Dear Dorie,
I love your Midnight Crackle cookies. When you met my friend, Leora, in Paris, you couldn't have been nicer. You're friends with my culinary hero, Ina Garten.
So, when you wrote on p. 184 of Baking that I'd be "struck by the urge to pin a big blue ribbon" on your Double Apple Bundt Cake because it "looks, smells and tastes as though it would take first prize in a county fair," I knew that this cake was the one that would transform my Rosh Hashanah dinner from good to great.
Dorie, I regret to say that I feel completely bamboozled! The cake might be delicious. My guests will never know. I followed your directions: buttering the pan, peeling apples, buying apple butter, making sure the butter was room temperature. And then, after allowing the pan to cool for 5 minutes (as recommended), I flipped the bundt pan for the moment of truth. And . . . only half the cake come out of the pan.
Maybe it was me. Maybe I should have let the cake cool for longer. Maybe I shouldn't have floured the bundt pan. Maybe my apples were large, not medium.
After all, this is the season of forgiveness. I will try to ice the cake and salvage the dessert. I will head to Whole Foods and buy another dessert. I will realize it was folly to try to impress a Paris-trained pastry chef.
And next year, I will make a Barefoot Contessa dessert or maybe something from the Beth El cookbook.
L'shana tova,
SherriLynn
1 comment:
aaaaaaaaaaaa - what a sad story!! The recipe - and your execution - sound flawless - I wonder what went wrong?? Great telling of the story. I frequently try new recipes when entertaining too, yet it goes against conventional wisdom - here's a cautionary tale I guess. Poor you.
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