Fifty years of pure joy

Hello sweet reader,

What a wonderful blessing for those who have had the joy of sharing their life for fifty years! My in-laws celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary last fall and I had the honour of making the cake for their celebration.

I can’t say that I did everything because my sister-in-law made the delicate flowers and pearls that gave the final touch to the cake. She used fondant and a lot of patience! She did a beautiful job and the cake was a show stopper.

My job was to come up with the concept for the cake, bake and assemble. I wanted to especially please my in-laws, so I made a lemon and poppy seed cake with a dulce-de-leche filling and vanilla-bean buttercream. My father-in-law loves lemon meringue pie and my mother-in-law is a big fan of poppy seed, so you could say that they’re a match made in heaven! From there, I just added the Latin touch with dulce-de-leche (home-made) and vanilla-bean buttercream.

Making the cake was easy. I baked it two days before and frosted the cakes the day before the event. Then the hard part began, transporting the cake! My husband was not keen on transporting the cake already assembled, so I had to pack up everything into the car. I filled two laundry baskets with all kind of supplies, even ingredients for an extra batch of buttercream in case I needed more, or the cakes got damaged during the trip (about an hour from home). We arrived about 2 hours early so I could work on putting together the cake. As more guests arrived, an audience began to form. Pressure was building up and expectations were getting high!

At the end, everything went better than planned. The cake looked nice, the guests were impressed and my in-laws were happy. Even my husband told me that it was the best cake I have ever made and he still raves about it!

I wish the happy couple many more years of joy together. If I can fill their bellies with sweet creations, then I will be happy too!

Sweet wishes,

Regina

Let's get drunk!

Hello sweet reader,

I apologize for how long this third posting has taken; I could give you five good excuses for the delay but they will be no more than that: excuses.

Therefore, let’s get right into it; let’s get drunk!

This cake is called “Pastel Borracho” which the English translation is “Drunken Cake”. It is made out of a sponge cake soaked in syrup and covered with pastry cream. Very simple and delicious…

I chose to write about this cake as it brings me a lot of memories, and especially because is one of my dad’s favourite cakes. It is a very simple cake and my mom used to make it often. I am not sure of its origin, but I’m sure that the version that I grew up eating is not the original, as my mother made some changes to make it more cost effective and easier.

I remember that in the late 90's she was delivering about 8 to 10 cakes daily to the cafeteria of a factory. Half of them were strawberries and cream cakes and the other half were “Borrachos” (very popular among the factory’s employees).

She used to bake the sponge cake following the traditional recipe. Once it was cooled, she basted it with syrup. The syrup was made as an infusion of cinnamon, star anise, cloves, all spice, sugar and vodka (the syrup had to be cold before she mixed in the alcohol – you don’t want the good stuff to evaporate!)

She placed the cakes in 1-inch deep trays so the “juice” didn’t spill over. She then prepared the pastry cream: fresh milk, fresh eggs, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and another stick of cinnamon. While it was still hot and runny, she poured over the cake and evened it out with a spatula. Then, she sprinkled it with ground cinnamon and let it cool completely before slicing it.

What I did with the cake in the picture was something very similar. I used my mom’s sponge cake, syrup and pastry cream recipes. However, instead of vodka, I used rum and I reduced the amount because it was a cake for my husband’s colleagues. Although I poured the pastry cream as taught, I also reserved a little for the decoration. I let it cool and beat for a couple of minutes until it was nice and fluffy and then I piped it around the top and bottom edges using a star tip.

To be honest, I am not a big fan of the cake but I would make it any time as it is easy, tasty and a great conversation piece… especially if booze gets you talking!

Sweet wishes,

Regina