To write up this review, I read all of my posts thus far. When I introduced this challenge along with my birthday cake, I said I wanted to be able to turn out a layer perfect layer cake. “Perfect” may be a bit generous, but I feel pretty good about how far my skills have come.
Of course, I’ve learned a few things along the way:
- Layer cakes take a long time, even if they are “simple.”
- Drinking before assembling and icing a cake is a recipe for ugly.
- Producing a layer cake is inherently messy.
- The likelihood that I’ll want to pipe on icing or try a new decorating technique when the cake is finally done is low… very low.
Without further adieu, here’s how I ranked the cakes (from favorite to meh). I judged them based on memory, reviewing my initial blog posts, quality of finished product and how much the finished product met my expectations. It was, clearly, very scientific.
Chocolate Fudge Cake with Chocolate (Oct)
Cookie Dough Layer Cake (Mar)
Carrot Layer Cake (Feb)
Strawberry Cream Layer Cake (May)
Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting (Jul)
Snickerdoodle(Apr)
Cookies and Cream Cake (Dec)
Key Lime Cake (Aug)
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake (Nov)
Double Caramel Turtle Layer Cake (Jan)
Banana Cake with Butterscotch Filling and Cream Cheese Icing (Sept)
So let’s get down to the details with a few superlatives:
Best in Show
Chocolate Fudge Cake with Chocolate (Oct)
Simple, chocolate and winning every day of the week. This cake stole my heart and ran away with it. If you’re going to try one cake from my blog and want it to come out perfect, make this.
Best icing
Snickerdoodle (Apr)
Hubster still raves about this cake, but it was really the icing that saved it from a lower overall rank. The buttercream was so perfectly spiced that you would swear you were eating a melted snickerdoodle.
Healthiest
Double Caramel Turtle Layer Cake (Jan)
This recipe made it very clear that “healthy” and “layer cake” don’t mix. Dry cakes and an underwhelming amount of icing are just sad. Thankfully I learned this lesson early in the year and fully embraced butter for the rest of the cakes
Best concept that didn’t quite work
Strawberry Cream Layer Cake (May)
I really wanted this to be great, but my icing making skills were not up to par. The result was a gritty, sweet concoction that didn’t have any body. Happily, when combined with the cake and jam, this still produced one of my favorite bites.
Least likely to attend the party
June’s missing cake
My oven was out of commission for the entire month of June, leaving me one cake shy of my goal. Do I care? Nah.
Apparent crowd favorite based on immediate feedback/My least favorite
Banana Cake with Butterscotch Filling and Cream Cheese Icing (Sept)
The banana cake got rave reviews at work but I probably ate fewer than 4 bites. I still maintain that it was way too sweet and the butterscotch was gritty, but maybe you shouldn’t take my word for it.
Crowd favorite by votes
I took an impromptu poll of a few coworkers who have sampled multiple cakes. Cookies and Cream Cake (Dec) tied Cookie Dough Layer Cake (Mar) for the most #1 votes, but the Cookies and Cream ended up in the top 3 the most. What does this prove? 1. I probably shouldn’t poll anyone about cake immediately after they sample one of the contenders. 2. You probably can’t go wrong with any cake that’s derived from a cookie.
So the year in cakes is done and I have all of… well a few hours to decide next year’s challenge. Wish me luck! In return, I’ll wish you a safe, happy and cake filled 2013.
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