Of Kitchen Mishaps and Second Chances.

Have I ever told you what an airhead I am?

No?

Boy, where do I even start to count the ways?

How about this one? Some time ago, I was making a layer cake (this particular one, I believe, it was). In between frosting the first layer of the cake and transferring the second layer of cake with a decently sized serrated knife and a spatula, a call came in. And I decided it would be okay if I left the knife and spatula in between the cake layers while I answered the call. Sounds perfectly logical right- it was gonna be a quick call and I was gonna get right back to doing the cake in a second.

Righttt.

Of course the minute I picked up the call, I got a little  carried away chatting. And before I knew it, the knife had slipped out the cake, off the countertop and sliced down my shin.

Yeap, not my finest moment in the kitchen by any means.

I have plenty of other not so bright moments- both in and out the kitchen which I will kindly spare you the details of- but until last weekend, I’ve never had one quite as downright dumb as the incident I’m about to relate to you.

So last weekend, I decide to make myself a lemon almond cake. I go about my merry way, doing my thing, pop my cake into the oven and sit to reread my recipe just to check if I’ve missed any ingredient out (silly I know since the cake’s already baking but I do it every time anyway).

And to my horror, I realized the recipe called for 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder, and not the 1 tablespoon I had so happily added to the batter. The alarm bell in my head did go off as I measured out that tablespoon but I was in too much of a hurry to get it baked before we headed out for dinner and duly convinced myself it might be a dense batter that needed a lot of help lightening up. (In case you’re wondering, an excessive of baking powder will make one very unpleasantly bitter cake.)

So yeap that pretty much made the Brain-Airhead score 0-1726.

So to redeem myself and mostly also because I do adore the combination of lemon and almonds, I made the cake again this weekend- this time, taking pains to check the amount of baking powder before I did anything with it.

And boy am I glad I took the time to remake this cake.

Incredibly moist with a refreshing hit of lemon goodness and a gorgeous textural contrast in the form of almond slices, it was like a ray of sunshine after a rough storm. This cake was completely magical and one I’ll definitely make over and over again.

This definitely does earn me back a little credibility in the kitchen but I sure as hell have a lot of redeeming to do.

Madeira Cake [adapted from Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2]

Ingredients
170g salted butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon rind
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup almond meal
A small handful of flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and line the bottom of 2 3″ x 6″ mini loaf pans. Scatter the flaked almonds over the base of the loaf pans and set them aside.
2. Using a food processor, grind the caster sugar and lemon rind together until combined.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar mixture together until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the lemon juice, mixing well. Sift the flour and baking powder in and fold until just combined.
4. Fold the almond meal in until the batter comes together.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, spreading it over the flaked almonds. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out with crumbs clinging. Makes 2 small loaves

Posted by thecoffeesnob on March 28, 2010

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