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Friday, March 22, 2013

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?

23 comments:

  1. Ok I am glad I am not the only one!! Mystefied as to why mine did not bake when I put it back in the oven - glad yours did. And yes, this made me wonder what on earth I had done wrong - I bake macarons, for goodness' sake but I couldn't bake this??!!

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    1. I was so surprised when the hot stuff started to fall out! What had I done?

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  2. Oh, bummer. Sad cake stories make me teary.
    My big bottle of rose syrup is destined for some adult beverages and I am sure it will make its way into some summer desserts as well :-)

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  3. While I am not happy that your cake did not turn out, I am happy to hear that I was not the only one with this problem. I really thought it was just me. I checked my oven thermometer a bunch of times to see that the temp was correct... it was! Mine was in there for a full 30 minutes longer than called for and it still wasn't done through. And unlike Mardi, I'm not 100% convinced that I'm going to try it again.

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    1. We have a relatively new oven and I have checked the temp a couple of times. I wonder what the difference was.

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  4. Aw. How strange that the baking time/temp seemed alright for some, and for others it didn't work so well. At least it got eaten! Better luck next time!

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    1. It's been a journey, I have made some things that we won't try again and some are my family's new favorites.

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  5. While it is never a happy moment when cakes do not bake properly, it is still nice that you got to save the cake. And I am sure that your taste testers did enjoy it.
    Have a nice weekend!

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  6. Oh, how tragic! Glad that you were able to save it in the end, though! :)

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  7. Too many disasters... Dorie has the wrong temp on this one, just like the custard. So surprised you didn't find rose syrup in the Middle Eastern stores, unless you were looking for Monin. They don't carry the fancy stuff. My bottle doesn't look as pretty but it is a very fragrant delicious syrup. Weird how so many of us were tricked into believing it was cooked.

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    1. The shop owners knew what I wanted, the just don't carry it here.

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  8. I had to bake my second loaf an extra 10 minutes (75 total) for the center to be done. I think with all the egg whites, it takes longer than the stated time. At least, that's my story!

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  9. This wasn't a hit at my house either. And now I have so much syrup to use up. I think the oven temperature was wrong on this recipe. So many of us had trouble.

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  10. Is that what the rose syrup looks like! Now I understand where the pretty pink colour came from! I love the idea of distracted baking, describes me perfectly!

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  11. Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm glad you were able to salvage the cake. Yup, we all have a lifetime supply of rose syrup...I have the same bottle!

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  12. I'm glad you were able to salvage the cake. Unlike many Doristas, I am not as confident about my baking skills. I think mine turned out okay more due to sheer luck than anything.

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  13. I LOVE your line "Not in my house, remember they prefer their fruit uncooked. And their roses in vases." I am the Dorista that usually writes about baking disasters but, for some reason my loaf cake turned out perfectly (well, as perfect as I can ever bake a cake). I liked this - the rose flavoring was not particularly strong - and I will probably make it again (just to see if I can make it two times in a row!!!). I did enjoy that last picture, however, painful as it might have been. You're a trooper./

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