I had been so organised up to this point – the only thing left to do the night before the cake was due was the chocolate ganache for the drip and the mini doughnuts.
However, the drip part didn’t really work and I wasn’t happy with the cake. Maybe I’m too picky but I like things to look as good as possible! So anyway, here is what happened, via notes written on my phone throughout the experience, the evening before the cake was due and after chocolate ganache ruined my life…
9.34pm – Put on a Spotify classical music playlist and start making mini doughnuts.
9.39pm – Why don’t I have enough bowls GOD.
9.44pm – ‘Use fingers to rub the cold butter into the flour to make rough crumbs?’ No thank you *finds food processor*
9.46pm – The food processor has not made rough crumbs but we’re going with it anyway.
9.50pm – I’ve just got flour all over my only clean cardigan, put an emergency wash on.
9.54pm – The dough does not look like the dough in the picture of the recipe book (I’ve used a recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery), so get on YouTube to find some kind of tutorial
9.56pm – YouTube says keep kneading…
10.05pm – Give up on kneading as it’s making no difference, put the dough in the bin. Wonder if chipping off the ganache from the original cake is an option? Poke it, it’s not an option.
10.06pm – Sit down to contemplate next steps.
10.08pm – Start making a fail safe chocolate chip cake.
10.13pm – Almost run out of flour but find two bags stashed away.
10.14pm – When people ask why I don’t do this as a job, I’ve made a mental note to think about this experience.
10.23pm – Cakes in oven. Small pause for episode of self doubt – why can I only make chocolate chip cakes boo hoo – before a quick wash up and tidy of the kitchen.
10.38pm – Hang up freshly washed cardigan in a race against time to make it dry before work tomorrow.
10.40pm – Too late to ring my mum for advice, so watch some YouTube tutorials about making doughnuts, consider options again.
10.50pm – Take cakes out of oven. Wonder if I would ruin them if I cut them both in two so the cake is four layers?
10.51pm – Decide that there’s no room for error here so leave them as two.
10.52pm – Continue watching doughnut tutorial from a lovely American lady called Betty who is making doughnuts.
10.53pm – Her butter is melted. Should I melt my butter?
10.54pm – I’m going to use the ingredients already listed in my Hummingbird Bakery recipe but I’m going to melt my butter like Betty and add the wet ingredients to the dry like she did. I trust her, let’s do this Betty.
10.55pm – I’m usually in bed by now.
11.03pm – Betty’s tutorial has finished, I’m going to give this another go. I can only give it one more go as I’ve only got one egg left.
11.16pm – Betty’s dough looks drier than mine. She chills hers for half an hour. My recipe says nothing about chilling. I’ll comprise and chill for 15 minutes.
11.20pm – About to start making my buttercream for the cake and wondering why I’m so calm, realise it’s because of my classical music playlist.
11.25pm – I’ve bloody run out of cocoa powder so I’ve got to go to the shop.
11.26pm – Could I go to the shop in my apron?
11.27pm – Mmm no probably not.
11.28pm – What am I doing with my life.
11.52pm – At Tesco I bought a load of stuff you can whack on the top of a cake, in case this doesn’t work. If I don’t need it I can take it to work tomorrow. I’m definitely not eating any of it though as I’m being healthy.
11.56pm – I eat one of the chocolate doughnuts. For energy.
12.04am – I’m still not having a lot of luck with the dough – the recipe is telling me to roll it out but I can’t because it’s too sticky. I decide to just make it up as I go and I heat up my oil.
12.44am – We’re frying, we’re frying!!
1.04am – We’ve done it Betty, we’ve done it!!! Sure some of them might be a bit doughy in the middle but basically we’re all good and I didn’t burn my house down!!
1.24am – Buttercream time and then we’re nearly there!
1.43am – I can’t get straight sides on this cake no matter how hard I try so it’s going to be a rustic look. I keep flitting between “I’m such a night owl I love this” and “I want to go to bed.”
1.59am – I’ve done it! My kitchen is a complete tip and I’ve got icing sugar all over my Ugg boots but the cake looks pretty good:
Notes to self after this experience:
- You don’t need a responsible adult with you to make doughnuts – you are the responsible adult (terrifying)
- Listening to classical music while baking is the way forward (my mum nearly always has some kind of classical music on when she’s in the kitchen and now I understand why)
- Practice how to make chocolate ganache
- Even if everything goes wrong, it can all be rectified even if you have to stay up until 2am or just completely make up what you’re doing
Things I’ve learnt after this experience
- Last time I made doughnuts I heated up the oil too quick – this time I went slow and steady (because that’s what wins the race) and it was much better
- Something about perseverance or ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again…’ or something philosophical; I don’t know it’s 2am let me go to sleep
I took some of my doughnuts into work the next day and people seemed to like them. Next time I’m not going to knead them at all as adding that extra flour made them very doughy, so I’m going to just go for it. They weren’t proper doughnuts anyway as they didn’t have any yeast in.
Was the cake received well? Yes, apparently so which is good and makes staying up until 2am worth it. I was quite proud of it; not sure how it tasted as I obviously didn’t get to taste it, but I thought it looked quite good, and I’m definitely going to give the mini doughnuts another go at some point once I’ve recovered.