Tuesday was my sister Betsy's 40th birthday! My mom and I were on the phone, and she said she was planning to make one of her "old standby" cakes. I chastised her for always bringing the same ol' same ol' in the desserts department, even though her "old standbys" are always delicious. I said I would make a NEW kind of cake, the likes of which OUR FAMILY HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED.



I looked through recipe files and books, seeking inspiration and delicious ideas. I was so excited to make and eat a NEW cake! I selected this Blackberry Brown Sugar Cake from epicurious as a jumping-off point, making, of course, many changes along the way (most notably, exchanging the blackberries for strawberries.) Sounds great, right? This was exciting! I was really putting my pastry chef skills and obscure kitchen tools to use!

I cut up three cubes of butter for a fluffy homemade meringue buttercream!


I made jam from scratch!


I even busted out a silpat and a weird specialty spatula I haven't used in 5 years!

And then... drum roll please... the cake was like TOTALLY not that great! First of all, there was soooo not enough frosting to cover the whole thing. Hence the strawberries had to be rationed all along the top so you couldn't tell how threadbare the icing was. Also, it was craaaaazy lopsided, despite my best efforts (most of which involved a combination of smooshing and creative structural strawberry placement.) Then, it kind of tasted like layers of toast with butter and jam, because the buttercream was insanely buttery, not like good buttery, just, like, butter. Which is not the result I was looking for after spending 2 hours on this project and dirtying out every bowl and measuring spoon and mixer attachment and oddly-shaped spatula in my kitchen. And I was like... am I over? Is all my professional kitchen cred out the window? But no- one has to experiment to grow and learn. And what I learned, which I kind of already knew, is that as much as I don't want her to be, my mom is (almost) always RIGHT. There you go. Happy, Mom? I admitted it.

So, there are 2 morals to this tragicomedic tale:

1. Not all recipes work out well, even if they're being made by a "trained professional" who used to get paid to cook for fancy people. Sometimes recipes just don't work out. It's not you. Or maybe it is you. Who cares?!? Keep trying. Keep experimenting. It happens to everyone. Don't be intimidated. It's just food! Gloriously ephemeral food.

2. And remember, kids, you should always listen to your mother and make one of her old standbys, like this Chocolate Truffle Torte, that is incidentally far easier to make AND which wows the crowd every single time, as it did this weekend at another gathering. For when it comes to food, if it's really great, then familiarity need not breed contempt. Because THIS cake right here, now THIS cake is definitely worth making. I oughta know. I've eaten it about a million times and it's damn fine every time!




"Mom Is Always Right" Chocolate Truffle Torte

Ingredients:

• 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 6 Tblsp butter
• 2 Tblsp sugar
• 2 tsp flour
• 1 tsp hot water
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs, separated
• pinch of salt
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 Tblsp powdered sugar
• seasonal fruit

Method:

• Melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler.
• Add sugar, flour, hot water, 2 tsp vanilla, and stir.
• Remove from heat and whisk in egg yolks, one at a time. Cool mixture to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 425.
• Whip the egg whites to stiff peak and fold into the chocolate mixture.
• Pour into an 8 or 9 inch buttered springform pan and bake for 15 minutes.
• When cooled, make icing by whipping cream cheese to get rid of lumps. Add whipping cream, powdered sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla until icing is stiff but spreadable.
• Top with seasonal fruit as desired.
• You can make this up to 8 hours ahead, even with the icing, and store it in the refrigerator.