Something amazing happened last week–Dinner is Served turned TWO!
I can’t believe it. My mind is completely blown. I am gobsmacked that I’m still doing this, let alone that there are people other than my parents reading it.
Well, to celebrate–and because I’d have to bake the damn thing eventually–I tried my hand at #117 Othello Cake.
It really is one involved recipe. I admit that I seriously considered busting out a box of cake mix and just making the filling and glaze. I am by no means a baker (I say that again and again). But since I was doing this as a celebratory dessert, I wasn’t gonna half-ass it. I unleashed the KitchenAid and brought the patisserie pain.
The first thing I noticed about the recipe was “10 eggs.” Shit. That’s a lot of eggs. I subsequently learned that it is very messy to separate more than one egg. Eggs everywhere! But thanks to the magic of my stand mixer, creating soft peaks and then sugar-coated stiff peaks was a cinch. I folded in the flour and it all went into the oven.
And then to the pastry cream. Any sort of cream sauce is always dicey for me. See here and here. And this recipe, too, with all the eggs. So many eggs!–but this time 8 yolks. Just the yolks. What to do with the other half of the egg? I separated them into ice cube trays and popped it into the freezer so I have egg whites at the ready. I see some meringue in my future.
The resulting pastry cream? “Pastry Cream” seems like a misnomer. That makes me think fluffy. Once cooled, this mix was so eggy and rich and thick–this was a custard. Like Boston Creme Pie filling on steroids. Yeah, that’s a good thing.
And yay for me; a dairy-egg-roux thingie without separation!
As for the macaroon/sherry/raspberry jam layer–you’d think that since it’s Passover-time there would be macaroons at the Safeway. I mean, that would make sense. But since nothing makes sense at my Safeway, it was no-go on the macaroons. But they did have this:
I just crumbled the crust, added some sweetened coconut and tossed it all with sherry. And then put that on top of the jam layer.
Topped with the pastry cream–layered, layered, layered:
And then I made the chocolate sauce by using the I-don’t-have-a-double-boiler-so-I-am-going-to-stick-a-bowl-in-a-saucepan technique.
This method works. I don’t know why one would actually need a double boiler. Seriously. Does anyone here have a double boiler that they use with great frequency? Do you know something that I don’t know?
But I digress. The chocolate sauce was a success. Look!
Well, it looks pretty damn good, right?
In my opinion, this cake was a mixed bag. I loved the chocolate glaze. The pastry cream/custard was delicious. I think it would’ve been great to have jam and macaroon on all of the layers. But the cake itself, the 10-egg-stiff-peak-clarified-butter-extravaganza fell flat for me. I think that a yellow box of Betty Crocker would’ve done the trick. The cake wasn’t particularly light or fluffy or moist. But I am proud of myself for making a cake from scratch. All of it from scratch!
My blogiversary (?) coincides with another very important event in my life–Brian’s adoption day!
Happy 2 years together, Brian!
As always, Brian is thrilled:
And so we blew out the candle and made a wish!
I wished that I will finally finish making all of the dinners in the next year (only 26 left!).
I am 99% sure that Brian wished for food. 1% chance he wished for world peace.
OK, who am I kidding? I can say with 100% certainty that Brian wished for food. Yesterday morning I caught him eating the dregs of a bowl of Special K Red Berries with milk. That kitty will eat anything.
He would’ve taken down that whole cake if it were left unattended.
[…] To commemorate 3 years, I did almost precisely what I did for my two-year anniversary—hang out with Todd and Leah and bake a cake. […]
[…] this dinner, #15, you wanna know how long ago I made this? I made it back in February to commemorate the 2-year anniversary of Dinner is Served! 1972, and my 2 year anniversary with Brian! That’s a loooong time […]
Happy blogiversary! The Othello cake looks impressive. 10 eggs! I don’t have a double boiler but I soooo wish I did. Even though it’s totally superfluous.
Brian looks like my nine year old son in a onesie (minus the whiskers. and the rest of the facial hair)
[…] ← 117.Othello Cake (Happy 2nd Birthday, Dinner is Served!) […]
Congrats on two years! Here’s to many many more. Your posts bring joy to my days.
yay you and yay Brian! And he’s a pretty cool kitty, he may have wished for world peace.
Happy Blogoversary!!
Amazing cake! Love your blog! And Brian. And, though rarely used, I love double boilers! They seem so “professional.”
Just ran into your blog…love your project. Happy two years and happy cat-birthday!
Happy Anniversary! I use my double boiler to make stone cut oatmeal all the time. I got it from my BF’s Grandfather’s stuff when he passed. It is a piece from my pot colletion that is no longer sold because you can just use a bowl. Yay for cake and Brians and the hard work you have done.
Happy Birthday! Wow, that is one complicated cake…looks great though. xx
Congrats to you on the 2nd yr! And to Brian for 2 yrs of a steady stream of food and wieners. (Notice how I listed those separately?)
That is a freakin’ amazing cake, nicely done and a fitting tribute! 😀
I have thought about getting a double boiler occasionally, but the only advantage it has over the Bowl-In-Pot alternative is that you’d get a handle. The downside to the bowl method is the difficulty of lifting the bowl up, since it’s always hot and there’s steam everywhere… but I also know once I get a real double boiler, I’ve officially entered the “too much crap in my kitchen” stage.
Ah, the handle!
Yes, I think I passed the “too much crap in my kitchen” mark a while ago. I try to keep it to a minimum but people keep giving me barware and stemware! I need to move to a large place just so I can have a proper bar and/or china cabinet.
I’m pretty sure I passed it a while ago too, but I keep pretending I can fit more things in the cabinets…
Congrats on the two years and cake success! Also brilliant idea re: ice cubing the egg whites.
Happy, Happy Anniversary to you and Happy, Happy Adoption to Big Boy Brian. That was a damn fine looking cake and a damn fine looking kitty.
Congrats! Keep up the good work!
And I hear ya on the cake mix – if baking a cake from scratch is sooooo good, then why is there an entire aisle of cake mixes at the grocery store?!
Well done, darling… Well done. Are you coming to PGH for Easter?
Nope. I don’t get any time off for Easter. The parents are coming down here.
Damn. Oh well… A girl can hope…Maybe we will have to find a good reason for me to come visit…
Welcome to the Terrible Two’s DIS!
XOXO. Best to you and Miss Libby!
Congrats, my love. See you in a few weeks and we can celebrate.
Congrats on the 2 years and congrats on the cake – did you and Brian eat it all between you?
HA! No. There is a whole half of the cake here at my office–which I know that no one will eat. The remaining cake at home I think I will wrap up and attempt to freeze. Although there is no room left in my freezer.
Happy blogiversary! Only 26 dinners? But Weiner Wednesday still has infinite possibilities!
Oh, the original Dinner is Served! series may come to an end this year, but Wiener Wednesday is forever.
And I have a lot more left in the arsenal.
CONGRATS on turning two! Keep up the entertaining work!
Thank you! Thanks for continuing to read.