My first SmittenKitchen baking attempt was a disaster; I thought Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes would be perfect for St Patrick’s Day, considering my love of Jameson, Bailey’s, and stout beer, but my attempt ended up severely stuck the silicone (i.e. notoriously non stick) cups. However, I was determined to enjoy some of the delicious cakes I’ve seen since I started reading her site. My second recipe was chosen by my husband for his birthday in August (although I ended up making the cake a few weeks later). Thankfully he chose a single layer affair without any fancy decorations. The results were delightful and sentimental (it tasted so much like a torte from the old, but now defunct, Old Europe that I used to eat on our early dates). This cake was easy, but it tasted like a professional effort. It is definitely one of my favorite cakes for both its appearance and taste.
For our third legal anniversary, we pondered and agonized over several delectable cakes, and we ended up with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. The original recipe is for a three layer cake, but I only have two round pans so I made two layers and some cupcakes. Although I tried to eyeball it, the batter distribution between the pans wasn’t equal which resulted in one layer being much thicker than the other. I did not overfill the cupcake tins, but the silicone cups were not again not as non stick as I thought they should be when I purchased them. I also tweaked the recipe a bit: unsweetened not too smooth peanut butter (in lieu of smooth commercial peanut butter) and an entire cup less of confectioner’s sugar for the frosting (next time I will probably knock it back an additional cup). Deb at SmittenKitchen provides a page of layer cake tips as well as advice with each recipe that have really helped me make better looking cakes.
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