Sunday, October 11, 2015

TwD: Tiger Cakes

Yay, I'm posting on schedule for the first time in months. Woohoo!

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe from Baking, Chez Moi is for Tiger Cakes, mini-muffin-sized almond flour-based cakes that are supposedly reminiscent of a tiger's stripes because of the chocolate that is mixed into the batter. I don't know about that. I'm not seeing it. Regardless, these cakes are wonderful.

My son started kindergarten this year. It only took him one month to develop self-esteem issues. Wonderful. For the past week, every morning before school, and every night before bed, he sulks about how he's "not as great" as the other kids, he's not as funny, and he has no friends. (Note: I emailed his teacher to find out if he was being shy all day long, or if he was fine once he was in class, because I know he is more social when I'm not around. She said he has lots of friends and socializes so much that he doesn't always pay attention. Sounds right.)

I grew up feeling like I was not very good at anything besides reading and baking. Baking always made me feel good about myself because, nine times out of ten, even if a baked good doesn't turn out perfectly, it's still pretty good. You put the work in, you create something delicious. People inevitably compliment the product. Instant esteem boost. Recognizing that baking functioned for me in this way, I asked Charlie if he wanted to help me bake the Tiger Cakes on Friday morning, before we took a trip to the zoo.

I supervised, but Charlie basically made these himself (I already had egg whites in the freezer, so he didn't have to separate them.) We had a lovely time.

I told him that I was planning to bake every recipe in the book, and asked him if he wanted to help. He said, "Well, yes, but isn't that going to take a long time?" I said, "Yes, but that'll only make it more satisfying when we finish." He said, "But if we bake all those recipes, how will we have time to go to the zoo?" HA! Once I assured him that we were not making them all in one day, he was fully on board.
Neatness is overrated.
I made sure we thoroughly buttered the pans, because I'd read that the cakes were prone to stick. I guess we didn't butter it enough. We ripped the bottoms off of 90% of them trying to get them out of the pan. Lesson for life: So what? They still taste good.
Charlie got the first taste. I asked how they were. He said, "Deeeelicious. Maybe I am a great boy." That esteem boost may not last forever, but it was exactly what I'd hoped for. We're going to be baking a lot in the coming weeks.

We packed up a few to bring to the zoo, so we could eat tiger cakes in front of the tigers.

14 comments:

  1. This is so cute! I hope Charlie gets over feeling how he says he is feeling (as a teacher, I am used to hearing how completely different versions of a child's day make it home!). It does sound like at kindergarten he is doing well if he's socialising that much :) What a great project for you and him, these tiger cakes - They are perfect for little hands! I just took mine out of the oven after 20 minutes they were still kind of wet and one of them did stick in the silicone mould (not buttered - overkill) so I wonder if maybe longer baking time might be needed? In any case, as you say "neatness is overrated" and they look perfect to me!

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  2. How wonderful that Charlie helped to make them and you got to eat them with the tigers. And as you say, baked goods don't have to be perfect to taste great.

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  3. I loved that you put on the chocolate even though the cakes mostly stuck in the pans. Only 3 of mine came out unscathed! And how fun to go to the zoo and see a tiger after making tiger cakes! Keep making memories with that wonderful little boy.. . .all will be well.

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  4. That's a great story! I like your lesson about outward appearances not being the most important! These cakes sure did taste good!

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  5. Are you back in the States these days? Great kindergarten story. I remember when my son started kindergarten, such a big step. I love that you brought tiger cakes to the zoo. I used a non-stick pan which worked great. Maybe a holiday wish list item. Wish you many happy moments in the kitchen with your son. Too cute.

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    1. I am. We moved to northern Virginia in August. Finally feeling settled!

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  6. Tell your son he did an awesome job on those cakes!
    I feel for you! My youngest is 8 and he is going through the same things his 18yr old sister and 15 yr old brother went through when they started school.

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  7. love that last picture! spending time with you, doing fun stuff like baking, will certainly make him feel special and good.

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  8. My daughter started baking before I did, back when she was in kindergarten. She learned much about measurements, food, nutrition and flavor. Baking are for all ages. Charlie is on his way. One happy kid with the tiger cake!

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  9. I always enjoyed baking with my mother. Those are some of my greatest childhood memories. And we still had time for the zoo!

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  10. I always enjoyed baking with my mother. Those are some of my greatest childhood memories. And we still had time for the zoo!

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  11. Love this blog post! Great integration of the personal story with the baking story! And your tiger cakes look great! (I also didn't butter enough, apparently. Eh, still tasted yummy!)

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  12. Love the story and love the photo of Charlie, so cute. These little cakes were really delicious and so easy to make, weren't they?

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  13. Welcome back-I recently came back too and it is a great feeling to be baking in my kitchen again. Tell Charlie he did a great job, that tiger looked jealous!

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