I made a truly special, slightly ridiculous cake
A cake with three different layers, butterscotch, coconut, and pecan ganache in between, and German chocolate icing on top
#0024
I found this cake recipe and immediately thought of Handsome. His birthday was coming up, and I thought I could make this for him. I had nothing but good intentions, even though I hadn’t made anything quite like it before.
Quickly, reality started to set in as I read the recipe further.
I realized I would need to buy two springform pans. An internal discussion began. “Will Handsome be okay with me spending the money? I could pay for it myself, but I’m already buying him a Fitbit and paying for dinner before the show on Sunday. He hasn’t chosen where he wants to go to dinner, so I need to save $150 just in case. But maybe it will be okay. He’s mentioned wanting a springform pan before….”
Who knew pans could be anxiety-inducing? Probably because the good ones don’t exactly fit into a regular monthly budget, and I needed two.
A few steps further, I noticed the recipe recommended using brownie and chocolate cake mix. The internal monologue began again, “Handsome doesn’t like mixes. He thinks that is cheating. But if I make both the chocolate cake layer and the brownie layer by hand, that will take up a lot of time.”
So far, this idea is looking too complicated, especially when my internal ruminations took a sad turn with some unnecessary worry thrown in, “What if I spend all this time making him this cake, and he doesn’t like it or only eats one tiny slice? Or, even worse, what if he complains that I made him a cake when he is trying to watch his weight? Or he could just not say anything.”
At this point, I emotionally shook myself and remembered the time he ate my lemon meringue pie because I made it for him even though the crust tasted like cardboard. It will all be okay.
I resolved to do this and do it well.
I went and bought all the ingredients, plus pans. My man is worth it! Then, I started going through the steps. It was a marathon of mixing. I needed to refrigerate the ganache and freeze the layers as I went. I found I had to do it in stages so Handsome wouldn’t figure out what I was up to.
It took about 9 hours to make, give or take an hour. Not surprising once you hear everything in it.
One layer of brownie, a cheesecake layer, and the third layer of chocolate cake with butterscotch, coconut, and pecan ganache between each layer topped with German chocolate cake icing.
Granted, my layers were not perfect, and they leaned to the right just a bit. I added more ganache and icing to cover it up. I felt victorious looking at the finished cake, tilting my head so I wouldn’t see the imperfections too clearly.
I did it!!
With all those layers, it turned out to be quite large. It was almost huge for a cake. I had a hard time trying to lift it and move it to the counter, laughing as I struggled under the weight. I kind of wished I had a large crane to help me move it while keeping it steady. After all this work, I did not want to drop it!
It was almost huge for a cake. I had a hard time trying to lift it and move it to the counter, laughing as I struggled under the weight. I kind of wished I had a large crane to help me move it while keeping it steady. After all this work, I did not want to drop it!
After the traditional birthday song and candle extinguishing, we both enjoyed one large piece each. It was very rich. We both knew by the second bite that the whole cake would be a little too much for just us. I saved another piece for him in the fridge. Then, I took the rest to work to share with coworkers.
Leaving it in the break room with a note encouraging anyone to enjoy a slice, I happily read the responses that came in over Slack as more and more people tried it.
“I just had a bite, and all I have to say is WOW!”
“this. is. amazing. Great job!!!”
“WOOOOOWWWWW!”
But my favorite comment, the one that made me laugh and smile at the same time, was…
“This is balls to the wall orgasmic!”
With that, I think I will declare this my first real victory in baking!