Friday Photo — Cake As a Way of Life

I was so busy toiling in my cake factory last week that I plumb forgot to post this photo of cake for Friday Photo! So, although it is admittedly a bit late in the day, it is still Friday, so I can at least post it for this week:

This is a new creation of mine, a Strawberry Cake with Liliko‘i Curd, St-Germain Frosting and Graham Cracker Crumbles. It’s a nice mixture of sweet, salty and boozy, with some crunch for texture—a technique I learned from following Christina Tosi’s Momofuku Milk Bar recipes. In fact, this cake is a mish-mash of elements from her book, namely the Liliko‘i Curd, which comes from her Chocolate Chip Cake, and the Graham Cracker Crumb, which comes from her Brownie Pie. Obviously, it’s styled after her cakes and the frosting is a riff on the coffee frosting that goes into the Chocolate Chip Cake.

I think the recipe needs a few tweaks before it’s ready for sharing (plus it goes along with another project of mine that’s not quite ready to go public yet, either), but overall I’m really happy with it. One of Shake’s co-workers said it was her favorite dessert so far that I’ve brought in to share with their office. (Whoa!)

As for the quote, I feel like cake HAS been a way of life for the past several weeks, making this cake, my nephew’s first birthday cake (five layers of quarter-sheet rainbow cake) and four dozen cupcakes (for the birthday party, too). I’ve also promised another friend that I’d make a cake for her for her friend’s birthday. The smell of buttercream frosting may never leave my skin.