugar. In a second bowl, sift together your flour, salt and baking powder. In a third bowl, beat your eggs with a handheld mixer until thick.
Remove bowl and whisk from freezer. Pour the cream in the bowl and whip on med-high to high speed until the cream is as thick as Cool Whip, about 2-3 mins.
Slow the mixer to medium and add the beaten eggs. Return to med-high and whip until the mixture is slightly foamy. Slow the mixer to medium and gradually add the sugar and vanilla.
Stop the mixer, remove the whisk attachment and replace with the paddle. Scrape down the bowl. With the mixer on medium, gradually add the flour mixture. Pour the batter equally into the prepared pans. Bake for 20-30 mins, rotating every 15 mins. The cake is done when a tester comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool for 10 mins, invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Chocolate Frosting
The frosting in the book seemed too thin and sweet, so I added twice the butter and a little more cocoa. A little improv, if you will.
2 sticks unsalted butter
In the box.
1 & 1/4 cup powdered cocoa
4 cups confectioners sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla
Melt the butter in the microwave. Pour butter into the mixing bowl and add 1 cup of the cocoa. Mix on med-low until smooth. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, alternating with the milk (don’t add all the milk if not necessary). Add more cocoa if you like. Mix until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
