Dogwood Days of Summer

Like many amateur bakers/chefs who like to create, but don't have the time (or the audience) to do it on a daily basis, I'm often left facing a unique predicament.  With these limited opportunities, should I use my baking hours to make a tried and true favorite, or try something totally new?  It's a tough decision, and, usually, like the type A personality that I am, I end up picking some outrageous project that I recently saw on Pinterest (that thing is a public health hazard btw) and heartily trying to replicate it without ending up with a Pinterest fail. (If you have never googled Pinterest fail, do it. Right now.  Or anytime you're having a slightly poor day and need a pick-me-up.) But this time, I resisted my worst impulses and did not make unicorn candied apples on a bed of spun sugar (not that they won't pop up sometime in the future) and instead fell back upon my favorite, favorite cake of all time.  And my very favorite frosting, and a very beloved filling.  I mean it was kinda new.  I hadn't put this particular cake/frosting/filling combo together before. . . which became painfully evident during the THE CAKE IS DRIPPING AND THE WORLD IS ENDING AND I'M GOING TO DIIIIIIIEE stage of the project. (Which hits two hours before I'm scheduled to have guests over.  Each and every time.  Without fail.)  But it's okay.  I've gotten much better at managing my anxiety, and now when half of my brain is screaming the aforementioned statement, the other half is thinking. .  . well, maybe my husband will make enough food that no one will have room for dessert anyways. . .  I mean to be honest that particular situation has never actually happened (not that he doesn't make enough food -- we usually have enough to feed an army -- but that people don't have room for dessert.  I mean who am I kidding -- I wouldn't be friends with those people to begin with. . .) But to be quite honest, logical thought process in the midst of my half brain meltdown is usually not a priority.  Anyways, it worked out -- I just threw the cake in the fridge to solidify the mess and then wiped away the excess frosting every 20 minutes until it finally decided to stop giving me chest pain and to stop oozing.  By the way, naked cakes? Almost impossibly hard.  Like many other things I can think of, cakes look better clothed.  So this is the last naked cake you'll ever see on this thread.  Unicorn candied apples? Sure, I'll give them a shot.  But another naked cake? Nooooooo.  So without further ado, behold the masterpiece:

Pineapple Cake with Mango Curd and White Chocolate Ganache

Pineapple Cake

My super special pineapple cake recipe can be found here. (I told you it was a favorite!) I halved the recipe and used a 9x13 rectangular pan. Bake for 38 minutes.  Cool and trim the top and sides off of the cake

Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

Can be found here.  What? I said these were my favorite things -- you knew they must have been written up somewhere on the blog by now!
😉

Mango Curd

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Mango Puree
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 3 Egg Yolks

Cooking Directions

1. Combine mango puree, sugar, and egg yolks over low heat, mixing until the sugar melts
2. Add the stick of butter and whisk until fully melted, and then until mixture thickens to coat the back of a spoon
3. Strain over a sieve into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the curd
4. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and until ready to use

Putting it all together

Cut the cake in half, across the long end, so you have two almost square pieces.  Leave the untrimmed side of the first piece to face the serving platter. Pipe ganache along the periphery of the cake and fill with mango curd.  Pipe another thin layer of ganache over top.  This is key. For some reason, I'm a bit of a glutton, and nothing makes me happier than a towering piece of cake chock full of all sorts of luscious fillings.  But of course, in reality, this means that my cakes are constantly seeping frosting.  Which isn't pretty.  So save yourself the pain and don't overfill.  Layer the second piece of cake on top.  Spread ganache over the top.  Refrigerate to firm up.

Now, it's summer, and I love summer.  And flowers.  And pretty baked goods.  So that means that I put flowers on top of my baked goods.  You know, for summer. And because it makes me happy.  For this, I cut dogwood flowers from fondant, frilled the edges and dusted the ends with yellow and pink.

Note -- this happens to be a color combination not found in nature. But I liked it, and that was the most important thing that day.  (And after dealing with the oozing cake, I felt like I deserved it.)  The most important thing to remember with fondant flowers is that it's the shape that will make or break you.  If the flowers aren't molded, they look like a 3 year old made them.  If they are molded, they look beautiful.  Even if a 3 year old made them. And it's not hard to mold them.  Place each flower in a cup in an egg crate and leave in a really hot area so they dry that way. The hotter, the faster.  I left it outside in 990 degree weather (it really felt like that) because I happen to be constantly time challenged.  Normally,  you should do this days in advance, but, well. . . I never do.  And. . . that's it! After the flowers were arranged on top of the cake, you would never guess the near mental breakdown that this crazy project almost caused me. And after eating it, all of the pain of preparation completely left my little head and I'm ready to do it all again.  

(Yes, it's that good.)

❤❤❤