I do love cake.  It’s one of my most favorite things – besides pies and cookies.  And ice cream.  Let’s face it, dessert in general is my most favorite meal.

I decided a yellow cake was in order for tonight.  It’s been a while since I made one.  I reached for my Better Homes and Gardens standby and then decided I wanted something else.  I quick search on Epicurious brought up more variations than I wanted or needed.  I went for one of the first ones listed.

Whenever I go to Epicurious, one of the first things I do is read the comments people leave about the recipes.  It’s absolutely amazing what some people will write.  My favorites are always the folks who didn’t follow any instructions, substituted half the ingredients, and then state it was the worst recipe they had ever made. (Well, duh.)  Or the pompous folks who will go to a hollandaise sauce recipe and then expound for pages on how evil butter and eggs are.  (Uh… this ain’t Vegan Times…)  They’re just silly.  This particular recipe had over 100 comments – and a lot of them were about how dry the cake was and how quickly the cake baked – nowhere near the 45 or so minutes of the recipe.  I’ll bet that not one of them used the 8″ pans the recipe calls for.

Of course, I didn’t either.  I did use 8″ pans, but I used 8″ square pans.  We all know from math class that an 8″ square has more volume than an 8″ circle.  And since I knew from the beginning that I was changing things,  I adjusted accordingly.  It’s not brain surgery.

Moist Yellow Cake

Epicurious | August 2004

Ingredients

• 3 cups (330 g) cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces or 230 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups (454 g) granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups (10 fluid ounces or 300 ml) buttermilk

preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and line with parchment paper two 8×2-inch (20×5-cm) pans. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Cut up the butter into 1-inch pieces and place them in the large bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or beaters. Beat for 3 minutes on MEDIUM-HIGH speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for an additional 60 seconds.

4.Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time.

5. Reduce the mixer speed. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a knife. Lift up the pan with the batter, and let it drop onto the counter top to burst any air bubbles, allowing the batter to settle.

7.Center the pans onto the lower third of the oven and let bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is lightly brown on top and comes away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I doubt I shall be winning any awards for neatness in cake-slicing this week, but I don’t care.  What it lacks in picture-perfectness, it more than makes up for in taste.

It was good.  No matter what they wrote.

Since we actually had to leave the house this afternoon, we decided dinner at the diner was in order.  Considering how seldom we actually eat out, this was almost a big deal.

I kept tossing greasy cheeseburger and club house sandwich back and forth.  Either would have been fine, but I finally decided I can make a pretty good greasy cheeseburger at home any time.  I seldom make a club.  As the picture attests, the club won.

It didn’t disappoint.  Three slices of rye toast with turkey, bacon, iceberg lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.  Thick steak fries, cole slaw, and a pickle.  And coffee.  Ya gotta have coffee at the diner.

Victor opted for this weird east coast concoction called a Corned Beef Special. It’s a hot corned beef sandwich on rye, with cole slaw and dressing on it.  Not grilled, cold cabbage.  I don’t get it.   Then again, I wasn’t eating it.  I don’t have to.

I was a good boy and didn’t finish it all.  Weigh-in tomorrow.

And we still have madeleines…..

The chicken I roasted Sunday has given forth another meal – a chicken salad salad.  This was actually a planned meal – not something I often do.  But when I roasted the chicken Sunday, I planned at least 2 more meals from it – a salad and a soup.  The carcass is simmering as I type.

The chicken salad was your basic – chicken, onion, celery, pickle, salt and pepper, bound with mayonnaise.  I put a big ol’ scoop into a tomato I sliced in eighths and set on a bed of mixed greens.  I then added cheese and garlic tortolloni, blackberries, and Victor made a simple vinaigrette.  A loaf of bulgur whole wheat bread finished off the meal.  And me.

And lest anyone thing we’ve totally lost our minds and are eating a whole loaf of bread every night…  Not exactly true.  I’m making 10-12oz boules.  We each get a few slices at dinner, and Victor has sandwich bread for lunch the following day.

I am loving the weather change.  I lovelovelove snow, but I love warm even more.  Salads are really making me smile.

And so is the fresh-baked bread.

Tonight’s loaf  was the whole wheat dough with about 1/4 cup of bulgur wheat mixed in and sprinkled on top.  And roasted garlic butter to spread on the warm slices.

There is just nothing better…