Cake Cake Cake Cake Cake
September 16, 2015 3:06 PM Subscribe
My partner's birthday is on Saturday. I am still trying to figure out what cake I should bake for him. HALP.
I would like to make a cake for my partner that is super tasty and maybe a little edgy/experimental. The cake should ideally be based on flavors from one (or several?) of his favorite desserts: key lime pie, lemon meringue, chocolate chip cookies, rhubarb pie, actually pretty much any fruit pie except strawberry, brownies. He is not a fan of coconut shavings, and has a significant allergy to peanut butter (like jars of the stuff can't be opened near him or he'll immediately react).
What should I bake?
Bonus Round: suggestions for free, interesting, quirky things that I can do to make his birthday special.
Thank you!
I would like to make a cake for my partner that is super tasty and maybe a little edgy/experimental. The cake should ideally be based on flavors from one (or several?) of his favorite desserts: key lime pie, lemon meringue, chocolate chip cookies, rhubarb pie, actually pretty much any fruit pie except strawberry, brownies. He is not a fan of coconut shavings, and has a significant allergy to peanut butter (like jars of the stuff can't be opened near him or he'll immediately react).
What should I bake?
Bonus Round: suggestions for free, interesting, quirky things that I can do to make his birthday special.
Thank you!
Google Christina Tosi birthday cake, and check out all her recipes- I think it's the Arnold Palmer that has lemon curd. She does some amazing combinations and those and a few of her techniques like flavored soaks, can make it very special.
posted by TenaciousB at 3:22 PM on September 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by TenaciousB at 3:22 PM on September 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Crepe cake? Like, you could do this, but lemon meringue.
posted by clavicle at 3:35 PM on September 16, 2015
posted by clavicle at 3:35 PM on September 16, 2015
Seconding TenaciousB! You can find Christina Tosi's Milk Bar recipes here. She uses several of the combinations that you are looking for and the layers and fillings are easily customisable to your taste. You can also simplify them a little to save time if you wish - use bought lemon curd, jams etc. I also don't bother with the freezing step. I don't get such perfect sides when I just refridgerate, but the cake still looks great.
posted by sizeable beetle at 3:55 PM on September 16, 2015
posted by sizeable beetle at 3:55 PM on September 16, 2015
Allrecipes.com has several recipes for lemon and lime cakes. Maybe something incorporating a layer of each?
posted by brujita at 4:02 PM on September 16, 2015
posted by brujita at 4:02 PM on September 16, 2015
You can go full metafilter and bake a chai spice cake. I know chai spice isn't any of the things you listed there but it's 1) unusual and 2) so good. dejah420 posted her recipe in that thread, but I've made it myself a few times and played around with it a bit, and this is my tweak.
Cute sugar bees and cake ruiners are entirely optional.
posted by phunniemee at 4:06 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Cute sugar bees and cake ruiners are entirely optional.
posted by phunniemee at 4:06 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
How about a rainbow cake where each colour is a different flavour. He likes rhubarb, lemon and lime so that takes care of red, yellow and green. Just need to think of flavours for orange, indigo and violet..
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:41 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:41 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Thin layers of almond sponge with lime curd (for the key lime pie) and raspberry jam (for the fruit pie), with a dollop of rhubarb flavored whipped cream or a rhubarb gelée.
posted by thirdletter at 4:49 PM on September 16, 2015
posted by thirdletter at 4:49 PM on September 16, 2015
Lemon cake with chocolate frosting is my favorite flavor combo.
posted by rakaidan at 4:56 PM on September 16, 2015
posted by rakaidan at 4:56 PM on September 16, 2015
I'm hearing a lot about lemon blueberry for cakes. I don't have a recipe to recommend but there are tons out there :)
posted by getawaysticks at 5:31 PM on September 16, 2015
posted by getawaysticks at 5:31 PM on September 16, 2015
(Oops -- my answer is a little off-topic. I thought you'd said "actually pretty much anything," not "actually pretty much any fruit pie." Sorry I don't have a fruit suggestion for you!)
posted by slidell at 6:06 PM on September 16, 2015
posted by slidell at 6:06 PM on September 16, 2015
A white cake with lemon curd and raspberry mousse (or raspberry jam and lemon mousse) would be delicious, but not particularly experimental.
How about a slab pie?
posted by chickenmagazine at 6:20 PM on September 16, 2015
How about a slab pie?
posted by chickenmagazine at 6:20 PM on September 16, 2015
I think it's the Arnold Palmer that has lemon curd
The strawberry lemon cake does too, and I have successfully made variants with raspberry, rhubarb (with strawberry) and gooseberry. I think it would be great with doubled lemon curd/no liquid cheesecake, a non-strawberry fruit, and a layer of meringue on top instead of the milk crumbs--which, despite being somewhat of a Milk Bar signature, are actually my least favorite part.
The last few times I made it, I skipped the "make pickled strawberry jam" step, which doesn't seem to add much if your fruit is more sour and more flavorful than a strawberry already. My theory is that pickled strawberry jam is a way to compensate for watery, bland strawberries, much like the old trick of adding a tsp. of balsamic vinegar to bring out their flavor.
posted by pullayup at 7:12 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
The strawberry lemon cake does too, and I have successfully made variants with raspberry, rhubarb (with strawberry) and gooseberry. I think it would be great with doubled lemon curd/no liquid cheesecake, a non-strawberry fruit, and a layer of meringue on top instead of the milk crumbs--which, despite being somewhat of a Milk Bar signature, are actually my least favorite part.
The last few times I made it, I skipped the "make pickled strawberry jam" step, which doesn't seem to add much if your fruit is more sour and more flavorful than a strawberry already. My theory is that pickled strawberry jam is a way to compensate for watery, bland strawberries, much like the old trick of adding a tsp. of balsamic vinegar to bring out their flavor.
posted by pullayup at 7:12 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Check out the cakes from the Great British Bake Off - there are some really cool ones. Google will probably help you find more of the show featured cakes than available on the official site.
posted by troytroy at 7:20 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by troytroy at 7:20 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I came to recommend the Guinness Cake - I like a lot of the things your partner does, mine made that cake for me this year, and it was amazing.
posted by namewithoutwords at 7:48 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by namewithoutwords at 7:48 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I am not sure how much of a sense of humor we are speaking of, but Kitty Litter Cake would certainly hit some of the criteria.
posted by worlddisciple at 3:45 AM on September 17, 2015
posted by worlddisciple at 3:45 AM on September 17, 2015
You said edgy/experimental - how about courgette cake? There's a frosted lemon courgette cake recipe here.
posted by tinkletown at 5:40 AM on September 17, 2015
posted by tinkletown at 5:40 AM on September 17, 2015
I'm not a huge fan of traditional cakes, so my friend made me a rhubarb cake for my birthday last weekend, and it was amazing!
Serve warm with icecream on top for best results.
posted by mayonnaises at 7:11 AM on September 17, 2015
Serve warm with icecream on top for best results.
posted by mayonnaises at 7:11 AM on September 17, 2015
Key lime cheesecake topped with dark chocolate shavings and candied lime peel, ala Martha Stewart and Epicurious.
posted by Catenation at 11:52 AM on September 17, 2015
posted by Catenation at 11:52 AM on September 17, 2015
Response by poster: I'd mark all of your answers as best answers, but I think that might be against the rules. Thank you!
I'm going to take a combination of your answers and make: a white layer cake* partitioned by lemon curd, and either a raspberry or blueberry frosting. I'm going to get the fruity stuff tomorrow and test-taste the combinations before I decide on the frosting. But you've provided a ton of cake ideas that I can use for the holidays or when I feel like surprising my partner, and all of them sound delicious. Especially the Guiness cake, which we've had before and would gladly have seconds of. Thank you again.
*I had forgotten in the moment, but I actually used that white cake recipe to make cupcakes for a friend's barbecue (and used rosewater frosting), and got a TON of positive feedback.
posted by Ashen at 9:05 PM on September 17, 2015
I'm going to take a combination of your answers and make: a white layer cake* partitioned by lemon curd, and either a raspberry or blueberry frosting. I'm going to get the fruity stuff tomorrow and test-taste the combinations before I decide on the frosting. But you've provided a ton of cake ideas that I can use for the holidays or when I feel like surprising my partner, and all of them sound delicious. Especially the Guiness cake, which we've had before and would gladly have seconds of. Thank you again.
*I had forgotten in the moment, but I actually used that white cake recipe to make cupcakes for a friend's barbecue (and used rosewater frosting), and got a TON of positive feedback.
posted by Ashen at 9:05 PM on September 17, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you want experimental, you could try chocolate cake instead of the usual sponge or white cake.
posted by prewar lemonade at 3:19 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]