Last month, at 18 Reasons (a non-profit organization dedicated to the building community through food) I co-hosted the DIY Desserts event with my friend Melanie. DIY Desserts is an evening where bakers from all walks of life (from fancy schmancy pros to down home beginners) bring a dessert that they made centering around themes. April’s theme was boozy desserts, like happy hour in baked good form. And boy were they awesome. My contribution: The Sangria Cake!
The evening wasn’t super crowded, but the people that showed up were all Quality (with a capital Q). My cohost Melanie showed up with mouthwater Mucho Margarita Cupcakes, that were vegan no less! Sweet, soft and ever so slightly tart, the cupcakes were a perfect way to start off the evening and get the juices flowing.
Heather of Souffle Days presented her gorgeous Bourbon Carmelized Pecan Tart. Every bite was sweet chewy nuttiness. I’m bummed that she’s moving to Prague in a month, because I’ve only just gotten to know her as she’s come to the past couple of DIY Desserts but I’m super excited for her and can’t wait to read about her new adventure on her blog.
Jo showed up with an awesome Bread Pudding with Brandy Sauce. I adore Jo and I adore bread pudding. So, clearly, I was going to adore her dessert. I took a big helping and then took an even bigger helping home, to enjoy afterwards.
But the most impressive dessert was brought by Joyce, who brought a Guiness Chocolate Cake with Jameson Ganache and Bailey’s Italian Meringue Buttercream. Rich, dense and beautifully decorated with gold luster dust and gold leaf, it was Joyce’s first time at the DIY Desserts and I can only hope she’ll come back.
As for my dessert, I’ll be honest with you. The cake I brought wasn’t my top form. An obviously first attempt at a new recipe I was developing, sadly the fruit that I lovingly layered in the batter, soaking in homemade sangria, all sunk to the bottom of the pan. It looked rather like a total hot mess when I unmolded my cake.
Whoa. Hello sinking fruit and cake stuck to my pan!
Luckily a lot of fruit and glaze help to rescue the way it looks
But I rescued it (somewhat), and made it presentable. And in the end the people at DIY Desserts and 18 Reasons were nothing but gracious about it. There were many things wrong with it, but Melanie ate a bite of it and then turned to me and proclaimed “It’s like rich people having brunch!”
Which, of course, made me love her all the more.
Note the awesome way I filled some of the "holes" of the cake with fruit, like that raspberry.
So here’s the thing. Not every dessert I make is perfect, gorgeous and stunning. Not every dessert is show stopping delicious. But, like most all food bloggers, I tend to self edit, putting on my blog my best desserts – it’s just human nature to do that. I so rarely show you the mistakes or the blunders. But they happen. Oh do they happen. And this cake wasn’t even close to the worst things that I have come out of my kitchen. But we all learn from our mistakes. We learn how to patch up a cake, cover it with fruit, glaze or powdered sugar or worse case scenario, we learn to love the fact that here in San Francisco we can compost – and send our mistakes back to the earth.
My friend Nina once looked at me in amazement when I told her that I make horrible things in the kitchen all the time. She didn’t believe me. But it happens. And all you can do it pick yourself up, shake the flour off your shirt and start again.
So I did. I knew I could do better. I was going to a picnic this past weekend, so I radically revamped the recipe (and made it simpler in the meanwhile) hoping to nail it for this blog post. I brought it along with a few other desserts. And you know what? EVERYONE there proclaiming the cake a winner. Some people going so far to say it was the favorite of the three desserts I brought with me (don’t worry, the other two desserts, which had their fans, are going to be popping up on this blog too).
So I present to you my new and improved, blog worthy Sangria Cake. Just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Enjoy. My friends did. They demolished the cake by the end of the day.
DIY Desserts is moving to the first Thursday of the month at 18 Reasons. Please join us on Thursday, May 5th for our next event. Everyone is welcome. Bring a dessert around the theme of Mom’s Best, a nostalgic dessert that conjures up your mom (or dad, or grandpa or grandma) that sends you back to childhood with every bite. If you aren’t a baker, but love to eat, drop by and just partake of the goodies. We need eaters too!
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