We had such a busy week and weekend... lots of work, organizing, cleaning, etc. You'd think I was pregnant from all of the "nesting" behavior! Maybe I'm just nesting for all of you who are expecting! Anyway, I just can't believe that January is already over, and maybe that's why I've been in such a frenzied mood - so much to do and the days are just flying by! One of the things I wanted to do this year was to bake the "cakes of the month" from the January issue of Martha Stewart Living. I thought that I could bake each of the cakes in the appropriate month, and then post a review of sorts for anyone who might be interested. No, this isn't going to become a food/baking blog - but I thought it could be fun to go through the cakes each month. So, in order to meet the January cake deadline, it was this weekend or never!
The January cake was a Meyer Lemon Cake that sounded delicious. Both Jerry and I love lemon desserts, so we figured this one was a sure hit. But, we had some math to do first... the recipes were to make a gorgeous triple tier cake suitable for a wedding. We certainly didn't need that much cake around for the 3 of us, and I certainly didn't want to make that many cakes! So, I divided the recipe by a huge amount to make just one half of one 10" square cake (each tier is made up of 2 square cakes sliced in half for a total of 4 layers per tier!). This was not an easy project: the recipes required making the cake, a lemon syrup to soak the cake, lemon curd as the filling, and buttercream to frost the whole deal! I finished each of the components late last night and quickly (not artfully!) assembled the cake. We had our first sampling last night, and I have to say it was not as good as I had hoped. Overall, the cake was too sweet, and not lemony enough. The lemon curd was fantastic, but I think the buttercream should have been lemon flavored as well. Neither Jerry or I wanted all of the buttercream (we left piles on our plates), but we wanted more of the tangy curd. Here's what our slices looked like:
So, my recommendation is to make some trusty lemon bars if you're craving something lemony for dessert. This recipe was too much work for the less than fantastic results. Of course if someone else had slaved over it, I probably would have liked it more! But, I will say that the lemon curd recipe was really good, and the buttercream recipe was much easier than others I've tried - I'll use this again, but probably flavor it with a complimentary flavor...
I never cared for lemon desserts, but Meyer lemons are SO delicious. I used to have a Meyer lemon tree in my backyard.
Posted by: persephone | January 30, 2006 at 06:02 PM
i love lemon desserts! thanks for the review, i wont bother with the math and work. it really surprised me that she didnt print the recipes for individual cakes as well as the gigantic wedding ones. tisk, tisk. i think i could just eat lemon curd by the spoonfull...is that gross?
Posted by: hannah | January 30, 2006 at 06:56 PM
Lemon curd...buttercream...lemon syrup....my mouth is watering. Looks delicious, worth the work looking at it from my end.
Posted by: Blair | January 30, 2006 at 07:05 PM
That is so funny--I was going to do that cake of the month thing, too! Great podners think alike ...
Posted by: Mariko | January 30, 2006 at 08:27 PM
Good for you for making it before the end of the month! Sorry to hear that it was disappointing. I'd probably go for lemon bars, too!
Posted by: molly | January 30, 2006 at 10:24 PM
one word: yum.
Posted by: lisa | January 30, 2006 at 10:39 PM
What a great review! Your plate looks delicious:-) I have been sighing over the recipes in the January Martha Stewart, so now I know where to go to find out if it's worth all the work to make them. Thanks for all YOUR hard work!
Posted by: Susan | January 31, 2006 at 04:10 AM
a nice raspberry syrup would be better than buttercream frosting.
Posted by: KiWi | January 31, 2006 at 08:34 AM
mmm...lemony goodness! i like KiWi's suggestion of raspberry syrup.
btw, i'm a schmuck and never let you know how dang cute 'pick a posey' is! it is adorable--so soft, sweet and expertly stitched :)
hugs! ani
Posted by: ani | January 31, 2006 at 09:55 AM
I like this idea of baking the cake of the month each month - sort of a Julie and Julia thing, but much less intense. I love to bake cakes and decorate them, too, so I'm looking forward to seeing your posts!
Posted by: abbyjane | January 31, 2006 at 11:40 AM