Shortly before coming up here, I discovered a recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins over at Annie's Eats. Unfortunately, poppy seeds are prohibitively expensive at Home. So I decided to give the muffins a go without them. After all, the seeds would really only add a little, barely noticeable crunch. As far as I can tell, they really don't have much of a taste.
Halfway into making them, I realized we didn't have any yogurt in the house. The recipe calls for a cup. The closest thing I had on hand was 1/3 cup of sour cream, so I used that, diluted with about a tablespoon of lemon juice. And you know what? They came out amazing. Light, puffy, and perfectly flavored. Or so I'm told... I didn't actually get to try one. I had to run out of the house so I wouldn't be late for my CPR/First Aid class whilst the muffins were still cooling, and they were all gone by the time I got back. They certainly looked and felt light and airy when I slid them out of the muffin sheet, but alas, I only got to smell that tantalizing lemon fragrance. I'll definitely be making them again as we now have a bag full of lemons just sitting in the refrigerator. Calling to me...
As for the chocolate cake, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it was fantastic. I patched my Oma's recipe together as best I could from memory (quite a feat, seeing how I never actually saw her make it) and cobbled together a black forest cake. It had to be the fastest cake I've ever made and decorated. Right before I set out to FHB, my hostess decided to ask me if I could bake a cake for her anniversary. Of course, I couldn't say no. I mean, 1) it's baking a cake, 2) she's family 3) she pulled out the good cocoa for it. It smelled unbelievable, and was so rich and dark. /drool
Anyways, I was worried the cake would come out as a brick, because as a sponge cake, it basically starts life as a meringue and then has the flour + cocoa folded into it. I didn't fold. I whisked. I was crunched for time, and the best implement I could find to fold the dry ingredients in was completely useless. The moment I turned the blender on, I could see my batter deflate as all the air I had whisked in previously came rushing out. A little disheartening, but meh. The consistency still came out just right and the higher quality cocoa was definitely noticeable.
After stuffing the cake in the refrigerator so it would cool down faster, I applied a whipped cream frosting. With a bread knife. When I first set the bowl of frosting down next to the cake, I looked back and forth between the two thinking "Oh snap. I don't have a cake icing spatula, I don't even have a normal spatula..." Then I notice the knife stand. *Light bulb* (I've now seen Despicable Me, oh, a good seven or eight times now.) The bread knife actually worked out pretty well all things considered. Having a regular dinner plate for a cake platter didn't exactly make it easy to frost the lower edges, but I managed. And then piping from a Ziploc bag with no tips limited the amount of finesse I could bring to bear on the finishing touches, but all in all it still looked delectable.
My only regret is that I only had a chance to savor one piece before I flew out the door.
Edit: I suppose I should mention that a week ago I made a red velvet cake. Or rather a deep forest green velvet cake because we didn't have any red food coloring. Then because the little people I stay with would enjoy it I made a pink frosting. It looked abominable, but they loved it and I relish the taste of velvet cakes. As a side note, always remember to use powdered sugar in frostings. It saves the effort of having to go back and degranulate it. I realized my mistake right as I added the last of the sugar. Not wanting to waste it, but also not wanting to serve a grainy frosting, I worked some magic and smoothed it out.
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