It seemed reasonably simple........

The idea was a simple cake to take to the office as a stress-reliever during a busy tension-filled week.  It sounded like "fun" and I thought it would be a great learning experience.   Most off all - it was important that it look good (to me anyways) and taste good!    

The basic premise was a 4-layer frosted chocolate cake filled with pecan/coconut filling.  The chocolate cake and filling came from "Baking Illustrated" (a favorite as it talks about the process involved in fine-tuning the recipe).   I was expecting the frosting would be a challenge...

Well - there is that saying about "best laid plans" (or is it "good intentions"?).   Whatever the case may be, there were a few challenges - but - some great learning opportunities for me!

#1 - While the cakes were baking (no problems so far), I started the pecan/coconut filling.   Not really wanting green accents in the filling - I had to toss the moldy coconut and plan a quick trip (there is no such thing here) to the store.   This was a surprise...  the dacquois wasn't THAT long ago!

#2 - The chocolate cakes didn't rise as much as I hoped and I was hesitant to slice the layers.   No big deal - right?   To get the height I wanted - I pulled an extra white cake layer from the freezer and sliced the top off.   Problem solved (actually, that should be "sort of solved") and the 4-layer chocolate cake became a "3-layer chocolate & white" cake.

#3 - Frosting (this word is starting to scare me).........   On a recent trip to B&N - I checked out Martha's cake book and she used Swiss Meringue Buttercream all the time.  Trusting just about all things Martha, I figured that is the direction I would go!   After one completely failed attempt and another not-so-quick trip to the store for eggs, it was on to batch #2.   This one came out well but did seem a little soft.

#4 - Hmmm, the white cake was 8" round, the chocolate cakes were 9" round.   I figured this out after the first layer was filled and the white cake was stacked.   A serrated steak knife (I later found my serrated kitchen knife in the dishwasher...  why it was there, I am not sure) made quick easy work of trimming the top layer.  Clever I thought not realizing the challenge to come later.....

#5 - The assembled cake now looked like a mutant wedding cake - one big layer and two smaller layers.   A few slices and I had an 8" 3-layer cake!   Again, I was thinking about how clever I was!

#6 - The frosting did not want to stick to the crumbs on the cleverly trimmed chocolate cakes so things got pretty messy (obviously).   Having recently watched a DVR'd episode of Cake Boss - I tried "dirty icing" the cake.   It was dirty - very dirty - but after a few minutes in the fridge to set the frosting - it worked well and I even got a pretty smooth finish on the sides (although it doesn't look that way in photo below).

#7 - Little scraps of butter wrapping accidently left in the frosting do not let piping tips work to their full potential!

Next time, I think I will try a very thin layer of frosting on top and bottom of each layer to help keep the filling "clean".....  any thoughts?

I WILL DOUBLE CHECK INGREDIENTS!

I AM GOING TO TRY STEPH'S (at whisk/spoon) SUGGESTIONS RE: FROSTING

The cake got good compliments and really was a great learning process for me!   I am anxious to try it (or something like it) again soon!