When I started this crazy adventure, I had no idea that Dancing Deer was more than just brownies.  At my local Whole Foods, all I had ever seen was Dancing Deer brownies, to point where sometimes I want to call the company Dancing Deer Brownies instead of just Danicng Deer.

With that being said, sometimes what you don’t know can hurt you.  As I found out when I learned Dancing Deer makes cake.  Which I turned into

Grilled Meyer Lemon and Raspberry Cake

At first, I just wasn’t sure if I was going to like meyer lemon and raspberry cake.  While I do like lemon cake, I’ve found that the addition of fruit (especially raspberries) can overwhelm the flavors of the rest of the ingredients in the cake.

Ha!  I had no reason for concern.  None.

Quite literally the meyer lemon and raspberry cake was head and shoulders the best cake my wife and I have  ever tasted.  It was moist, delicious, crumbly…it was simply divine.  So it was with a sense of awe that I struck out to improve it.

Grilled Cake

There is an art and science to grilling already baked cake.  You have to strike a delicate balance between adding flavor to the cake (through caramelization and getting the cake just warm enough to barely melt some of the whipped cream) and not drying the cake out.  I had to experiment several times with this particular cake before I found the perfect cook time.  If you are not fortunate enough to get your hands on a Dancing Deer cake, I still suggest you start with these cook times and doing your own experiments.

At the very least you can eat the failures!

You will need:

• 1 Dancing Deer Meyer Lemon and Raspberry cake
• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• Whipped Cream
• 8 strawberries, sliced
• 8 springs of mint

Cut the cake into 10 even slices, grease your grill grate with canola oil, and warm the grill to make a 3 second fire.  (This means that you cannot hold your hand over the fire for more than 3 seconds.)

Grill the cake 90 seconds on each side.  Unlike meat, don’t rotate.  Just leave the cake on the grill and flip.

Immediately after removing from the grill, hit the cake with a little shot of whipped cream, a few sliced strawberries and a sprig of mint.

Enjoy!

And Now For Some Indigestion

According to The National Center for Family Homelessness, 60% of all homeless women have children under the age of 18, but only 65% of these women live with their children.

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Well, first thing’s first.  If you think you can outdo me (you can!), this recipe comes from Shuna Fish Lydon’s blog Bay Area Bites.  Check it out!  It’s a cool food blog with lots of awesome looking recipes.

Now, without further ado… the big reveal, here’s my finished product:

Right off the bat, it’s not a very pretty cake.  Some of my other fellow Daring Bakers did some very pretty things with their frosting, adding dried fruits and other nice things.

I wanted to do something pretty, but the frosting just would not cooperate.  Also, I was not thinking about toppings this month because I was trying to concentrate on following the recipe exactly.

So yeah, it’s pretty plain looking.  On the other hand, I tell you what.  This is one of the best cakes I’ve ever had, bar none.

Notes:

• I don’t think this recipe is very entry level, then again, I would not expect the Daring Bakers to take on an easy challenge.  So I’m not complaining, I am just pointing it out.
• Secondly, the recipe, as written, lists the ingredients for the caramel syrup after the cake.  This is a bit misleading as the caramel syrup should be made probably two hours before you want to start baking so that it cool completely.  Also, the caramel frosting uses brown butter.  When I do this recipe again, I will make the brown butter as the cake is baking (instead of watching KU beat Mizzou) because it needs time to cool as well.
• The wet-dry-wet-dry method specified in the recipe was very effective for getting things incorporated quickly and effectively.
• I do not think I did the frosting right.  This may possibly be because the butter was not completely cool, but to get the frosting as firm as I wanted, I would have had to double the amount of confectioner’s sugar.  My teeth thank me for not doing so.
• I think I baked the cake too long.  Here it is coming out of the oven.  As you can see, it has gotten a little black:

Still, the inside was still nice and moist and I was able to cut off the part that was overly done.  I used it test my frosting.

I can’t help but wonder if I did not overcook the caramel sauce, too.

Final Thoughts

In terms of taste, I would eat this cake again and again.  I do wish I could have done something nicer to make it look a little more appetizing.

That will be my challenge for next time!

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