TWD: Berry Surprise Cake

A couple weeks ago when we baked the French Pear Tart for Tuesdays With Dorie, I lamented the fact that we weren’t baking the Perfect Party Cake, as it was my birthday that week. This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie choice, Berry Surprise Cake, would have done nicely too, so I consider this a late birthday treat for myself. I didn’t care that berries are out of season or that this cake has a ton of rich cream; I was excited to bake a cake since there hasn’t been a single cake (except cheesecake, which I skipped) chosen since I joined TWD in November and I love white/yellow cakes.



I read the P&Q on the TWD site and was well aware that a lot of bakers were getting sunken cakes. I followed the instructions in the book and tips from others very carefully, and ended up with a pretty short cake. I actually bought a new cake pan for this recipe, since I did not have an 8x3” cake pan. However, my cake came nowhere near three inches; I may have well just used the pan I had. I ended up making a second cake the next morning – again short – and put the two of them together for the finished product.





I used Neufchâtel rather than cream cheese for the filling, and also added some extra sugar and a bit of meyer lemon juice. Raspberries were rather expensive (and from Mexico) at Whole Foods, but I bought them anyway since the cake sounded delightful as described in the book. I do wish I had bought some blueberries, as it would have made a festive Inauguration Day photo.



And now for the Monster Cuisine section of this blog. Since I can’t resist writing about my adorable dog Eloise (aka “Ms. Ears”or, when in one of her hyperactive moods, “Monster”), I have decided to introduce this new feature. It’s tenuously related, as she loves food and is increasingly spending more time in the kitchen with me. We had identified her favorite foods as chicken and bread (especially baguettes), but after this baking experience, I would add cream to the list. She even managed to sneak some of Mr. Penpen’s cake last night when we irresponsibly had our backs turned for an entire minute. Luckily he was almost done, not to mention it was his second piece of the day.



I gave this recipe a 9 for D and a 4 for E, giving it an EDR of 2.25. Thank you to Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen for choosing a laborious but very delicious recipe. You can find the recipe for Berry Surprise Cake on Mary Ann’s site, and you can see all the other bakers’ “surprises” via the TWD blogroll.