Wednesday 28 May 2008

DB 3: The Phantom Of The Opera

It's Daring Baker time!! And after this month's challenge, I've come to the conclusion that the DBers are not the ninja pirates I suspected they were.

They are, in fact, MAGICIANS.


To explain: I messed this up in more or less every possible way. The thing was, I'd decided to halve it, cause the original recipe made such an epic sized cake. So as I went along, I used half quantities of sugar, flour, butter... and then my brain malfuctioned (#1) and in went ALL the almonds (I seem to have an unconscious desire to waste ground almonds), all of whatever else, full quantities of buttercream for a half sized cake... you name it, I messed up the amounts of it.

The cake came out of the oven looking suspiciously All Right. I eyed it pensively, decided this must be Daring Baker magic, and continued on my merry way.


Brain malfunction #2: Deciding it would be a good idea to colour the syrup (oh yeah; full quantities of that) pink rather than the actual cake. Meant my cake was kind of marbled in places where the syrup had been poured over the sponge. Does that sound pretty? It was actually kind of crap.

I just like to shatter your illusions there. Sorry.

Then there was #3: Mixing the buttercream, putting it in a tub to be assembled the next day, and then remembering I'd wanted that to be pink as well, scraping it out, colouring it, and piling it all back in again.


#4: Deciding reading the recipe was once again not for me when it came to the mousse, and instead of melting the white chocolate with a couple of tbsp of the cream, chucking it all in. My mousse was not so much mousse as sauce. It tasted fantastic. But it was sauce. I left it in the freezer, hoping it would solidify a bit (I'm an optimist) but let me just say that recipes? Are written down for a reason. Oh Daring Bakers, you teach me so much.

#5: Actually I don't know if this was the fault of my brain or of my culinary skillz (which is worse?) but I had serious issues with the white chocolate glaze; everything started melting and dying and seizing up left right and centre. I made full quantities of that (on purpose this time!) and had to glaze the entire cake rather than just the top to try and hide the sorry state of affairs.


And this is where the Daring Bakers show their true colours as practioners of the magical arts: this cake was gorgeous. Despite the mad quantities, and the failure of my mousse, and my lack of recipe-reading, and the travesty I made of the glaze, this really was delicious, and a massive hit with my mum especially, who requested it as her birthday cake (me: 'O NOEZ!! NOT AGAIN!! DDD='). Looks like the Daring Bakers were watching over me XD.

I might go and sacrifice a lamb or something to them now. Or at least a batch of cookies.

Daring Bakers' Opéra Cake
(white chocolate & rosewater)
Recipe is here. I used half quantities. Mostly.

Anyone got any ideas what else I can make with rosewater essence? I loved it in this, and am dying to use it in other things. Expect rose flavoured everything for a few weeks, until the novelty wears off XD.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the added touch of your chocolate rose! I covered my cake with the glaze, too. In my case, my layers were not even so I had to hide my sloppy work! Your cake is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

It looks lovely, and I'm so glad it tasted good, the most important thing!

Cakelaw said...

Your opera cake looks gorgeous as well as tasting gorgeous. I like the pink marbling fromn the syrup - it is really pretty.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

So beautiful in pink! Glad it come out good after all! About the rose water... do you like turkish delight? I've heared it's big in the UK.

Jeanine - The Baking Beauties said...

Abra-cadabra! You have a beautiful opera cake! Love the pink. :)

Anne Skoogh said...

Haha - sorry to hear that you had troubles, but at least it made for an entertaining blog post. :) And a beautiful cake, too!

Lori said...

I loved the rose as well. Despite all the oopsies I think it looks good! I thought of putting color in my syrup as well.

Rose water is great in marshmallows. It is also good in the dough part of lemon bars.

Renee said...

It was a challenge, but you came out smelling like a rose! Forgive the pun. Your cake looks beautiful!!! I love the rose. Funny post.

grace said...

beeeeautiful! pink cakes just make me smile, which is surprising because i'm not a girly girl. i would eat a hunk of this cake in about 2.8 seconds...then i'd savor my second slab. :)

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks so moist, I can't believe it! And I love the colors - the pink and yellow go perfectly together!

Anonymous said...

Suweeet... love the rose water scent, looks so elegant :)

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful! I adore the pink.

Lou @ The Higher Nest said...

Sounds like you'll be making this one again often, hee hee. And of course: it looks beautiful! The pink is especially darling.

Anonymous said...

I think it looks lovely (and yummy, too.) Glad you rose to the challenge!

And I'd use some of the rosewater to make Turkish delight.

sketchy said...

Rose water can make some interesting cocktails. I think your cake looks great, even with all the mistakes.

Unknown said...

I'm another DB who is challenged by the challenges... but I always learn something :) Your cake looks gorgeous!

maybelles mom said...

lovely cake.

Bumblebutton said...

Beautiful job, and I love the rose! We always sprinkle just a teensy bit of rosewater on our sliced strawberries--it sure is good!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

don't you love it when things magically work out?? it is gorgeous (and i dig the pink)!!

if you search around for middle eastern sweets, you are likely to find some ideas for rosewater. it is great with anything lemony (like lemon-rose sorbet) and with rhubarb or raspberries. also is beautiful in whipped cream.

Anonymous said...

ohhhh decadent! oh my that looks out of this world!!

test it comm said...

Your cake looks good! I halved the recipes as well. I rewrote the recipes in their halved format before starting as otherwise I will forget to halve something part way through.

Christine said...

Your cake looks lovely. love the pink!

Mehgan said...

Your cake came out so beautiful! I've never had rosewater before, but am inspired to try it now. I'd imagine that it would yummy to infuse some pears with rosewater and a wee bit of white wine.

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Hey, your cake looks okay. Many of us had issues (me, too) but we all seem to agree that the cake tatsed great.

Anonymous said...

Indigo, I see you bestowed a little bit of magic to your Opera Cake! Looks and sounds absolutely delicious.

Rosie said...

Just gorgeous!! I adore the choccy rose and the pink is so beautiful :)

Rosie x

Kristen said...

Your cake looks great! Isn't funny how things just all work out. Great job! The rosewater sounds yummy, I must try it!

Gabi said...

Beautiful job- I love the rosewater essence and your rose deco is beautiful on the glossy cake! :)

Thanks for visiting my post and leaving such a nice comment too!
xo

Laurie said...

The flavoring and colors are gorgeous! Great job.. :)

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Heh! Well done for perservering. The end product looks just fine, so noone would have guessed all those behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations.

Rosewater? Great in rice puddings, little sponge cakes - gives them that Middle Eastern flavour.

Anonymous said...

Haha, I like your story, AND your cake! And next time you halve a recipe - print it out with changed quantities, so you will not have to keep in mind all the time that you must halve it!

Miss Ifi said...

That is right!!! your cake looks BEAUTIFUL!!! *giggles* I am glad to hear that everything went all right.. however I would still like to be thought of as a pirate/ninja *nods*
Congratulations on your challenge!!

Maria♥ said...

Wow I am loving your Opera Cake, especially cos it's pink!!

Maria
x

June said...

I love the pink of the buttercream! Great looking cake.

Mansi said...

wonderful creatin, and beautiful pics:) nice hob with the challenge!:)

Abitofafoodie said...

So, so pretty! I'm impressed.
As for the rosewater, I'd suggest baklava. I love the stuff and keep meaning to try and make my own. Haven't got round to it yet. There is a recipe on the Waitrose website which looks good -
http://www.waitrose.com/recipe/Almond_and_Pistachio_Baklava.aspx

Anonymous said...

What nice pics! And I'm so glad someone else had major issues with these. Bring on the next challenge!

Anonymous said...

Ohh...looks like your cake turned out fantastic. Strawberry sounds delicious, too. Great idea!

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

Looks fantastic even with the hiccups you faced for this very daring challenge!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog