Daring Bakers: Has the Fat Lady Sung Yet?

I'm rather pleased with myself. I saw this month's challenge, and decided I was going to turn it into a mother's day cake for Matt's Mom. Which means...I completed the challenge weeks early!

Usually, I'm scrambling the night before, or the day of, to get it done because I schedule too many things in my day without a break (you know what I'm talking about). So having this done ahead of time is a little bright spot for me.



This month's Daring Baker's challenge is an Opera Cake. A light & pretty confection.

And I have to admit I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about it.

I'm not complaining! I'm up for any challenge the DB'ers throw my way. It's just that...well, I've reached a point where I just don't like making Italian buttercream. It's seems rather labor-intensive for something that, in my opinion, isn't worth the effort.

But the cake itself was fine. I used hazelnuts for my 'flour', and the cake layers came out perfectly.

I then used a hazelnut syrup to moisten the cake, which smelled divine. And I did grate white chocolate onto the syrup-soaked layers, as well.

Then on the buttercream. It was...a cooked, egg white based-frosting. And I can't help but let out a sigh whenever it's called for.

This one didn't impress me any more than past recipes, so it didn't exactly change my mind.

I had planned to top the cake with the white chocolate glaze, but I kind of hit a brick wall, creatively. So I stopped, despite that always-tempting brick of Callebaut sitting just a foot or so away.

As I was handing this off to my mother-in-law, I opted for simple yet pretty decorations. Some crystallized violets and roses at the corners, and it was finished.




We dropped off the cake, along with a few other baked goods and sweets I'd made that weekend, on Mother's day.

It's a huge cake, and it's just the two of them. To our total lack of surprise, Matt's mom tried to unload a bit of it on us. But as my two guys had just made a chocolate cake for me, the last thing I needed was more cake in the house!

The report from the in-laws was good. They really, really enjoyed it. And froze a portion of it for later!!

The number of Daring Bakers continues to grow, which means endless interpretations of the cake!
Be sure to stop by and gush at their offerings, too...








Tagged with: Food and Drink + Baking + Cake + Daring Bakers + Buttercream + Opera Cake + Hazelnuts + Genoise + White Chocolate + Mother's Day + Crystallized Flowers