Hubby's birthday cake

Never before did it take me this long to decide what kind of cake to bake for my husband's birthday. Do I go with a recipe that I've made before or do I take this opportunity to try something completely new but risk total failure and end up having to run to the store to "buy" a cake. I'm sure you've been there :o) I decided to throw all caution to the wind and go with something completely new. I narrowed down my choices to: Dobos Torte or a Chiffon Layer Cake. I figured that either option would be a challenge; the Dobos Torte for its numerous thin layers and finicky buttercream, and the Chiffon Cake because it seems almost impossible to bake one without a tube pan. The Dobos Torte lost :o)

Here's a sneak preview of the birthday cake :o)

If you like Medjool dates, you're going to love this post. I started thinking about a date-infused cake filling and frosting. I have a great recipe for a Filled Date Cookie that I thought I would transform into a filling and frosting for the cake. That pretty much drove the decision on what kind of cake to make: something with warm spices to complement the Medjool dates.

In my correspondence with Tish Boyle, author of The Cake Book, she assured me that her Chiffon Layer Cake recipe in The Cake Book would not sink. I have to admit, I've never been disappointed with any of her recipes I've tried so far, so I went for it. I chose her Spiced Chiffon Cake on page 67 of The Cake Book, which has cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. The only change I made is add freshly ground cardamom seeds from one cardamom pod.

I wish I could give you the exact recipe for the filling but I just kind of winged it. The base for the filling and frosting is a puree made from Medjool dates(dates), a little sugar, some water, cinnamon, some salt, and vanilla (cooked together for a few minutes until soft and sticky - stir often!). I like to call this "Date Jam".

For the filling, I added about 2-3 tbsp of the Date Jam to 1/2 cup of homemade pastry cream (made a small batch with only 1 egg yolk). To lighten the pastry cream, I folded in 1/2 cup of stabilized whipped cream. For the frosting and piped decorations, I added 1/2 cup of the Date Jam to one 8 oz package of cream cheese and folded in 1 1/2 cups of stabilized whipped cream (gelatin-based). My thought was that the tangy properties of the cream cheese would cut some of the sweetness of the Date Jam for a nice balance. I call that the Date Cream Cheese Mousse frosting :o)

Yay, no sinking. Tish, you rock!!!

Spread a thin layer of Date Jam on the bottom cake layer

Spread the Date-infused pastry cream over the Date jam

Frosted with Date Cream Cheese Mousse frosting

Ta-dah!

An inside view for your pleasure. Wonderful with a nice cup of Chai. Bon Appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:

• Hubby loved his birthday cake. He said the flavors worked really well together, and that the cake was soft. He gave it a 9.5 out of 10.
• The date flavor came through really well and took no backseat to the spices in the Chiffon cake. They complimented each other nicely. The cake layers are soft (even when eaten straight from the fridge). They could be a bit more moist but that's my fault because I baked it for 32 minutes (the outer range of the specified time span) and might have overbaked it slightly. I was a little scared it would sink otherwise, ha ha. I know better now! So, needless to say, I loved this cake too. And I'm no longer afraid of Chiffon Layer cakes :o)
• I shared this cake with a few friends who all loved it. One friend in particular was very sweet and gave me this detailed feedback: "I tried the cake, and it is very delicious! The texture of course is excellent as always, and I love the taste of the date in it; I did not think that I WOULD BE TASTING THE DATES. Also, I was thinking that the spices might be too strong, but the amount of spices is perfect so it does not taste like a spice bread; it tastes like a cake. I love it. Really great creation Miss Cake Boss".
• We enjoyed this cake with a cup of Chai. What could compliment the spices in the cake better? I got the recipe HERE on Leslie's awesome blog. My only change was to double the water to make it less "milky" :o)