MP, why not make smaller portions of recipes? I’ve baked through RHC - via the Heavenly Cake Bakers group - and at least half the book I made 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 recipes. It sounds odd to bake 1/4 recipe but it worked for me and I was able to enjoy the cake without having leftovers or feeling guilty of having so much .

Jenn - 08 February 2013 03:55 PM

MP, why not make smaller portions of recipes? I’ve baked through RHC - via the Heavenly Cake Bakers group - and at least half the book I made 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 recipes. It sounds odd to bake 1/4 recipe but it worked for me and I was able to enjoy the cake without having leftovers or feeling guilty of having so much .

*facepalm* Why didn’t I think of that!? I guess I didn’t know that was legal. I just figured that if Rose’s instructions call for the cake to be baked in whatever the given size is for, then it had to be made in that size unless you know how to adjust the recipe, especially the baking powder amounts, to compensate for the change in surface area of the cake. Also, the smallest pans I have at the moment are 8” rounds, so that would still be a lot of cake just for me. I’ve been wanting to get some 6” rounds for a while and now I have a little more incentive to do so. Thanks for the idea here, Jenn!

- MP

MP, no need to really buy a lot of cake pans. If you look at this link on my blog, you’ll see that most of my attempts are in cupcake size. So if I split a cake into 1/4, I just bake it in cupcakes. I fill the cupcakes according to what Rose said to fill the cake pan (i.e. fill the cake pan halfway, or 3/4). I usually weigh each cupcake so I keep it consistent. As far as adjustment, I don’t really adjust the leavening. I think this is a no-no and you’re supposed to but it confuses me so I don’t do it. I’m sure my results are not perfect and will never pass Rose’s approval of what her cake should be (or win any awards for that matter), but I made most of them for my own consumption so I’m not particularly picky.

I do have a lot of pans because of this. I have 9 inch, 7 inch, 6 inch, 4 inch - all round pans. I have 9 inch, 6 inch, and 4 inch heart pan. The 4 inch pans are really small and cute and I bought them on a whim (they were inexpensive).

Answering Julie’s question for favorite chocolate cake. I love chocolate genoise. The genoise au chocolate (TCB) and moist chocolate genoise (TCB, RHC) are two faves. I’ve made the moist chocolate genoise the most, twice as Black Forest Cake and twice as something else. I also love the Devil’s Food Cake from RHC. I’ve made it twice, once as a 1/4 recipe, baked in 6 inch heart pan (post is here) and recently as cupcakes (also 1/4 recipe).

I don’t know what to make for valentine’s day. I got invited to a Chinese New Year get together tomorrow so I thought of making a red velvet cake in a heart shape pan and wrote Happy Chinese New Year on top - to combine the two together lol. I don’t know how that will go over - it’ll probably make people laugh.

Jenn - 08 February 2013 04:22 PM

MP, no need to really buy a lot of cake pans. If you look at this link on my blog, you’ll see that most of my attempts are in cupcake size. So if I split a cake into 1/4, I just bake it in cupcakes. I fill the cupcakes according to what Rose said to fill the cake pan (i.e. fill the cake pan halfway, or 3/4). I usually weigh each cupcake so I keep it consistent. As far as adjustment, I don’t really adjust the leavening. I think this is a no-no and you’re supposed to but it confuses me so I don’t do it. I’m sure my results are not perfect and will never pass Rose’s approval of what her cake should be (or win any awards for that matter), but I made most of them for my own consumption so I’m not particularly picky.

Holy smokes, Jenn! You have made a ton of cakes! Are those all of the cakes from RHC, or just the ones you’ve made? Either way, that’s a lot of cake!

Thanks for the tips and advice. I still need to get some cupcake pans and I still want to get some smaller round pans. Definitely 6” round pans, and if I can find them I’d like to get some 4” pans, too. I’ll give these ideas a try and see how things go without any adjustments. I’m not looking to win any awards, anyway, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t win them even if I tried.

Jenn - 08 February 2013 04:22 PM

I don’t know what to make for valentine’s day. I got invited to a Chinese New Year get together tomorrow so I thought of making a red velvet cake in a heart shape pan and wrote Happy Chinese New Year on top - to combine the two together lol. I don’t know how that will go over - it’ll probably make people laugh.

I’m sure whatever you decide to make for the Chinese New Year party will be a hit, and if it gets a few laughs then that’s not all that bad, either.

- MP

Monsieur Pâtisserie - 08 February 2013 06:08 PM

Holy smokes, Jenn! You have made a ton of cakes! Are those all of the cakes from RHC, or just the ones you’ve made? Either way, that’s a lot of cake!

- MP

Hehe, thanks MP. The cakes on that list are all the cakes from RHC, in order as they appear in the book (some I’ve made more than once). That is indeed a lot of cakes - about 94. I still don’t know how I manage to bake through the book and when I look at my battered copy of RHC, seeing the dates I wrote in there as “old” as 2009, that felt like a loooonnnngggg time ago.

Monsieur Pâtisserie - 08 February 2013 06:08 PM

I’m sure whatever you decide to make for the Chinese New Year party will be a hit, and if it gets a few laughs then that’s not all that bad, either.

Hehe.. thanks MP. I will post to report what I make.

Jenn - 08 February 2013 08:56 PM

Hehe, thanks MP. The cakes on that list are all the cakes from RHC, in order as they appear in the book (some I’ve made more than once). That is indeed a lot of cakes - about 94. I still don’t know how I manage to bake through the book and when I look at my battered copy of RHC, seeing the dates I wrote in there as “old” as 2009, that felt like a loooonnnngggg time ago.

That’s quite impressive, Jenn. I’ve only made a small fraction of the cakes in TCB, and since I don’t own a copy of RHC (yet), I haven’t made any from there. The fact that you’ve plowed through the entire collection of cakes from that is no small accomplishment. I suppose for me the reason I haven’t made some of the cakes from TCB is because they’re too large, or I don’t have the proper equipment to make them. One of the first cakes that caught my eye when I first purchased TCB was the “Art Deco Cake,” but it serves 50 people and there’s no way I could finish that off myself. So, despite this being a cake I really want to make, I just have no reason to make it other than for the sake of making it because I want to.

Jenn - 08 February 2013 08:56 PM

Hehe.. thanks MP. I will post to report what I make.

I am really looking forward to seeing whatever you make, Jenn. And for that matter, I’m already getting excited to see what everyone else makes for Valentine’s Day. It sounds like the folks here have some really great plans in place.

Monsieur Pâtisserie - 08 February 2013 02:31 PM

Flour Girl - 07 February 2013 11:01 AM

I have that book Monsieur. I love it but have never made the title recipe. I find Rose’s cakes much less intimidating than Marcel’s.

I often make Marcel’s “Mom’s Chocolate Chip Date Cake” to bring to family gatherings.

I just googled that book and found a few books with the title “Death By Chocolate.” Like many other cakes, the Death By Chocolate cake has various recipes. I got mine from a book called “The Golden Book of Chocolate.” I’m going to have to get my hands on some of these books and other recipes to try them out and see which one I like the best. After all, you can never have too many books about chocolate or things to bake that have chocolate in them.

I guess I was wrong. I was under the impression Chef Marcel Desaulniers, author of the cookbook, “Death By Chocolate” created the dessert by the same name. Here is his book. The cake takes 3 days to prepare.

Rose has a recipe in that book. On page 44, “Rose’s Chocolate Pots de Creme”.

The book was published in 2003.

Flour Girl - 09 February 2013 12:38 AM

I guess I was wrong. I was under the impression Chef Marcel Desaulniers, author of the cookbook, “Death By Chocolate” created the dessert by the same name. Here is his book. The cake takes 3 days to prepare.

Rose has a recipe in that book. On page 44, “Rose’s Chocolate Pots de Creme”.

The book was published in 2003.

Thanks for the link to that book, Flour Girl. Now I have yet another book to add to my library. I can’t wait to get this along with a copy of RHC for my collection.