Disaster - Ispahan Loaf Cake - FFWD

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe was for an Ispahan loaf cake.  Ispahan is a type of rose and famed French pastry chef Pierre Hermé made some inspiring combinations of rose, raspberries and lychees.  Does that appeal to you?  Apparently, people rave about them.  Not in my house, remember they prefer their fruit uncooked.  And their roses in vases.

I considered not making this dessert because I knew that I would end up with some unusual ingredients and probably wouldn't be using them frequently.   We are not drawn to desserts,   They will eat anchovies, garlic, parsnips, snails.  I cannot fault their desire to eat all fruit raw.

The Monin bottle of rose syrup is gorgeous.  Although I went to four Middle Eastern grocery stores without success and then ordered it on line. 

The recipe was easy to follow.

The loaf was easy to assemble.

It was a fairly simple recipe.  A loaf cake.  My results however made me ponder how long I had been baking.  My mother was willing to accept all help in the kitchen.   I can remember not being able to reach the temperature controls to turn on the oven in my early kitchen experiences.  So, maybe I have been baking for 40 years.  4 decades... 

Perhaps I was somewhat distracted.  I am doing a lot of that now, distracted baking.  It doesn't always work out.

Anyway  the loaf appeared baked.  I tested it.  I remember thinking that I thought that it might take longer.  I was surprised that it was done.  You can see the hole where the skewer went in in the shot above.


When I went to take it out, disaster struck.  Clearly, the middle level was still not cooked,  hot batter and berries oozed out.  I slapped it back in the pan and put it back in the oven.

People ate it.  I may make it again to show that I can bake.  I may not.  Anyone still looking for rose syrup?