DB#21 or Winter in Summertime!

It's Daring Bakers time again! Chris from Mele Cotte chose a recipe of Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream (from Great Cakes by Carol Walter) that had a little smell of winter with nuts, chocolate and buttercream. Mine ended up with fruit in and on, which gave it a weird look of summer in wintertime! I hardly bake a full sized cake these days. Nothing new under the sun - you know my love for individual cakes. Sometimes I just think that I do it to hide my non-existing decorating skills... the bigger the cake is, the messier it gets for me. But this time, I've decided to go by the book, and bake a 'real' cake. It was my husband's birthday after all! As I had to make some substitutions to allow my mom-in-law to have it (she's lactose intolerant), things didn't go according to the plan, and I had a few issues with the buttercream. The flavours and combinations were also changed to match the birthday boy wishes when asked about his cake. Cherries, I want cherries. Cherries you'd have, my love. The cake looks... well, rustic. I blame it on using soy instead of cream, and Yes, those are blackberries and redcurrants, and No, they weren't suppose to be used if the buttercream had come together, which never happened.



My thoughts on the challenge

- The gateau was the only part of the recipe that I haven't changed any flavours. In the sugar syrup I replaced rum for Ginginha, a Portuguese liqueur made with sour cherries.
- My buttercream never completely came together, despite all my efforts re-heating and beating again as the recipe suggested. I had replaced the butter and that's why I think it didn't work out. But it tasted great with the praline. I'll definitely be doing this again with the right ingredients.
- I used cherry jam instead of apricot, to match.
- My chocolate ganache didn't have the mirror finishing. Again I think the substitutions are to blame.
- I used the runny buttercream in the cake but of course it was impossible to pipe it or use it in any kind of decoration. Ergo, the blackberries and redcurrants, as the cherries were all used in the filling...
- In the end, I did so many substitutions that the recipe can't be blame for all the problems I had. The hazelnut gateau was a winner, and the buttercream with the praline was perfectly balanced in flavour.
- Not my best challenge but the cake was very tasteful. I'll always have winter to try the recipe properly. ;)

For the original recipe, go to Chris post.



Thank you Chris from Mele Cotte for choosing a Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream, and Ivonne and Lisa for starting such a wonderful group! Please visit all the other Daring Bakers for endless interpretations of the recipe.