HCB Cradle Cake

Well, this ambiguous named cake has really put me into knots. First of all, it caused me to cheat a bit by reading other HCB posts this morning before baking my second attempt shown above. This cake was the winner in a Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1950. It is called magical and intriguing (I have other names for it).

A dacquoise with a touch of bitter chocolate and nuts encases a soft, tender cake. Rose suggests using a silicone pan. I had just purchased one and used it for the first time. I baked this cake last week and it was a disaster. I connected with several other HCB bakers whom I know are excellent bakers. There were numerous comments and suggestions. Monica of http://www.sweetbitesblog.com/ also had a disaster and expressed it so eloquently. Be sure to check her blog. Now, she is a superb baker/cook and will never say "die - I can't do it!" So after "cheating" and adopting several of her suggestions, I went another round with this magical cake. All was looking really good. The dacquoise was thick and stayed in place. The cake batter filled the center depression. (Sorry, I am not good at placing photos in the text of my blog.) While it was baking I kept a close eye on it. The dacquoise lifted up high around the cake, but when baked, the dacquoise seemed much higher than the cake and after cooling in the pan for the allotted time, I unmolded it. It slipped easily out of the silicone pan, but sunk in the middle. Wow, not as big of disaster as before, but it sure did not look like the results of my fellow bakers or the picture in the book. Most of them seemed to not have any problem at all. Please be sure to check out how the other HCB bakers did with the Cradle Cake http://heavenlycakeplace.blogspot.com/

I tried to push the sides in a little as I inverted the cake. A little better, but not a show stopper. I had some chocolate ganache left over which I heated and did a drizzle on the top. That's it for a second attempt. In conclusion: I will try this again following the method as before, but will use a metal loaf pan, as I think my silicone pan was too small, although it was the size called for in the recipe. The taste components are delicious. Perhaps baking dacquoise piped circles, layering them with a baked cake and some ganache would be a way to go. Right now, I am just glad I didn't have a baby in the cradle! Worst of all, although it tastes really good, I really cannot gift this cake to unsuspecting neighbors. Next in the oven - Mud Turtle Cupcakes - sounds like a winner for my younger tasters. Take care, lola