Monday, November 23, 2009

Catalan Salt Pinch Cake


Everytime I looked at the title of this cake I couldn't help but feel it would be salty and it never appealed to me. A salty cake.........no thanks. Of course there is no salt in this cake at all. The word salt refers to the city Salt. I would never have made this cake had I not signed up for Marie's bake-through.

I read a few of the other bakers' reviews and wasn't too keen to make it. However, I went ahead with it. Kind of like doing a home assignment that you really don't like doing. I just went through with it. I admit I didn't put my heart and soul into it. It wasn't a difficult cake to make. One positive thing was that I didn't really have to go through the mis-en-place stage. There's plenty of time to do it as you go along because of the lengthy whipping time. I didn't even prepare the pan before I started. I even had time to make a quick snack for my daughter.

What I did different: I made a 6" cake and I didn't use the lemon zest. I used 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 1/4 tsp of almond extract.

I put the cake in the oven and kept my fingers crossed hoping it would by some miracle turn out better than what I was expecting. It baked in 35 minutes. When I took it out I realized that the recipe called for a springform pan and I had baked it in a regular cake pan. Obviously I couldn't release the sides of the pan. What to do????? I just unmolded it like a regular cake and inverted it. See, I told you I didn't put my heart and soul into baking this one. I then took some pictures even though it didn't look great. Then the moment of truth. I tasted it and it wasn't bad. It was light and very moist. I think the almond extract made it more flavourful. It was not easy to cut it so we used forks to break off pieces of it.

Verdict: I don't think I'll make this again. Not only because of the cake itself but because of how I felt. I felt like an evil step-mother. This cake didn't get the love and attention I usually give my other cakes :(

5 comments:

  1. It doesn't look half-bad, Rozanne! I like your account of making it,at least you weren't disappointed with it, it was better than you thought so that can't be bad! Jeannette

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  2. Hi Rozanne - I think your version turned out wonderfully! I like the idea of adding the almond extract to enhance the almond flavor, and I really like how tall your cake looks! Did it sink much in the middle?

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  3. Rozanne, even though you didn't put in the "heart", your cake still looks great! It sounds like it has an unusual texture, must be interesting to try (I'll admit, as a confirmed sponge cake fan, I'm curious to try this cake).
    Julie

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  4. Hi Rozanne, When I first came upon your picture of this little cake, I was delighted to see it, looking so beautiful, tall and moist. I hope that it was, even though it wasn't your fav. I decided to skip baking it because I was just catching up and I made the Hungarian Torta. I guess pinching pieces off was what was meant to happen. I love the idea of a little 6 inch cake. As always, everything you do is so beautiful! joan

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  5. We miss you in the baking group... hope to see you back soon.


    :)
    ButterYum

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