Food tax. A new menu offering for Chez Mama, not the Bistro!
To balance out Jane’s amazing desserts and dinner, here is a photo of the first layered cake I’ve ever made. I had only met my German-born neighbour once or twice before we discovered our mutual love for baking and she graciously invited me to her home to make the cake of her people.
On the right is a Black Forest Cake with kirsch soaked cherries, a genoise sponge, whipped cream and semi-sweet quality chocolate. That is the cake my neighbour made. On the left is the one I made; also a Black Forest Cake! The whipped cream wasn’t whipped enough, so it was oozing out from between the layers of cake at a faster rate than we could smush it back in. This is the difference that two vs three layers of sponge, the size of the baking pan for the sponge, and the extent of whipping of the cream can make! We had a good laugh over this disaster. And my neighbour, with all her experience and skill, was able to fix the mess, as you can see from the photos in the gallery. All was not lost and they both looked presentable after some cosmetic work.
So this is my submission as a new menu item for Chez Mama. I think it fits in perfectly with the pancakes, that jug of maple syrup with the dead ant attached, and that moldy, half-nibbled croissant. Any whipped cream that oozes out will blend nicely with the sticky floors and add a little extra glue to the bottom of the shoe, with an extra cherry splat for effect.
More Photos From Jane Richmond (click to enlarge)
Those are both amazing! My hat is off to both you and your neighbor! I think it may be a tad too elegant for Chez Mama, though. Just saying! This does have me thinking ahead to the discussion question that covers favorite food moments. I am not certain I would have gone straight to thinking about Chez Mama’s cuisine but that may be to my detriment.
Photos never tell the full tale, my friend! Once cut, the oozing increased significantly, and disintegration occurred rapidly. If my cake was on the menu at Chez Mama, a slice would never make it from kitchen to table as intended!
Whipped cream can be hard to work with and get just right so it doesn’t ooze.
I fed my black wolf while making this batch Nancy – fear of over whipping and curdling the cream, although I know that can be fixed if it happens. Lessons were learned that day!
I love this and that is one of my favorite cakes.
I’m quite sure that you wouldn’t have loved that one I made above!!
Your baking experience sounds like something that would happen in my kitchen. Whenever I baked my kids would always say, “Oh look! Mom is flouring the floor today.” Yours looks far better and I bet it’s tastier than anything I would come up with.
We would be dangerous in a kitchen together Libby! But we’d have great fun together!
Jane, it’s your description of smushing the filling back into the sponge that not only makes me laugh out loud but is near and dear to my heart because it is something I would try to do. I live by the theory that what it looks like is not important. It’s what it tastes like that counts. If one has the guts to taste it. Seeing me in the kitchen is exactly why my mother always called me messy Bessy.
We laughed quite a bit watching it ooze and then trying to smush it all back in and stop the cherries from popping out, so you would’ve fit in perfectly with us! I’m with you all the way with taste over appearance, but my first priority always is to make sure my food is edible and wont make anyone sick. Safety first!