It's a cake, but not as you know it . . .

The rain may be pelting down outside my window but that's ok, coz here inside Oak Cottage it's Tuesday, and we all know what that means . . . that means Tuesdays With Dorie, and that means that there's a delicious baked goodie sitting somewhere in this kitchen of mine, tempting my lips and hips to dig in for just one - more - bite!



Welcome to the October 7th edition of Tuesdays With Dorie, the weekly baking event whereupon several hundred or more Baking Aficionados the world over get together and bake one delicious recipe, the same delicious recipe, from that wonderful baking book, Baking, from my home to yours, by the lovely Dorie Greenspan.



I was really excited about this week's recipe, because it presented me with a huge challenge. This week, Tammy of Wee Treats by Tammy has chosen, Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake on pages 264 and 265. You might think, where's the challenge in that? Well . . . I have a husband who HATES chocolate cakes. He absolutely LOATHES chocolate cakes in any way shape or form. We are like Jack Sprat and his wife in an odd sort of way. He loves chocolate milk, candy and ice cream and I hate it, well except for the candy that is. I love chocolate cakes, muffins and brownies, and he hates them. He will force himself to eat a brownie from time to time but they're not his favourite thing. Therein lay my quandary . . . what to do. Bake a chocolate brownie cake that I knew only myself would be eating? Go to the expense of baking a cake that I knew only myself would be tempted to eat partially with the remainder going to waste and ending up in the bin??? As I looked into the mirror at my ever widening hips, and thought about the ever increasing cost of food . . . I knew I could not . . . what to do . . . what to do . . . I so very much wanted to participate . . . and then the light bulb went on!!



I would bake a white chocolate brownie cake! And that's just what I did. I adapted the recipe somewhat and used white chocolate instead of the chocolate chocolate and it turned out just lovely, albeit somewhat more cakey than brownie-ee.



I decided not to use peanuts in my topping either as neither one of us is overly fond of peanuts and I really thought toasted walnuts would go a lot better with the white chocolate cake base and so I banged some walnuts into the oven and toasted them before proceeding with the topping. I have always been hit and miss with making caramel. I either wait too long and it gets burnt or I don't cook it long enough and it's pathetically light. I am happy to say that this time I managed to get it just right and we were rewarded with a lovely rich and creamy caramel topping to dress the top of the cake with a yummy bit leftover to spoon over some ice cream at a later date.



Thanks so much Tammy for picking a recipe that allowed me to stretch my imagination that little bit further. One day I will make the chocolate version, but at a time when I shall have some other bodies around to help me eat it!



Next week's recipe will be Lenox Almond Biscotti on page 141-143, as chosen by Gretchen of Canela & Comino . Oh boy, I love Biscotti! If you would like to see some other creations as baked by the group please stop by the Tuesday's with Dorie Blogroll and check them out! It's always so exciting each week to look at all the different interpretations and see what we each have done with the recipe, oh and, if you want the recipe check out Tammy's page!

In the meantime I shall give you the recipe for the White Chocolate Cake:



*White Chocolate Fudge Cake*
Serves 12 to 16

100g bar of white chocolate, broken into chunks
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
4 ounces white sugar
2 large eggs
2 TBS milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
5 ounces self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350*F/180*F. Place the white chocolate bits into a small bowl and then set it on top of a pan of barely simmering water. Heat until the chocolate melts, stirring from time to time and then set aside.

Lightly grease a 6 inch loose bottomed cake tin and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric whisk. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla and 2 TBS of the flour and whisk again until light. Sieve in the remaining flour and baking powder. Fold this in with a metal spoon. Stir in the melted chocolate.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake in the pre-heated oven, on a middle oven rack, for about 50 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched with your fingertips or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin before turning out and topping with either the caramel from Dorie's recipe or the following Fudge icing, which is equally as good.

*White Chocolate Fudge Icing*
Enough to top one cake

100g bar of chocolate, broken into chunks
3 1/2 ounces of condensed milk
3 1/2 ounces icing sugar, sifted

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water as before. When melted mix in the condensed milk and icing sugar until smooth. Spread about 1/4 of this over the warm cake while it is still in the tin. When the cake is completely cool, remove completely from the tin and spread with the remaining icing. If the icing is a bit too firm to spread by that time, just re-warm it for a few seconds on medium heat in the microwave.

PSSST!!! If you want to buy the book and join the baking group, don't forget that you only have until the 31st of October to do so, after which the group will be capped and future members will have to wait until someone dies or leaves the group in order to join!