French Friday with Dorie
Like quite a few people in the group, I have been looking forward to making this exotic cake. I love roses and especially old world roses that have a lovely fragrance to them, so even while this month has been a busy one for me I didn't grumble a bit when I was out on the hunt for rose syrup and rose extract. I did find them locally which I was quite relieved about as I did not have a chance to make this until after work yesterday.
The batter for this cake was fairly easy to put together, although I seemed to dirty quite a few bowls. You stir whipped egg whites into the batter to lighten it which I have done many times, but this was the first time I had to add additional flour along with the egg whites. I really don't understand that step at all and if anyone knows why we had to do it please let me know because it seemed to make the batter a little lumpy when I added the all-purpose flour. Why go to the trouble of sifting the almond flour and the confectioners' sugar together when you are going to add unsifted all-purpose flour alternately with egg whites at the very end? I also thought the batter would be pink after adding the rose syrup, but even though it turned the milk a pepto bismol pink it didn't make a difference in the batter.
I, of course, did not divide my batter into equal thirds and almost didn't have enough to cover the top of the cake, but I actually like the look of the raspberries peeking out at the top. My oven runs hot, so I started checking on the loaf after 50 minutes and saw that it was browning along the edges, so I tented it with foil and checked every 5 minutes until it was done at 65 minutes.
It's a pretty cake, but I was really disappointed that it wasn't pink. (Boo!) It has a fine crumb, but is very moist. I was so tired after I baked this yesterday and fixed dinner that I didn't try it until this afternoon. John had a slice as soon as it cooled, but said it had a different kind of flavor that he wasn't sure about. We both have never eaten anything with rose syrup or rose extract before. He at least had tea that his grandmother used to make him when he was a child - rosa de Castilla, but he didn't remember it tasting like this cake. He tried another slice before he went to bed, but said it didn't taste any better than earlier.
Before I left for work this morning, John was in the kitchen slicing another piece and proclaimed that it still tasted the same. I guess he was expecting the flavors to meld or something, but he said that "flavor" was still there and he didn't care for it. I finally tried a piece after I got home from work and I have to say that I agree with him. Roses may be one of my favorite flowers, but I don't care for the flavor of this cake. Perhaps it's an acquired taste, but I am not sure I will make it again to find out if we like it better the second time around. I have a feeling that John will be slicing a piece of the cake every time he walks through the kitchen - until it's gone - just to check to see if it tastes any better.
I wonder if we are in the minority this week and will be interested in reading what the rest of the group thought. Meanwhile, on a more positive note - I also made the chicken diable last night and that was pretty darn good. I'll be doing a catch up post about it soon.