Danish Layer Cake: Freedom to exercise
my attempt at baking something masterful....please don't laugh....esp. Medena over at Café Chocolada, pastry aficionado!
I am reading M.F.K. Fisher again.
She has been a delight to read because she breaks tradition.
Her voice is dauntless at times that I wonder how she ever survived the early years with her sense of clairvoyance and attitude toward the sedated just mix a highball crowd back then.
Last few nights I have been reading and re-reading through The Gastronomical Me and realized something about her.
Absolute pure genius she was.....
She was purely a different breed; so exact as a matter of fact and I imagine was perceptive as hell. If you sat clear across the room from her, she would be able to sop your soul through like dense bread over meat drippings.
Then on a flip coin I read vintage The Cooking of Provincial France.
I actually grew up reading this book not realizing M.F.K. Fisher was a woman.
I cherish this book with dear life.
If a tornado were to run through this house.....I'd grab my kids, my purse, this book and my eyelash curler ;-)With the 'munchkins' we decorated this cake with a make-shift pastry bag from parchment paper.....frosting is made of cream, white sugar, vanilla, a touch of gelatin, drained chopped fresh pineapples, hand shaved semi-sweet chocolate....
I made this Danish cake referring back to my taste memory when I worked as a designer in Los Angeles some years back. I also found an old recipe from another out of print book that re-played similarities of ingredients from the Danish cakes I used to love so much.
There was a Danish bakery nearby where our breaks were taken.....in between hunkering over the drafting board, cigarettes....I recall the treat of layer cake and for later a sweet roll with slivers of Havarti cheese with thick wedges of cucumbers.
I love Danish cakes and also some French pastry because it is not cloyingly sweet like some American cakes aka Betty Crocker inspired.
This cake was a killer to make ~ supposed to be a three layer cake but I couldn't fathom how that was done as explained in the recipe, so instead of creating a pile of crumbles I relented to the simplicity of two layers.
Too many increments, too precisely oriented and already naturally uptight because of Asian descent (ha!).....Korean to be exact.....I'd rather let loose on a savory dish......marinate + roast a bone marrow for pete's sake......spend an afternoon with a mallet and a side of beef would be nice, or perhaps cram a bag carrots through a juicer to get my aggression out.
Bake a cake?
I do things for love ~ esp. for the love my family and friends.....
Okay so far MFK Fisher, Danish layer cakes, vintage cookbooks, family and friends which leads to my official thank you to Medena at Café Chocolada for recently presenting me the E Award!
I am enamored to receive this especially from the pastry priestess herself for my blogging.......Thank you! Whenever visiting her site I feel inspired by her passion for the art of baking.
Thank you so much Medena for thinking of me and I look forward to reading more about your pastry sensibilities.....Sharing a slice of cake among friends: at the end of it all.....it did taste good. It had a light sponge cake appeal and I mixed in fine shaving of the rind and juice of half a lemon.
In tradition to this cyberspace exchange.....I pass on the E Award to the following bloggers:
Nina's Kitchen ~ Do check out her masterful creations. I am constantly waiting at her door stoop like a puppy to admire her culinary creations. Visually stunning yet also salivary gland inducing.....She may have already be granted an E award with all she has done, but here goes....
Sweet Home and Garden Chicago ~ Carolyn is a garden blogger but has enticing food insight and recipes. Another twist is her take on traditional Korean recipes that have been lovingly passed down to her from family. I love her take on Soul food and Seoul food! A master gardener as well ~ she inspires me to go beyond growing herbs when she writes about her bountiful gardening....
Mochachocolata Rita ~ I love mocha girl's savory, fun + often times outlandish approach to cooking and blogging. Melting pot cooking with Asian inspirations that is delight to look at as well as ponder......'Hey - I would have never thought - but looks enticing enough to try!' I like how she takes my thoughts out of safeguard as she introduces Indonesian + Chinese + more with her personal touch.
Food Mayhem ~ Okay she cooks, she dines, wines, dices and promotes food happenings. Amidst invitations to food centric events and her own dining escapades. I often times wander over to her side of the cyber globe and feel like Carrie Bradshaw of the food world with stilettos on trying to keep myself from tipping over each tantalizing post! Talk about the queen of food posts.....over here in the slow balmy South ~ I am trying to keep up with each day's douse! She's about a dozen posts ahead of me and going strong!
Passionate Eater Like moi, a California transplant in the South. Read + See her dining adventures from San Francisco and now in New Orleans and then some. Beautiful photos, glorious rousting of well executed dining finds and always a fun read. I love everything she orders and imagine I am dining there right alongside every bite from oysters in chardonnay sabayon or an earthy bowl of gumbo to a serving of ooey gooey nachos @ Lakers game......!
Bloggers awarded: please feel free to pass on + cut & paste this E Award as needed + would be lovely to link it back to me @ TasteMemory!
Next up another gracious award! Thank you kindly to Nicole at Art and Aioli for the Blogging with a Purpose Award
More words to follow about BWAP Award......
Adieu, till next time!