I haven’t baked a cake in a long time, for one reason, then another. Lately, it’s been because I’m not supposed to have butter and eggs. It’s easier not to eat them if they aren’t in the house. But it’s finally feeling like fall and getting dark earlier, so I thought it would be nice to bake in the evenings again.
This meant a trip to the store, as all of my supplies were long past their use by date. So off I go to the store. Ah ha! It’s baking season, all right. Flour, sugar, spices, everything is on sale. I stroll the baking aisle like someone returning to their native land after a long absence. What’s this? Ooh, when did they start doing that? What happened to the peanut butter chips? Mint chips? Even the cappuccino chips have disappeared. On the other hand, when did they come out with raspberry extract? Crystalized lemon and lime powder? When did superfine sugar become cheaper than regular sugar? I have the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe, what if I substituted the vanilla with raspberry? Mmm, chocolate raspberry oatmeal cookies!
I wander off through the rest of the store, finally noticing at the check stand that I am both the oldest person in the store and the only person not purchasing something that requires ID. Wow, I didn’t know you could *get * that many cases of beer into a single cart. Is it that late already? Apparently. I guess I won’t be baking tonight after all. It will take too long for the ingredients to come to room temperature.
The whole next day, I put off making the cake, making excuse after excuse. I read the “latest” Georgette Heyer, Venetia, and was disappointed. It is far too modern for my taste, published in 1958. I prefer her older novels. Give me The Devil’s Cub or A Civil Contract any day.
I bound off my cabled scarf and read up on what’s happening in the knitting world. Ooh, the cashmere scandal continues and it’s getting nasty out there, with claims and counter-claims and competing lab tests. I think the only way this will be resolved is via lawsuit. The phrase “class action” has been mentioned. Both of the accused yarn lines are notorious for inconsistent quality anyway, even though one does have really magnificent color ways, so I’m not too surprised that what’s on the label isn’t what’s really in the yarn. Why someone would pay a premium for yarn with only 10% cashmere is a completely separate question, but to replace the purported cashmere with acrylic? And then to market that exact same yarn, properly labeled wool/acrylic, at the hobby stores at a much-reduced price? That IS a dirty trick. I had no idea there was such a thing as the Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute, yet it was apparently created just for this reason a couple of decades ago. [del]Lying about[/del] Misrepresenting cashmere or camel hair content is apparently a good way to make a quick buck. The cashmere scandal seems to have swept yarn price-fixing completely into the background, though.
Back to cake. I was going to make my favorite Orange Poppyseed Cake, but chickened out. I decided on a pound cake instead. Pound cake is simple, and if it doesn’t rise, who’ll know? It’s pound cake, it’s supposed to be heavy. Then I had a brainstorm. Raspberry Almond Pound Cake! It went together smoothly, the batter silky smooth and rich with butter. It went nicely into the bundt pan and I popped it into the oven. Over the next hour, the house filled with the aroma of raspberries, almonds and butter. It came out of the oven beautifully, and popped out of the pan without hesitation. I’ll be having it for breakfast, so you’ll have to wait until then to find out what it tastes like. In the meantime, here’s some pictures. I have plenty if anybody wants to try it.
