Reusable Cake Boards

What is a cake board? This can be used to separate cake layers, provide protection between your cake stand and cake, and provide support for heavy cakes...

That said: they are often cardboard.

As a semi crunchy granola person, I do not want to use cardboard cake boards to separate my tiered cakes...

I also learned the hard way that cutting a cake on a marble cutting board runs the risk of gouging the board...

I have also realized that reusable cake boards are expensive! Especially the multipacks with different sizes.

My DIY solution:
Use a flat plastic plate! Or if you're like me and don't have one, wrap the bottom of a springform pan with layers of foil.  YES foil is still not ecofriendly, but I don't bake often enough to justify investing in reusable cake boards --- yet.

https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Cake-Board-Set-4/dp/B07C2FCTP9

Recipe Nutrition Generator

N always asks how many calories in x,y,z - particularly for baked goods. I don't know that it's accurate, but the most convenient calculator I've found is VeryWellFit.com --- you can copy/paste the entire recipe, enter the number of servings and serving size.  You can then edit the ingredients as needed.

I find that it does best with decimal measures (1.75) rather than fractions (1 3/4).

https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076

Blackout Cake

As a precursor, I'll try to structure my posts as follows:

Brief blurb
Original Recipe Links
Important/Helpful Notes
Ingredients I used
Steps I followed (+ helpful notes in italics)
Final Thoughts


Blurb
I, like many other millenials, am obsessed with Bon Appetit's youtube channel.  They have capitalized, perfectly, on a generation's desire for consumable content, produced by highly skilled professionals that simultaneously relatable and perfectly polished. I enjoy Rick's recipes and style, so when he posted the video in May, I KNEW I had to try it.  I also knew then, as I do now, that my household is cutting back on refined/processed sugar. Finally, my birthday provided provenance - and the recipe did NOT disappoint.

The original recipe is: blackout cake + pudding filling + frosting
I baked: blackout cake + toasted coconut caramel + frosting

The toasted coconut caramel recipe was lifted from Claire's Baking School - we were hosting an outdoor party, and keep our AC warm, so pudding was of no interest.

Original Recipes
BA Blackout Cake Video
BA Blackout Cake Recipe
BA Claire Makes (Toasted Coconut Caramel) Filling

Important notes:

• As with all baking, I find it so helpful to read recipe fully.
• RT = room temperature
• AP = all purpose
• I did not find it necessary to premeasure dry ingredients before mixing.  For my 2nd bake I realized it was better to separate wet to bring to RT.
• Original recipe calls for dark brown sugar, but I preferentially use turbinado sugar - I added approximately 1 tbsp of light maple syrup to compensate.
• Because I baked separately, I did not need to use my stand mixer - hand whisking was so perfectly easy, and I had no noticeable difference with final product.
• I had to double the recipe to produce a big enough cake.  partially because the first batch did not rise quite enough, and I did not split the batter well (my first 10" base was not tall enough).
• base layer = 2 x 10 inch torted into 4 layers
• top layer = 2x 6 inch
• My first base was not tall enough to torte, so I compensated in the 2nd
• My caramel seized on adding the heavy cream, partially because I didn't know what I was doing, but mostly because my smaller measuring cup was occupied (i was adding 1/4 cup, then measuring another amount, then adding).  In hindsight I needed to add sugar more slowly, measure all my cream and pour more slowly, while simultaneously stirring.  My heat was also too high, and the caramel basically started boiling (stovetop user error)

Original Recipe
yield: two 8-inch deep rounds
servings: 12 slices

Cake Ingredients
Unsalted butter, room temperature (for pans)
0.75 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus more for pans
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
0.75 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1.5 cups (packed) turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup (sub molasses or golden syrup)
0.75 cup sour cream, room temperature
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
0.75 cups hot water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
0.75 teaspoon kosher salt

Frosting
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup (sub molasses or  golden syrup)
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
0.75  cup sour cream, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Toasted Coconut Caramel
2 cups shredded coconut (or flakes)
1 cup heavy cream
pinch of kosher salt

Cake Steps
1. Prep
- Set out anything that needs to be RT (cracked eggs, sour cream, butter). This can take several hours.

- Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°

- Line pans with parchment paper

- Grease (on top of parchment) with butter, then dust with cocoa

- Tap out excess.

2. Dry

- Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder into a medium bowl

- Whisk to combine.

I measured all dry into a sieve, then pushed through with a chopstick.  Totally appropriate, as long as your bottom bowl is deep enough.

3. Wet
- Whisk egg, egg yolk, brown sugar, sour cream, oil, vanilla, salt.

I precracked eggs and premeasured sour cream (in separate bowls), to bring to RT. This made for very easy addition. You can store egg white in fridge (for use in 1 day) or freezer (for much later use).

4. Combine
- Whisk dry ingredients into wet, until just barely combined.
- Whisk hot water.
- Mixture should get shiny.

No need to add dry in parts - you can dump and go.

5. Divide and Bake
- Divide batter between prepared pans.
- Bake 25-35 min, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Time will vary for smaller layers.
- Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cake cool completely in pan.
- Run a knife (or sharp thin spatula) around cake's circumference to separate from pan.
- Invert onto a plate (or your hand, but be careful if your hands run hot - caketop may stick to your hand). Gently peel the parchment off.
- Invert again (so it's right side up).

You can toast coconut while your oven is still hot.I baked both small and large together on the middle rack, with no appreciable issues.Cake can be baked 2 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.  For same day prep, chill the cake before torting and assembly. 

Frosting
- Bring cream, syrup, and salt to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Remove from heat
- Stir in chocolate, sour cream, and butter.
- Let sit, stirring occasionally, until chocolate and butter are melted and mixture is smooth and no streaks of white remain.
- Transfer to a medium bowl, let sit at RT, stirring every 30 minutes or so, until thickened and spreadable.
- It will look ridiculous (like a broken chocolate sauce) but eventually will start to thicken.
- Stir until smooth.

My kitchen is very warm so I chilled frosting 5 minutes at a time. (BA says chill if warmer than 72°, otherwise let sit on counter for 1.5 hours, stirring every 30 min).

Stir to combine cooler outer edges with warmer center, then chill another 5 minutes. Repeat until it reaches the consistency of sour cream.

Filling


Assembly
- Using a serrated knife and sawing in long, even strokes, carefully torte cakes (cut them into 2 layers).
- Set aside the 3 best layers for use. Identify your layer order (tallest on bottom, most even on top)
- Crumble any extra layer into fine crumbs

crumbling can be done by hand (beware the cake is extremely moist) or push through a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet (using a gentle circle motion

- Spread a small amount of caramel filling on a cake stand, tray,  or cake holder.
- Set your tallest layer, cut side up.
- Place a frosting ring around the outer layer of cake (to keep filling from oozing out)
- Spread filling in the middle.
- Put on your second layer
- Repeat (frosting ring, filling)

I had to go semi sparingly because I did not know my caramel yield relative to number of layers.  I placed a much thinner caramel layer between the cake's base layer and topper. You can use frosting+caramel to even out torting inconsistencies. Chill cake (approx 1 hr) before frosting.

- Lay down a crumb coat (spread a thin layer of frosting) all over top and sides of chilled cake.
- The frosting on top should be as smooth and level as possible.
- If using the crumb coat outside, the sides can look messy; Otherwise make that shit clean & smooth.
- Chill between layers of frosting for easier application.
- If applying crumb coat: press crumbs to the sides of the cake turning as you go.

Per BA: Cake can be assembled 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered.

Let sit (for a little while) before serving. 

Passing through airports

I travel somewhat frequently. I’ve always paid attention to the different “travel hacks” – how do I make travel smoother, easier, more efficient, more convenient…  It’s always hard not to notice the parents in this snippet of their day.  From the tiny noodles, to toddlers who won’t sit still; the 8 year olds who think they can do it all on their own, and the teenagers too cool to have anything to do with their adults.

It’s nearly impossible for me to limit my travel packing – how do these parents accomplish it without bringing ten million bags?  What are their secrets?

Today flying from dallas to atlanta, I notice this curious bright eyed hapa toddler (East Asian + White) observing the world from her mother’s arm.

My heart sings. My ovaries squeeze.

As they moved through the airport I wondered, how did she stay unflappably cool – Mother and Baby?  I wanted to ask all the questions and unload all the doubts.  How do you do it? How do you talk to her? How do you raise her? How do you impart what you know, and the multitude of everything you don’t? How do you leave your hangups at the door, and give them the room to grow and open doors of their own making?

I take my seat at the gate – and they sit next to me – affording the delightful privilege of voyeur.  Mom offers, calmly and evenly, a few different snacks – showing and asking Baby about fruits, then cheese, before Baby decides on goldfish.  Baby sticks her hand measuredly in and out that magical cup that lets fishes out when you want but keeps them inside as it knocks around Mom’s bag.

Mom pulls out a book! And baby reads along.  They sit and finish their book, and Baby is so content.  until she decides she wants to walk around.

Mom is so cool and calm and unruffled through it all.

Is this the secret to raising a baby? You stay calm through it all and never let baby see you sweat?

Eventually a middle aged Indian couple sits across from us.  They too look at baby and family.  I see something in their eyes.  Maybe recognition, maybe curiosity.  There is more than a passing glance for them, and I think of my own family.

Do they know that in this moment, I’m watching my full circle?  In them I see my husband’s parents? In Baby I see my own possible future? In Mom I see the veneer of traveling mother traits I would aspire to?

Clearly I am struggling with my motherhood decision – whether this is right for me and my immediate family of 2.

As 31 knocks, louder, and my ovaries approach the decrepit geriatric Cliff of 35, I hear this bell tolling. I feel this weight on my shoulders and inside.  Do I want this? Is this right for me?

In this age and era of choice, I HAVE this choice.  Our mothers before us did not.  So many women in the US and around the world, still do not.  Their reproductive rights are restricted and limited by men deciding in boardrooms, behind glass walls and closed doors, in ivory towers both literal and figurative, shaped by centuries of culture.

And here I am. A woman of privilege, and choice, and power.  I can choose.  But what do I choose?

For me this decision is complex, and I have yet to find a way to make it less so.

I think of the ever growing, endless pressure of climate change.  What is the world that I will leave behind? What is the legacy that my child will experience? And their children? Their children’s children?  Am I confining them to constant worry about sea level rise, floods, extreme weather, extreme heat, a lack of reliable food sources or famine, disease? We know these will drive political instability as governments and people fight over increasing limited resources. I recognize my privilege means I likely won’t experience much directly… and if I do, my family will have the resources and education to overcome.   But the fact remains these worries will be ever present and ever increasing.  And my child may not have the wherewithal and resources to deal with these things. They may worry about these things for their own children, in a more visceral way.

In my narrow, shortsighted way, I think about what that means for my little family of 2.  Gone are weekend trips, late nights out, quiet nights in.  While N’s career will pause, mine will take a hiatus with diminished returns when I rejoin the workforce.  Gone is our financial buffer – though to be clear we would by no means suffer.  These feel small, and petty, but they are nonetheless true.

A life without a child would likely mean true global careers - based abroad. Something we both thought we'd do.  Though there are some who raise global citizens by parenting abroad, this is not a path we are likely to choose with a small human.  But our domestic careers as they stand afford us, again, the privilege to do both domestic and global work that is rewarding, fulfilling, and financially stable (for him at least).

We love each other, naturally, N and I. But the sheer and absolute terror of loving a child, who relies on you and you alone for life, is overwhelming.  It is absolutely petrifying to have your own emotions wrapped up in a tiny human, moving in a world that you cannot control or make safe for them.

As we look ahead to old age, what then do we do in our dottage?  Our parents in many ways live for us their children.  We have the tacit and spoken understanding that we will be their caregivers.  What of us? What will give us purpose as we age? There is, as much as I am loath to admit, something special about being the parent of an adult child.

I think of N and I can see the ways he would be a wonderful, though firm, father. I wonder how he would indulge this non existent tiny human.  Would he share his love of flavors and cooking?  Would he calmly explain algebra and trigonometry?  Would he teach (real) futbol? It's hard to see N with a noodle, but sometimes I see these snippets and wonder if I'm depriving N and the noodle the joys of each other.

And with all this I haven't considered what it is to be a woman.  Trying. Pregnant. Post-Partum.  I am so completely terrified by post partum depression and psychosis.  I worry that I'm higher risk.  I worry about how I will reconcile my ME-ness, with Mother-ness, with ambition and drive.