Oct 03, 2012
I love/hate this cake, which I’ll have to call my Ugly Duckling Cake. The instructions for assembly just didn’t work for me – nor did my alternative, tho’ I believe it’s the better of the two options. The common problem with both methods is that there’s just not enough batter to divide in half and “spread.” If you “spread” enough batter to cover the bottom there’s not NEARLY enough to “spread” on the top. I added the blueberries to the batter rather than in two layers, and it would have been an even bigger nightmare to “spread” had I not. As I tried to “spread” the second half of the batter, the batter took the topping WITH the offset spatula. I tried my best I but I nearly pitched the whole thing in sheer frustration and disappointment. But I figured I had nothing more to lose except the cost of the electricity to bake this mess. Topping it with the remaining cinnamon mixture camouflaged the disaster underneath, but I was anxious to see what it looked like inside. It took longer to bake than indicated, and now I’m calling this a complete and total failure. I let it cool, cut into the slightly overbrowned topping, carelessly plopped a piece of the cake onto a plate and tasted…. it was heaven. Moist, buttery rich, with a sweet and flavorful, cinnamony topping. No, I’m not throwing this out. No way. It might not meet my standards in terms of prettiness for Hubs to take to a meeting tomorrow as planned, but we’ll enjoy every crumb of this difficult and ugly cake.
—naples34102
