Out & About #1046 | United Cakes: Carrot Pound Cake + Coffee Sponge with Swiss Buttercream

At noticing a promotional poster calling for bakers - and, of course, buyers - for a United Way cake sale, I was immediately intrigued and reached out to the organizer. In the days leading up to the event, I'd plan meticulously:

• Ingredients would need to be sourced in advance of the large-scale project, ideally at discounted rates
• The fridge would be cleared to make room for the various cake components
• The chosen recipes would be scaled and process reviewed accordingly

Even before commencing, I'd conduct a comprehensive review of transportability. A 90-minute, multi-modal commute was no short journey for a cake, after all. Furthermore, the selected type(s) would need to retain its shape amidst bumps and quality amidst temperature differences. The following series of questions served to guide the decision-making process:

• Can it be easily transported to the office?
• Do I own a container that fits the cake? Will it keep the cake level?
• Do I own a cooler bag that fits the container(s)? Can the bag fit more than one cake?
• If left on a table for an extended period of time, will the frosting melt? Will the texture take a turn for worse?
• Have I made this cake before?
• Are the flavours generic enough to be easily received by potential buyers? (People associate affinity with familiarity, after all.)
• Can the recipe be easily scaled up?
• What is the estimated time commitment required, including troubleshooting?

and more.

​Although I had contemplated a Matcha Chiffon Cake with Black Sesame Cream, this creation would likely pose the greatest challenge for transport. Whipped cream also requires maintenance at a cool temperature. I'd transition to thoughts of ganache montée, but envisioned incompatibility between airy, voluminous chiffon, and the semi-sturdy frosting. In the end, I concluded that both the cake itself and its frosting, if any, would need to be highly resilient against rough handling.
​
The two final contenders were: Carrot Pound Cake and Coffee Sponge with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Straightforward was the former, for it'd require minimal effort (and dishwashing) beyond blitzing ingredients in a food processor and some swift folding. The latter was presumed to consume most of my time, though appeared as a great solution to leftover egg whites from my early Halloween Finger Cookies. And which office worker doesn't love coffee?

​1) Carrot Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Originating from none other than Sunday Baking the great, her trusty recipe was scaled up by 1.5x for this endeavour. This was a mere increase of one egg, with all other ingredients scaled proportionally with ease. The yield would comprise of: one standard loaf plus 6 standard-sized muffins.

​Ingredients:

i) Cake

• 3 eggs
• 150 g brown sugar
• 150 g oil
• 180 g AP flour
• 1.5 tsp/6g baking pow
• 3/4 tsp/4.5g baking soda
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice *opt
• pinch of salt
• 1̶2̶0̶ ̶g̶  → 125 g carrot
• 98 g apple
• 42 g dried cranberries
• 56 g pecans, finely chopped but not crumbs *reserve some for topping

ii) Frosting

• 300 g cream cheese
• 45 g  ̶g̶r̶a̶n̶u̶l̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶u̶g̶a̶r̶  → 50 g icing sugar
• 30 g heavy cream
• vanilla bean paste *opt
• orange extract *opt

Directions

1. Toast pecans at 350 F for 5 mins. Let cool and blitz in a food processor. Do NOT blitz until fine crumbs; finely chopped portions are enough. Transfer to small bowl and set aside. Reserve some pecans for topping.
2. In clean food processor, cop apples, carrots, and dried cranberries. Set aside while preparing the rest of the batter.
3. Whisk eggs, brown sugar, and oil.
4. Add in dry ingredients. Fold to combine.
5. Add in wet ingredients (carrot, apple, and dried cranberries), followed by pecans. Fold to combine.
6. Portion between 1 loaf pan and six muffin liners.
7. Bake loaf at 350 F for 40-45 minutes and muffins at 350 F for 25-27 minutes.
8. Let cool.
9. Beat together softened cream cheese and icing sugar. Add in heavy cream and beat again.
10. Add in vanilla bean paste and/or orange extract, if using.
11. Apply frosting on cooled cake(s).
12. Serve and enjoy!

Reviewing my previous trials as part of preparation, I was careful to not repeat my mistakes. Apple - exceptionally moisture-deficient ones at that - would not be swapped for pineapple. Steering clear of alternative frosting choices such as chocolate glaze and faux cream cheese, the classic choice of aerated, sweetened cream cheese would be maintained. Minor modifications would be incorporated in the forms of orange extract in the cake and vanilla bean paste in the frosting; the recipe would otherwise remain consistent with Sunday's intentions.

Both the loaf and muffins emerged spectacularly. Embracing their Halloween-themed liners, the muffins would be transferred to a cooling rack while I set out to prepare the frosting. Similarly, I'd transfer the loaf to a preserved Costco Rotisserie Chicken container as heat continued to dissipate from the underside.

Sampled for QC purposes, the mini carrot pound cake serving was deemed a tremendous success. The exterior was sturdy, the interior moist, fruity, and a bit zesty due to the inclusion of citrus notes, and the frosting creamy and tangy. There was not a single complaint to be heard, save the wails of satiation due to my baking overdrive.

2) Coffee Sponge Cake with Swiss Buttercream

My second project would be comparatively less fulfilling. The cake base from Sunday's Naked Cake with Coffee Sponge and Mascarpone Cream was flawless - not that I had any qualms before starting. That said, I've yet to nail the perfect ratio of egg whites : butter : sugar for Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Using a candy thermometer is pivotal, but, as I learned this time, a stand mixer may render results for the worse.

Buttercream

Typical ratios:

• Amount of sugar = egg white x 2.2
• Amount of butter = egg while x 3 - however, I reduced to x 2.
• Though, as expected, result was too sweet.

---

Ingredients:

i) Buttercream

• 242 g egg whites (8 egg whites)
• Sugar = egg white x 2.2 = 532 g → 540 g used
• Butter = egg white x 2 = 484 g → 470 g used (originally 489 g but had to discard some due to mould being discovered)

ii) Coffee Sponge

• 6 eggs (328 g)
• 180g sugar
• 180 g cake flour substituted for 160 g AP flour + 20 g cornstarch *
• 60 g oil

Directions

1) Line the bottoms of two 2" aluminum cake pans with parchment paper. The sides can be left exposed to assist with acquisition of volume.
2) Mix espresso powder and water together, then set aside. This mixture weighs in at approximately 30 g.
3) Beat eggs and sugar together, then fold in cake flour (or substituted AP flour and cornstarch blend.) Make sure to sift these flours well, as pockets of flour remained visible in my rendition even after baking. One has the option to strain the batter to prevent lumpiness, though I did not in fear of the final mixture separating in the pan.
4) Add in oil and espresso-water mixture. Mix well to incorporate.
5) Divide batter between two 6" pans, roughly 370 g of batter in each.
1025 g - 250 g = 775 g
Total weight (incl bowl) - weight of bowl = batter

775 g / 2 = 388 g
Batter divided by 2

Therefore, roughly 370 g per pan

6) Bake for 350 F for 30 minutes.
7) Let cool before removing from pan and inverting on wire rack. The cake can be removed once the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
8) Assemble coffee "syrup". Set aside
9) Slice cake rounds into layers approximately 1 cm in thickness.
10) Brush coffee syrup onto each layer before frosting with buttercream.
11) Once frosted, transfer to fridge and chill for a minimum of 4 h.
12) Serve and enjoy!

​I doubled the recipe to two 6 in 2-layer cakes instead of one 6 one 3-layer cake. As expected, one would be reserved for QC purposes as well as my own enjoyment, should I succeed. My first blunder emerged when I sliced into the rounds: there were visible pockets of flour. Swapping cake flour for AP flour and cornstarch had demanded double-sifting, a process that I had not adhered to completely. 

The second issue lay with my buttercream. In spite of gradually raising the temperature of the egg whites to 162 F over a water bath, stiff peaks were unable to be formed. The stand mixer had failed me again.

​My buttercream was soupy, no matter how long I continued to whisk. In all previous trials, continuous whipping and incorporation of air eventually yielded a luscious, smooth buttercream. This time, my efforts were met with a separated mass. Chilling had allowed the consistency to thicken, but the filling was otherwise unusable.

For starters, it was far too sweet. The curdled texture also hindered smooth application onto the cake rounds.
I combatted the extremely cloying properties by eliminating sugar from the coffee syrup, using strictly espresso powder and hot water instead, though ultimately could not camouflage the error.

Several hours of chilling gave rise to a sturdy cake, while twenty-four hours a more homogenous palate. Past the 48-hour mark though, the sponge began to lose its roasted coffee notes and become rigid to the taste.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with this creation. I wanted nothing more than to discard the buttercream and start over, but persevered on the accounts of limited time and extremely forgiving taste buds of potential cake bidders.

​The cake scraps were mediocre at best, with alternating layer of espresso-soaked coffee sponge, cream cheese frosting, and buttercream causing feeling of extreme satiation rather than enjoyment.

After the strenuous ordeal that was my Holiday Cookie Box Donation Project, I had sworn to never lead a similar venture unless supported by other bakers. This event answered to my woes over lack of support, but did not confirm capacity in the administrative aspect.

When presentation day rolled around, I arrived at the office early to reconfigure the fridge to fit my cakes. As other bakers gradually reared their heads, they stood before the fridge, one hand wielding an uncovered cake and the other frantically trying to reposition loose items. The chaotic process prompted a multitude of questions, one of which being: "Why not put the cake down, organize the fridge for space, and then continue?"

​Cake details had been previously provided via email as part of the registration process. A comprehensive breakdown of ingredients had been sent through for the purpose of "filling forms and printing". Alas, blank forms were distributed on the morning of for manual population. This was utterly unacceptable to me. Why would I rewrite what I had already provided - and by the ungodly approach of manual labour?

While I debated options to transform the form into a fillable PDF, my baking coworker offered to write on my behalf. I appreciated the gesture, though this additional effort could have been eliminated altogether with either a spreadsheet that would export into a PDF form, or having participants fill out their own forms to start. Poor planning was not what I had signed up for.

​The venue and timing of the event were other elements that sparked confusion. Common gathering spots with plenty of traffic should have assumed the natural choice, yet a boardroom had initially been proposed instead of the ground floor. Signage/promotions were inadequate in promoting the event, in spite of gaudy pompom and glitter decorations, and the run time of one hour was severely insufficient. Perhaps the greater public does not think as comprehensively as I tend to, for it dawned upon me once again that common sense was simply not that common after all.

We had made do with a handful of bakers, each bringing an average of two cakes each. The organizer herself had taken to five cakes in total, including two cheesecakes, one Bundt cake, a plain vanilla cake, and a no-bake chocolate mousse. Amongst the assortment were spiked Tres Leches cakes from my baking coworker, a scrumptious-looking Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Amarena Cherries and Pecans, and store-bought varieties of Oreo Cake, Carrot Cake, and Red Velvet Cake.​

Although I was less than impressed with the overall flow of the event, we had miraculously raised a substantial amount for charitable donation. That said, the event had mainly been supported by the director of the group, with the cakes shared amongst staff in the office that day.

​Nausea persisted over weekend, trickling into the start of the work week. I embarked on my first office day feeling haggard from the extensive baking ventures taking place over the past three days. Thankfully, the cold symptoms had begun to dissipate, but the occasional sinus pain had started to creep up. With temperatures back on the rise after a somewhat chilly Thanksgiving weekend, it is with optimism that I hoped for fewer instances of coughing on the GO train.

​Most of my time downtown would be spent accomplishing errands. First, I'd investigate the reasons for an expired TPL card and unannounced $1 charge due to an Ontario Parks pass not being picked up. The card had somehow expired, but was renewed on-site without issues. My "NPU" charge would also be waived after I stated my case, with contact information verified accordingly such that similar future incidents would not take place. Ultimately, I'm still uncertain how my turn in the Ontario Parks queue could have arrived so quickly when I had joined the virtual lineup with several hundred ahead of me.

​The second mission of the day was completing bloodwork.  Finding myself in hospital district, I narrowed down my search to three diagnostic labs within the walkable radius. The outpost at College and Bay would be avoided, primarily due to the neighbourhood demographic and potential of filthier facilities. The 123 Edward Street was comparatively hidden from street level and had just six people ahead of me. That said, the 6-minute wait declared on the Net Check-In portal was utterly inaccurate. In spite of the facility being near vacant, my name wasn't called until at least 15 minutes later. The saving grace was that, while the facilities were compact, it was evident that they had not seen as high usage as other locations. Not even the paper covering had wrinkled!
The blood collection technician was also exceptionally friendly and experienced, consequently resulting in a relatively pain-free visit - both metamorphically and literally.

​With the remaining thirty minutes left of lunch, I sped to the Eaton Centre. There, I'd complete errands at Shoppers then head next door to the larger, newly renovated Miniso.

In addition to Sanrio merchandise, the outpost would also make room for a Harry Potter collections, with even "sub-collections" dedicated to each of the Hogwarts Houses. The announcement had caused a good number of Wizarding World enthusiasts to flock to the store over the weekend. Being wholly unfamiliar with the series, I'd settle to partake in the fun only when convenient.

​Despite later learning my true classification to be Ravenclaw (with secondary traits of Gryffindor and Slytherin), the overall colour palette of Slytherin drew me in. Frankly, the ideal pairing would have been a green Ravenclaw, as to align with my Ahgase status. I resolved to indulge in a cozy argyle towel and Sorting Hat bath bomb before making my departure.

​Revealed at Shoppers next door was an irresistible sale of two PC Decadent products for just five dollars. The original Chocolate Chip cookie has been a well-loved snack in our household, but the limited-time discount encouraged me to branch out and try other editions.

​The Decadent Reversed featured a cocoa cookie with white chocolate chips. While still crunchy and competent in curbing the cravings for cookies, they were distinctly less addictive than the renowned classic. 

Other downtown observations comprised of BREADY's takeover of the former Tim Hortons Innovation Café space and fall-inspired baked goods at Neo at Bay/College.

​Neo has never been one to impress me - not with their shockingly consistent degrading service and costly subpar creations. My coworker quite enjoyed her Matcha Latte. Meanwhile, I took note of the refrigerated display case for baking inspiration instead.

​We'd later part ways, with me speeding off to two Shoppers locations on the hunt for promotional items.

​Over a span of two lunch breaks, I had stepped foot into three outposts of varying sizes: the beauty boutique-focused Eaton Centre location, the corner store-style format at Bay/Gerrard, and the three-level, full-service facility at Yonge/Dundas Square.

​Errands would continue throughout the work week, ranging from medical calls/appointments to a grueling pick-up at Square One. With congestion levels seeing tremendous surges as of late, an early morning visit was timed such that my arrival would coincide with the first hour of the mall opening.

This early hour enabled parking in the lot immediately outside Simons, which would be otherwise be at capacity during weekend peak times. Dashing across the street, I completed my pickup at the Quebec-based retailer swiftly then headed next door to Saint Germain.

Courtesy of ochungg, I'd enter the premises with a $12 gift card in tow.

Needless to say, the assortment that would make its way onto my tray had been pre-devised as to maximize the available amount (and eliminated the possibility of having to combat Square One traffic a second time). Reviewing the shelves with a scrutinizing gaze, a quad of buns were assembled for checkout.
In place of the requested Mango Passion Cake, I took to a glistening BBQ Pork Bun instead. The lonely single cake did not beckon for attention, nor evoke an aura of freshness.

The array would consist of classics such as: Hot Dog Bun, Hot Dog Bun with Cheese, BBQ Pork Bun, and Pineapple Bun. Depleting the full value of the gift card was one of the requirements for redemption. As such, I appended a Hot Black Sesame Latte. The beverage was presented in a whopping 16 oz. portion, embodying a fragrant black sesame blend and topped with frothed milk. Without a doubt, the beverage was superior to Zagmachi's repulsive milk + powder concoction and well worth the associated price tag.

Although the store was relatively empty at my time of visit, a particular customer expressed palpable distaste towards the need for queuing. Behind me, a middle-age lady clad peculiarly in a beanie and cartoon-patterned backpack paced back and forth with restlessness. I had contemplated stepping aside to snap images of the buns on the display, but retreated back to my place at seeing her temperament.

​​When it came to my turn, she proceeded to draw unnecessarily close to me, then toss her single bun onto the counter. Her Triple Cheese Toast landed next to my tray, prompting me to clarify to the cashier that "We're not together." Discomfort overwhelmed me, for I could sense overwhelming hostility. She was close to breathing down my neck for no apparent reason beyond that she was in a rush.

I could not understand the need for people to be so extremely imposing. If pressed for time, one has the option to simply reinstate the bun and leave. Saint Germain will not fret. There was absolutely no need to make the checkout experience unbearable for all others in the immediate proximity.

Truthfully, I had almost resolved to step aside and let her pass, as to relieve myself of the silent torture. But I digress: Every customer stands righteous and equal. Another's personal schedule is independent of mine, and thus should not impact my own actions.

My purchases were unveiled later upon reaching home. In sharp contrast to the day-end variety sampled late last year, the Cheese-covered Hot Dog Bun was admittedly delectable, pairing wonderfully with an iced latte made from Le Petit Dep's espresso beans.

Toasted the following morning was the Pineapple Bun. Aside from the user-inflicted surface char, the topping was acceptable. It flaked readily under pressure, which is always a great sign. Consistent with previous observations, there was still a larger proportion of bun to topping. The bun did not feature the wonderfully ravelled strands of gluten the Cheese Hot Dog Bun had, and also see some unwarranted denseness towards its lower third.

The Hot Dog Bun was subject to a reheating process involving both toasting and baking for two minutes each. The intent was to revive the interior (ensure warmth in the sausage) while further dehydrating the existing egg wash coating to yield a crispy exterior. Similar to the Pineapple Bun, the inside of the bun was damp, consequently retaining an excess of moisture to yield a dense mid-section. Gluten strands were essentially identical to the Cheese Hot Dog Bun sampled on the first day, but now chewier and less fragrant. The chicken sausage, in spite of its heavily processed format, was exactly the image I'd associate with hot dog buns of my childhood.

In conclusion, Saint Germain buns are best sampled fresh on the day of purchase, with savoury options (such as Hot Dog Bun and BBQ Pork Bun) faring better than their sweet counterparts.

Meals of the week comprised of: Steamed Pork and Tofu with Broccoli over Rice (unpictured), Instant Pot Aloha Pork (also unpictured), Steamed Pork with Ginger and Scallions with Choy Sum over Rice, and Crispy Luncheon Meat Stir Fry.

​And so, another hectic week comes to a close. More back-to-back office days will persist in the coming week, conjuring feelings of displeasure.