The Oaf of Cakes

Box cakes are disgusting. So is canned frosting. But I am committed to making all 53 cakes in Country Living's Great Cakes: Home-Baked Cakes From the Country Living Kitchen. Why? Because I made a couple cakes from this cookbook years ago and loved them. And you gotta start somewhere.

You know, things never turn out the way I expect them to. If you look at the cookbook pic of this dang cake, then the pic of mine, there is no comparison. Theirs? Large. Luxurious. Swirling with frosting. Mine? Kinda flat, with a glaze of icing. Squished. As in the Oaf of Cakes and not the Ace of Cakes. Here is what happened.

It's hard to find sour cream in Salalah. Usually downright impossible. Every once in awhile I find a pint and grab it. The first time, I bought dried french onion soup and some Lays and ate French Onion dip until I went into a fat induced coma. The second time, I made fish tacos and invited friends over for dinner. Believe me, sour cream is an event here. The third time, I made tacos. This was for company my husband invited for iftar (the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan). Mehdi was impressed with my first fish taco meal and wanted a redux for some Tunisians visiting our fair city. Well guess what? I opened the carton, and the sour cream was curdled and liquefied. Some unRamadany words might have escaped my mouth. The fish tacos were a little flat, but fortunately fasting makes for really un-fussy dinner guests.

This time,  none could be found anywhere! I made the mistake of going to Lulus on a Friday night. I FORGOT this Friday was also payday night and everyone travels from the mountain communities   to stock up on supplies. Lulus at any time is an adventure. An homage to consumerism, Lulus is a "hypermarket" started by a Keralite, and they are all over the Middle East. For a number of Indian families, Friday night at Lulus in an event. Sparkly salwar kameezes are everywhere and lots of coconut oil gets used glossing up the hair. You are better off just slitting your own throat than trying to shop for groceries on payday Friday night. To make matters worse, for the first time since I arrived in Salalah, there was no darn shredded coconut available! For crying out loud! This was part of the filling! I looked at the berzillion people in line and just abandoned my cart. I decided to substitute whipped cream for the sour cream frosting, and just chop some almonds...never mind the coconut. Hence, the cake doesn't resemble the original, except it is in four layers and is a box cake.

Lulus Hypermarket in Salalah. Avoid at all costs on Friday night. It's like Vegas for groceries, and not in a fun "hey let's find the hookers" kinda way. Wait. Ok I won't get into hookers at Lulus. Not today anyway. Boom!

The original cakes as depicted in the cookbook.

My cake. I laugh every time I look at this picture. But it was tasty! We'll see what epic disaster takes place tomorrow. I took the much altered cake to my monthly "foodie club" meeting. We ate it all. What I will do with the next 364 cakes, I have no idea.

Here is the original recipe. I copied it from the website and gave you a link. I seriously can't be bothered to type the whole recipe over again.

Rich Chocolate Layer Cake

• 1 box(es) devil's food cake mix, such as Betty Crocker
• 1/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
• 1 cup(s) mayonnaise, such as Hellmann's or Best Foods
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup(s) water
• 2 container(s) (16 ounces each) chocolate frosting
• 1/4 cup(s) sour cream
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped almonds, toasted
• 1 cup(s) sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

1. Make the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat two 8-inch cake pans with softened butter. Cut two 8-inch circles out of parchment paper and fit them into the bottom of the cake pans. Lightly coat the paper circles with butter. Lightly flour both pans, shake out excess flour and set aside. Beat the cake mix, cocoa, mayonnaise, eggs, and water in a large bowl with an electric mixer set on low speed. Increase speed to high and beat for 2 more minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean -- about 35 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 20 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and return to the wire racks until completely cool.
2. Make the filling: Whisk the frosting, sour cream, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of frosting to a medium bowl and stir in the almonds and the toasted coconut. Set aside.
3. Assemble the cake: Split both layers and brush away any excess crumbs. Place one split layer on a cake plate. Tuck strips of wax paper under the edges of the cake to protect the plate. Spread 1/3 of the filling over the layer. Top with the next layer and spread another 1/3 of the filling over the top. Repeat with the third cake layer and remaining filling and top with the final cake layer. Spread the frosting over the top of cake smoothing out to the edges. Spread the remaining frosting around the sides and serve or store covered for up to 4 days.

Tomorrow is Sponge Cake with Chocolate Frosting. I hope it's more successful looking than this one, as I used most of the rent money on the freakin luxury chocolate for the frosting. 

Love,

Felicia El Aid