Cake Endeavours

I became aware of this cake while watching YouTube one day and this  advertisement  came on first.  Instead of skipping the ad I watched the whole video on how to make this cake.  I had to make it.  I just needed the occasion to do it. We had the Sturgeon family Christmas the Monday before Christmas and so I volunteered to make this dessert.  It was a labour of love and a good thing I started the day before!  I bought the ginger crips from Costco.  They are in the baking area; little heart shaped cookies in a tub.  The cake had to travel with us from the city to the burbs so I didn't do decorating until we were at my parents'. I loved this cheesecake.  I would make the jam alone just to use on toast it was so good.  You can find the recipe at this link:  Dorie Greenspan's Raspberry-Cranberry Spiced Cheesecake .

Mr. T asked for something different for his birthday this year.  Something different from the Perfect Chocolate Cake.  *GASP*  This is the cake that our whole relationship is based upon.  The first time I made this cake for him nearly sixteen years ago that sealed the deal for him.  He was never letting me go.  So, when he asked for something different I was rather shocked.  Mr. T doesn't ask for much, so I got over it pretty quickly and set out looking for something new and different. Dr Pepper is his favourite pop and I stumbled upon lots of recipes for the cake and icing.  I mixed up various different ones to get a combination that I thought worked best and for ingredients that I had on hand. I made a lot of icing.  I reduced 6 cups of Dr Pepper to about 1/3 of a cup even.  I was just shy of being able to decorate the entire top of the cake with the "kisses".  If we weren't already late I would have pulled it off and start...

Today I hopped on the bandwagon and created a page for Cake Endeavours on Facebook.  Be sure to "like" the page!  So, I decided why not hop on another bandwagon while I was at it and start a themed weekly post.  It will be a hodgepodge of recipes, tips, and tools I like and will come across.   My first installment is the Perfect Chocolate Cake recipe.  This is the only recipe I use when making a chocolate cake or cupcakes.  It has been known to turn people into chocolate cake lovers.  I really don't understand how one can not like chocolate cake in the first place, but if this recipe helps to bring the mistaken around, who am I to complain? CAKE                                                  ...