Monday 19 September 2011

Let them have cake


Emboldened by Mise's off-road baking this weekend,
I decided to abandon the recipe books
and see if I couldn't add a little to the culinary canon myself.

I had an idea for a new filling/ icing combo
which would startle and impress the blog world.
So - make a regular sponge cake mix and add plenty of
cocoa powder. I can't give you exact measurements
because I was feeling reckless.
Divide the mixture unequally between two tins.
I lined them out of habit but that was just my old careful id
breaking through. You don't have to.
Don't go smoothing the mixture out too carefully,
you're aiming for a marked slope on each cake half
when it comes out of the tin.
You'll see why later.
After the usual baking time at Gas mark 4
test with a skewer and feel none the wiser
about whether it has cooked all through.
Put it back in the oven for a few more minutes.
Leave to cool and while it cools
attend to the icing /filling.
This requires that you have a catering size tin
of condensed milk in the back of the fridge
and the remains of a jar of Nutella.
Beat the two together.
It froths and turns the colour of the inside of a Mars bar.
Spread a little of this on one cake half and now, 
this is the important bit -
line up your two cake halves
thin edge to thin edge
and pour the rest of the icing over the assembly.
The top half must slide a little
so that the icing can cascade over the side.
If you are doing this on a wire cooling tray
you will have to scoop the overflow back onto the cake.
Don't get any crumby bits into the icing,
you'll ruin the effect.
Et voilà


Cow Pat Cake.™


Tastes as good as it looks.

9 comments:

  1. That'd be a no go here then ... the whippets think cow pats are for rolling in/on ;D Inventive though!

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  2. I was on board with this exciting experiment until it came to the condensed milk and nutella, and then realised that, although we are sisters in skewer bafflement, it is not for me. How about coloured sprinkles on top and 8 hungry, overexcited 7 year olds to eat it?

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  3. Sue... "startled and impressed" that's a good line :-) I would like to have a big wedge of this to try with my morning coffee please Lucille!
    The Time Sculptor

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  4. Now that is baking by the seat of your pants! Love the name.

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  5. The recipe and the name (cow pat-apt, though not so appetizing) made me smile.

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  6. Just HOW laid back are YOU in the cake making stakes???!!! :o)

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  7. I always thought that cakes were supposed to slope, are you telling me they shouldn't?
    Nutella and Condensed Milk, how splendid! I have two French recipe books that may interest you "Nutella et chocolat fondant", and "Nutella les 30 recettes culte"! (I must try and cook from them, not just drool!)

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  8. Oh gosh, condensed milk and nutella? That sounds terribly sweet - I'll bet my husband would eat it willingly, despite the name.
    I loved how you wrote about your 'reckless' cooking experiment.

    I am part way through Durell's "My Family and Other Animals". A friend gave me the set several years ago, and after your recommendation I thought I should finally read it. What a wonderful descriptive writer...and funny! Thanks :)

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  9. Seems to remind me of school dinners, but their chocolate pudding did taste good. I think a piece with morning coffee sounds like a splendid idea.

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