Day Three Hundred Sixty Five: Longest Cake Ever

It's finally here.  The very last day.  I can hardly believe it's been a year.  Happy anniversary to me! I should definitely buy myself a gift.

For my grand finale I decided to choose a special cake recipe, a photo of which graces the cover of one of Martha's books: Martha Stewart Living's 2002 Annual Recipes. The Cover Girl Recipe in this case is Alma Etheridge Wilson's Roanoke Sixteen-Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake. (p. 134).

Yes, that really is the name of the cake.  You can't make this stuff up, people.  This cake has the distinction of being the cake with the longest name ever.*  The only thing longer than its name is the length of time it takes to put this cake together.  I started making this cake at noon on Wednesday and finally cut into it about 9 p.m.  That's a lot of work for a measly eight-inch cake.

* As determined by me, just now, for the purposes of this blog.

Martha doesn't have this recipe online, but it is very similar to her Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake, which also looks delicious but lacks the lengthy moniker.

You may be wondering why this cake took so long to make.  You start by preparing an eight-inch cake pan by coating it with cooking spray and lining the bottom with a parchment circle (that you've cut out beforehand, natch).  Then coat the parchment with cooking spray and dust with flour, shaking out the excess.  Add a half-cup of batter to the pan and spread the batter evenly. Cook for ten minutes, turning halfway through the baking.  This results in layers that are approximately 1/4 inch thick.

Martha suggests you cook two cakes at one time, repeating the process described above a mere eight times.  Since I only had one eight-inch cake pan, I repeated the process sixteen times.

Alma Etheridge Wilson's Roanoke Sixteen-Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake, remember?

So basically every five minutes I was either turning a pan, removing a pan, removing a cake layer,  cutting a parchment circle or cleaning the stupid solitary eight-inch cake pan I own.

It was a long, long afternoon.

Truthfully I only ended with fourteen layers because I lost two layers in the baking process:  one layer could not bear to be parted from the cake pan and broke apart as I was trying to remove it;  conversely, the other layer flung itself to the floor in a rather dramatic fashion.

And that's truly how it happened.

One of the 1/4 inch thick layers below. Apparently layer number fourteen.  I began to number the layers around hour three in an effort of self-encouragement.

After several hours of baking, I'm was ready to build the cake.  You make the glaze by melting chocolate in hot evaporated milk, mixed with sugar and light corn syrup. Layer one:

 Covered with a couple tablespoons of fudge glaze:

Each layer is sandwiched with chocolate (or is it the other way around?) This is about layer four:

 Halfway through:

When the cake is finished, drizzle the remaining glaze over the top of the cake.

 Unfortunately, the top layer of the cake began to break under the stress of all that delectable chocolate....

 ....If I had a video, you'd see the top layer of the cake riding a wave of fudge glaze, making a run for it and actually sliding right off the top of the cake...and onto the counter.

Could this cake look uglier?  I think not.  I'm always optimistic, however, and still had high hopes.

It's not half bad-looking when cut, right?

In comparison with the cover photo:

Okay, so maybe it is pretty bad. 

As I said, it was late before I cut into this cake and served a piece to my official taste-tester, who is known in certain circles as my husband. When I revealed how long I'd spent baking, he nearly fell off his chair laughing.  His verdict:  had I wanted to make a mushy cake, I could have done so in a lot less time.  

I couldn't be mad because it's the truth. I was hoping to end with something knock-your-socks-off fabulous, but the truth is so much more interesting.

And so my little experiment is at an end.  It's been fun.  It's been frustrating.  I've learned that Martha and her minions are some talented people.  I learned how to make some amazing things, and I've suffered through some embarrassing experiments.  I hope you've learned something, too.  If not, I hope you at least had a chuckle or two at my expense.

I'm sure I will continue to post projects and disasters, but with much less regularity.  Maybe One Martha a Month? ...Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.
xoxo
MRS

Day Three Hundred Sixty Four: Chocolate-Ricotta Icebox Cake

On my second-to-last Martha day, I made Martha's Chocolate-Ricotta Icebox Cake.  I've been running across this cake for weeks at MarthaStewart.com. It seemed to be everywhere I turned. I started to think Martha was sending me subliminal messages. Yesterday I relented.  Apparently it only takes about 30 minutes to build, before setting up in the refrigerator for a couple hours.  My husband was rather bamboozled by the concept of an "icebox" cake.  He's practically Canadian, so he didn't realize that we Southerners sometimes call the refrigerator an "icebox"....because it used to be a big box that held ice.

Not the most creative name, I admit. But it was accurate.

Anyway, after you've lined the springform pan like a Christmas package, mix melted chocolate with ricotta and whipped cream.  That's all for the filling. Then build the cake:

Start by putting a layer of chocolate wafers on the bottom:  

Cover that layer with half the chocolate-ricotta mixture, then cover with another layer of chocolate wafers:

Top with the other half of the chocolate-ricotta mixture.

Allow the cake to set up in the icebox (aka refrigerator) for two hours or up to two days. 
  
The finished cake looks odd...

 ...but the sliced cake looks lovely.  (To make the curled chocolate garnish, just shave a block of chocolate with a vegetable peeler.) 

Take one bite into this beauty and prepared to be.....colossally under-whelmed.  If this were a movie, you might ask for your money back.  I'd like to take back the meagre half hour it took to make this dessert...and the calories I ingested tasting it.

Do you think Martha's offers that sort of refund?    

Day Three Hundred Sixty Three: Ruffle Tower Cake

A few months ago I found Martha's Ruffle Tower Cake and I've wanted to try it ever since.  Unfortunately all that piping of icing was rather daunting and I forgot about it.

Ok, so I was procrastinating.

With only three days to go it's now or never so I decided on Monday to give it a try.  It's a multi-layer cake covered in Martha's Swiss Meringue Buttercream icing.  The icing alone is worth the effort.  After layering the cake and tinting the icing pink, you are ready to begin the hard part:  piping the icing into these adorable little ruffles.

It's not hard, really.  Using a #103 tip (it looks like a teardrop) make long zig-zags up the side of the cake until the cake is covered.  I should have allowed my icing to chill a little longer in the refrigerator because the heat from my hands caused the icing to warm up a little too much.  The result is that my little ruffles are a tad droopy.    

Not bad, but I could have done better.

Clearly, I have not yet mastered cutting the cake into even layers.

I swear I had not been drinking when I cut these.  I clearly have a cake-leveling handicap.

Day Three Hundred Sixty Two: Terrific T-Shirt Necklace

One of the things I like best about Martha is how she can make something amazing out of nothing.  A couple eggs?  She'll cut herbs from her garden and whip up a gorgeous herb quiche.  Scraps of felt?  She'll make beautiful baby booties.

So I was intrigued when I saw Martha's Recycled T-Shirt Necklace.  It's an old t-shirt turned into a pretty darn cute necklace.  I had to see if it really could be done.

It starts with a regular t-shirt.  This is one I never wear.  The back is covered in sponsor names.  I'm pretty sure most people have a shirt that looks similar to this at home.

Cut off the bottom hem and discard.  Then cut the body of the shirt horizontally into strips.  This will make large loops.

Lots of loops:

One at a time, pull the loops and stretch the fabric until it starts to curl.  Stack the loops on top of one another so that all the side seams are in the same spot. They sort of look like thick pieces of yarn.  It doesn't matter what was printed on the shirt, now you can't see it anyway!

Once you have the thickness you desire, secure the seams with a scrap piece of fabric about six inches long from the same shirt.  

And the final product:

Um.....Shockingly cute, right?  Not bad for a shirt that was just taking up space in my shirt drawer.

Three days left.....

Day Three Hundred Sixty One: Irresistible Fruit Tart

I've mentioned before that I love making tarts. Martha's Fruit Tart is one of the first I ever made.  It's delicious, simple and best of all:  looks like you bought it at a fancy bakery.

Martha has her own crust recipe that's very good, but you can use a store bought crust if you're short for time.  Your guests probably won't notice and I promise not to tell a soul.

Either way, fill the pie tin with weights or dried beans and bake until the edges turn golden brown.  Meanwhile make the filling, which is a mixture of whipped heavy cream and a rich pastry cream. (Confession: I have been known to use a pie filling from a jar in a pinch.)  Make a glaze by warming a seedless jelly in a saucepan and stirring until smooth.

Spoon the pastry cream or pie filling into the cooked tart.  Top with berries. Brush with the glaze if you want the tart to have that shiny wet look.

It's irresistible and people always want to know where I bought it.

As if.

Day Three Hundred Sixty: Egg-cellent Eggs

A few weeks ago I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants: Brennan's.  Dinner there never disappoints, but if you can't schedule dinner, show up for brunch.  Brennan's and Antoine's in New Orleans have magnificent weekend brunch menus.  One of the things they are famous for is Eggs Sardou, which is a dish made with poached eggs, artichoke bottoms, creamed spinach and Hollandaise sauce.

Boy is it good.

It's legend that Eggs Sardou was invented at Antoine's.  It's named after a famous French writer who happened to be in New Orleans when the dish was invented.  I wonder if he liked this dish.  If there were a dish named after me, I'd be satisfied with this one.

Or some sort of chocolate mousse cake.  Possibly a cocktail.  But I digress...

Martha's recipe for Sardou-Style Eggs is pretty similar to what I've had before.  She uses collard greens instead of spinach. Pop open a can of artichoke bottoms, sauté up some collard greens and onions, and top with a poached egg.  That's a little cayenne pepper on top.

Sinfully delicious.

Day Three Hundred Fifty Nine: Don't Mess With My Couscous

The grocery I frequent has an amazing prepared food section.  There they offer all sorts of prepared foods for you to take home and warm up, and lots of amazing cold salads:  chicken salads, pasta salads, and green salads of all types. (Some of you are familiar with this den of temptation called Central Market.) One of my favorite is a Israeli couscous salad.  It's made with those little couscous pearls and it's delicious.   :drool:    I dream about it from time to time.  I ran across Martha's recipe for Couscous Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and it looks suspiciously similar.

I had to try it.

You start by actually toasting the couscous in a small pan before cooking it in boiling water like pasta.  Once it's tender, drain it and rise until cool.  Then toss couscous, quartered cherry tomatoes, diced shallots, balsamic vinegar and a spot of oil in a bowl.  Let sit at room temperature for an hour then serve:

I took this photo before the couscous had marinated.  After an hour, it starts to turn a nutty brown color.

I'm going to go ahead and go out on a limb here:  this is better than my grocery version.  We've been compulsively eating it for a couple days now and it actually gets better the longer it marinates. My husband was a little put out when he found out I had eaten the last of it.

I will definitely be serving this again.  And soon.    

Six Days.....

Day Three Hundred Fifty Eight: A Slaw By Any Other Name

Wednesday marked a seven-day countdown to my little Martha project.  I have been so busy, these last few months have flown by.  I can hardly believe I'm almost done.

:frankly shocked:

That day I made Martha's Bok Choy, Carrot, and Apple Slaw.  My husband has a slaw love affair so I figured he would like this one.  Bok Choy is a kind of cabbage, only with a much cooler name. This recipe is pretty simple if you don't mind lots of chopping.

You start by halving the bok choy lengthwise, then cutting crosswise into thin strips. Throw it in a colander and sprinkle with salt.  Top with a plate and weight with a heavy object and set aside to drain. This gets the extra moisture out of the bok choy so that your slaw isn't all watery later. Don't skip this part.  (I was tempted to.)

Next toss together an apple (cut into matchsticks), shredded carrots, lemon juice, fresh ginger and a teensy bit of vegetable oil.  Add the bok choy and season with a bit of S & P.  

Gorgeous, no?

As expected, my hubby liked this...although if I make it again, I'd add something to spice it up a bit.  It is Asian-inspired, after all.

Six days to go!!

Day Three Hundred Fifty Seven: Pretty Recycling

On Saturday I'm celebrating the second birthday of a very sweet little girl.  I decided to use Martha's Recycled Bows to top her gift.  To start, you'll need one page per bow.  It works best if the page is mostly one color.

First cut the page lengthwise into nine 3/4-inch-thick strips of heights shown:  three at 11 inches, three at 10 inches, two at 9 inches and one at 3 1/2 inches.

Twist each strip to form loops at both ends.  Make a circle out of the smallest.  Secure the ends with a piece of double-sided tape. 

Layer and stick, starting with the longest strips.  End with the circle in the center.

 It's sweet....if slightly lopsided.  Thank goodness she is like most two-year olds and unlikely to notice.