Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Maple Pecan Chiffon Cake with Brown Butter Icing



Cake Slice bakers choice this month is Maple Pecan Chiffon Cake. I was a little nervous about this one since Iv'e never baked a chiffon cake before, but relieved that now I can check this off my baking list. 


The recipe is pretty simple, nothing complicated about it, until........I noticed my cake rose pretty high past the edge of the cake pan. No problem right? Not! My pan didn't have feet to stand the cake up when inverted. I could not find a bottle narrow enough to fit through the spout to hold the cake up. The only thing I could find was this sharpening rod to hold it up.


Great right? Not! My arm started getting tired pretty fast, I had to find an alternative fast. Don't ask me how I thought of this but I did. Lol!


I took two cereal bowls and placed the edges of the cake pan on the edges of the bowls. It worked!


The cake baked really nicely, and I was pleased with the result.



The icing too came out really smooth and silky, until......


I came back from an errand and found that the icing had separated. Not happy at all. I tried beating it to get it to come together again, and had no success. The flavor was still delicious, but the appearance was not pretty. 


I had a hard time icing the cake, I did the best I could, but the icing kept slipping off.


Overall the cake was good. I did find the cake slightly dry for my liking. The icing I think is what made the cake yummy enough to eat. I probably wont make this cake again.

12 comments:

Paloma said...

Your cake looks great! I've found that this cake hasn't been a favorite for anybody in our group, sorry about the issues with the frosting. :)

Laura@bakinginpyjamas said...

Good job with getting it out of the pan. Sorry to hear you had issues with the icing.

The Ninja Baker said...

LOL. Your cereal bowl idea is ingenious, Anabel. And despite the challenges, your cake does look very pretty :)

ImWhisper said...

What a bummer about your icing!
But in the end it looked really pretty!

:)
Holly

Heather said...

Your cake looks good. Mine was dry too and we didn't like it either. I've made plenty of chiffon cakes so this one just wasn't a winner

Heather said...

Sorry you did not like it either. It looks good though.

Hazel said...

Anabel, I used you inspiring cooling method too after you posted it on FB! So glad you did as I'd have been lost... Sorry to hear your icing was some hassle! The cake looked great though x

Anne@FromMySweetHeart said...

Oh Anabel...I LOVE your persistence in finding a solution to cooling the cake upside down. My pan doesn't have feet and I could not find a wine bottle either. That trick with the cake plates was brilliant! My cake was dry as well. But you did a great job! Hopefully we will all LOVE the next cake!

Emily said...

Love your adventure with your pan!
All worked out in the end! I did like both the cake and icing.

All That's Left Are The Crumbs said...

I wish I had thought of cereal bowls to balance the cake pan - genius. I really should have taken a photo of all of the bottles I got out trying to find the right size. Your cake does look great, but I can't help but agree with you about the icing, it had a great taste but weird consistency.

ariana said...

Such clever, on-the-spot thinking ;) Always a good quality in a chef! I'm anxious to get to this cake, especially the frosting.

Unknown said...

Anabel, sorry for my very late reply. You are such a brilliant one with the cereal bowls!! I wouldn't have ever thought of that if I use a 'feetless' chiffon pan. Despite your icing being separated, I'm sure you had a great time eating the cake just like I do :)