It’s My Party And I’ll Bake If I Want To!

I turned 38 years old on Saturday.  It’s not an age I wanted to be yet but there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it.  My only consolation is that I have two years before I hit 40.  I am going to own these next two years like a boss!  (Keep your fingers crossed for me!)  Two years is a decent amount of time and if I can turn 40 with two successful years behind me, I will be able to enjoy that birthday a little more than I did this one.  Not that this birthday was bad.  My parents invited over some of my oldest and dearest friends and we had cake.

Lot’s of cake.  After all, this is the year of cake around here and I had a little catching up to do.

My cake menu planning started on Canada Day–I envisioned a cake that incorporated fresh peaches and maple syrup.  Does that sound Canadian?

These white-fleshed peaches were delicious!

Once I tried one of these white-fleshed peaches, I decided they shouldn’t be baked in a cake but served on top. I baked a Browned Butter and Brown Sugar Pound Cake and then sliced it, grilled it and served it with peaches marinated in maple syrup and cardamom.  It was everything I had envisioned and more.

Slices of Browned-Butter Brown Sugar Pound Cake grilled and served with Maple-Cardamom Peaches and Whipped Cream. Heavenly!

I think this was the crowd favorite.

The second cake was a Coffee-Cocoa Snack Cake that I served with a Chocolate Ganache.  I love, love, love a good chocolate cake and this one is quite nice.  It is very rich and the addition of the silky ganache puts it over the top!

I served the ganache along side the Coffee-Cocoa Snacking Cake so that guests could spoon on as much as they wanted.

After baking those two cakes I was left with one egg and I still wanted one more cake option.  I found an article that broke down the ratios of ingredients that make a good cake and building from one egg, I created a Fresh Strawberry Cake.  Serving it, without trying it, made me a wee bit nervous but it turned out perfectly!

The cake that evolved from one egg into a Fresh Strawberry Cake!

A slice of Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream and Strawberry Puree.

I’ve included the link to the Coffee-Cocoa Snacking Cake which I made from Fine Cooking’s website and the other two recipes I will post once I decipher the notes I took while creating them.  The Chocolate Ganache was a classic ganache made by bringing 1 cup of whipping cream to a simmer, pouring it over 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate and whisking it to a gloriously smooth and pourable chocolate ganache.  (I just had a spoonful of it right now and Max is having it drizzled over a banana!)

Three cakes and a birthday later and #52Cakes is rolling right along.  Wish me luck in the next two years!