Cherry Cake – The OG

Since I have already waxed poetic about the divine confection that is the cherry stick doughnut it may not come as a surprise to you that I am also a cherry chip cake fangirl.  As I’ve mentioned my Mom is and was an amazing baker.  Her butter tarts single-handedly converted me to accepting raisins in desserts.  Despite all her skill some of my favourite cakes she made came from the classic Betty Crocker boxed mix.  Topping the list of best cakes ever is the Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip and Cherry Chip cakes.  There is just something about the super sweet kind of snythetic flavour of those cakes that appealed to me as a kid.  I secretly still love those cakes, even though I pretend to have a refined palate that is turned off by too much sugar.  I was excited to start the series five technicals by paying homage to my childhood favourite.  Not to mention the fact that the recipe only had 5 steps.  Woohoo!

Pretzels – See you Series 4

First and foremost an update for all those who have been on pins and needles regarding the Charlotte Royal.  They ate it AND they said it was good!  Although I should mention it was consumed after consuming several drinks and a delicious meal (they may have been drunk and or groggy).  It maintained its brain shape after coming out of the bowl and the bavarois was fruity and jiggly.  I think we all benefitted from the fact that I skipped coving the whole thing in goo, but mostly me because I didn’t have to spend hours tracking down arrowroot. So there you have it, another retro dessert in the bag.

Now on to Pretzels.  I have been adopted into a family that worships the gods of baseball.  Since meeting my husband I have memorized entire team rosters, learned how to properly score and game and spent a Thanksgiving at the Baseball Hall of fame.  And while I don’t think any of my many hours spent watching baseball have included pretzels this bake seems like a homage to baseball fans everywhere. And I can almost guarantee more than one of these pretzels will be consumed while watching a game, even if it is from our couch.

Charlotte Royale

This one almost broke me.  I spent the week moaning “I don’t wanna”,”Please don’t make me”, “I’ll just skip it”.  And other such logical and mature things you say to your husband when you have decided to spend all your free time baking things from show most people in Canada don’t really care about. I was clearly against this bake from the start.  As Sue aptly put it, “It looks like a brain”.  What the heck would I do with a giant brain filled with gelatin custard?  I know, I’ll feed it to my in-laws!  What else is family for but to lie to you about your mediocre baking/cooking.  Well I am about to test how much my in-laws love me, that’s for sure!

Hazelnut Dacquoise

Phew, I am exhausted! Seriously so tired.  I know everyone with real reasons to be tired like: work, children or doing something useful with their time may want to punch me in the face but this bake was intense.  I still don’t think I’ve recovered.  This probably doesn’t bode well for me as a parent but this sugar baby kicked my butt.  I’m too tired to keep complaining and there is so much to discuss.  Like how blanched hazelnuts are always worth the investment.