Graham Cracker Torte
I had a major baking fail. Let's just call it... The Cake Pops Conundrum. I won't go into all the dirty details, as there were several and they were all very dirty. But I will leave you with some cake pop "tips" and very important pieces of advice-
1. "The arrogant army will lose the battle for sure." - Some old guy
Yes, this is probably only relevant to Confucius and myself. But, it's safe to assume that when you think you're "hot in the kitchen", you're probably also going to make a hot mess.
2. "Pint of frosting does not a cake pop make" - Madonna
Basically, what this is really saying is add a small amount of frosting to the cake pops when making them. If you add all of the frosting you made (and you made quite a lot), you will have cake pop frosting. I promise, you're friends will find this wayyyy less cool than cake pops.
3. "The store of groceries giveth us Whole-Wheat bread and Corn Flakes. These shall not be added to the pops of cake." - Flavor Flav
If you do end up getting "cake pop frosting" (see #2), don't go rooting through your kitchen for stuff to thicken it. You'll just end up with cake pop frosting with bread and cereal mixed in. Then you'll feel really dumb for thinking it would have worked in the first place.
4. "The wise man will start over instead of beating a dead horse/cake pop." - Abraham Lincoln
Once you've added all those "tasty mixins" (see #3), there is no going back.
5. "When preparing cake pops, round two - it may be a sign of trouble when the oven doesn't work for you." - Dr. Seuss
If your oven starts to beep erratically and not heat up, call a friend, or a handyman, or James Taylor. Your second batch of cake (or first, if you're not me) will not cook in the oven by osmosis. I tried, I failed.
6. "When all else fails, duct tape, WD-40, and a microwave will fix your problems" - The Dalai Lama
Okay, you caught me, I added the microwave part, but the Dalai Lama said everything else. Plus, it totally worked. I cooked cake, in a bowl (about 5 batches worth) in the micro. Yeah, I'm crafty like that.
So, you can see I definitely had a time making these pesky little treats. Feeling completely defeated, I thought of this unusual graham cracker torte to cheer me up.
It has a lightly sweetened cake, studded with walnuts. There is a delicate bed of whipped cream over the cake layers which is topped with a rich and citrusy caramel sauce. It's a keeper. I'd love to try it again sans nuts and perhaps with a layer of marshmallow cream and chocolate sauce instead of the whipped cream and caramel.
This totes beats out cake pops. I promise.
Last Year: Summer Strawberry-Peach Cake
Graham Cracker Torte
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
For Torte:
- 6 eggs, separated
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (a little less than two sleeves of graham crackers)
For Caramel Sauce:
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 well beaten egg
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 cup brown sugar
For Assembly
- 1 pint heavy cream
Method
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Beat egg yolks until light and frothy. Add sugar, baking powder and vanilla and continue to beat until very thick and pale in color. Set aside.
3. Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into egg yolks and then fold in the nuts and graham cracker crumbs.
4. Divide batter into two WELL GREASED 9-inch cake pans and bake for 35 minutes. Let cool before turning cakes out of pans onto plates or a counter top.
5. To make the caramel sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepot and bring to a boil whisking the whole time. Don’t stop whisking or the egg will cook and curdle, which isn’t the end of the world (you won’t really be able to notice after you assemble the torte) but it can be prevented by whisking constantly until the sauce is very thick and boiling. Remove sauce from heat and let cool completely.
6. To assemble the torte, whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Spread whipped cream between graham cracker layers and over the top of the torte. Pour on the cooled caramel sauce and it let drip down the sides.
Recipe from Eat Live Run