Friday, January 20, 2012

FFwD: Quatre-Quarts

I love Dorie's baking recipes. I do. It just makes me laugh that, no matter how basic the recipe appears, it still sets off a bomb in my kitchen. Quatre-quarts (pg 434 of Around My French Table, participating in French Fridays with Dorie) is no exception. Dorie says in her intro that, like a pound cake, this recipe is "based on equal measures of four ingredients: eggs, flour, sugar, and butter."

Four ingredients. That sounds easy enough to contain, dish-wise. Except that the butter needs to be melted first. The eggs need to be separated--whites whipped in the stand mixer, yolks mixed with sugar in another bowl. Flour, baking soda, and salt goes in another bowl. I do fully admit that I've broken a number of my Pyrex bowls in the past year, so when I say that the recipe uses every bowl in the house, that's not really THAT impressive of a feat. Still, for something that only uses four basic ingredients, dirtying up four bowls just strikes me as funny. I need to get out more.
What you get at the end of all the dish-washing is a fairly dry vanilla cake that serves as a vehicle for getting the topping of your choice to your mouth. I made a mixed berry compote and amaretto whipped cream, and it was good. I probably wouldn't have liked the cake much without the adornments. I brought it to a friend's for dinner last night, and couldn't help but notice that people--including myself--were taking seconds and thirds of the berries and cream, but not of the cake. It's okay as a basic recipe that I'm glad to have tucked away for the future when I'm wondering how to use up fruit sauce, but it's not something I'd ever want on its own.

Conclusion: Just okay.

19 comments:

  1. Lol, your post made me smile. I used up an equal number of bowls as you, I think! Maybe it's your oven temperature or the way the egg-whites were incorporated? I really can't see how yours turned out much different from ours. Could it be that our cameras just lie better? :)

    PS. Thanks for the lovely wishes, I'll make sure to pass them on to my sister and hubby!

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  2. You can always soak it in rum! But yes, this is a vehicle kind of cake for sure.
    Your comment about the bowls made me laugh - I was just telling someone the other day that the most I have of any one set of glasses is three... It's an affliction.

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  3. Cher's comment gave me an idea! This cake might be a good base for a tres leches type cake. I haven't done this one yet. Maybe leftover cake can be toasted like that other pound cake.

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  4. Yes, quite a few dishes for such a basic cake!

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  5. Ha! You're hilarious! My cake seemed moist but maybe because we ate pretty much all of it once it came out of the oven. Great post!

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  6. This cake was a little dry, but it eased my conscience and made me feel like I was eating something that could have been healthy! It's funny, because my husband thought it was too sweet!

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  7. Amaretto whipped cream sounds delightful!

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  8. I was shocked at the number of dirtied bowls too! So sorry to hear the cake wasn't your favorite. Fun to try though, right? :)

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  9. Sorry to read you didn't love this cake, I like the idea of soaking it in rum!
    My husband's family are from New Jersey- hard core Giants fans! I'm so excited to go to the game this Sunday, I love seeing my son on the sidelines at the end of each game. I will be bringing a batch of brownies to the game for the press box, I don't think this cake would go over big with that group!

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  10. Sorry this wasn't a great recipe for you...especially with all those dirty dishes. We love this recipe...it was moist and we were surprised by the good flavor. My girls told me that this one goes into the "keeper" category...and one of them ate it plain. Fun that everyone is different...keeps the ideas coming.

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  11. Yum! Amaretto whipped cream with berries! What a great combination.

    Have a great weekend!

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  12. Oh dear, sorry to hear that your cake was on the dry side. I was actually surprised that my cake was not dry, since Dorie had warned us that it would be.

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  13. I'm usually a disaster in the kitchen, and my other half comes in wondering how such a simple dish could create so much mess - so I completely understand your bowl dilemma. Also must have thought the cake might be dry because I drizzled a simple syrup over mine and it stayed moist for almost 4 days.

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  14. That was the same impression I got of the cake...I was wondering if it was due to the individual servings I baked. It was better on Saturday, though...but I've had better pound cakes!

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  15. Sorry the cake didn't do it for you... we loved it. It's funny, I think I spend so much time washing dishes I didn't even notice how many bowls it took :P

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  16. Bummer that this wasn't a hit for you. My cake was moist and light, and I loved it. Hopefully you like next week's recipe better.

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  17. Amaretto whipped cream sounds excellent! It wasn't my favorite cake either, but it was a nice base for fruit sauce!

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  18. Bummer that this wasn't too much of a hit. But you are right, it makes a good vehicle for the topping! :0)

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  19. Hope you like the next recipe better. The amaretto whipped cream sounds like something I need to try!

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