Week 9: Butter Cakes

This evening's class may not have produced the most tantalizing photos, but it certainly produced the most tasty array of goods our class has made in one evening. After 9 weeks, we've all kinda hit a wall when it comes to the consumption of sweets.

I never thought I'd actually crave vegetables or exercise, but the allure of constant butter and sugar intake has finally worn on me. That is, until I tried every single one of these butter cakes; I just couldn't resist. Luckily, two of my classmates have started coming to weekend zumba with me so we can shake our asses to 'like a G6' while we think about the pastries we'll be making the following week.

This was another momentous week because we each developed our own recipes for the first time! I must say, my pumpkin bread was pretty kick-ass; even the assistant/former graduate asked for the recipe and took some home!

While butter cakes are pretty simple (afterall, a pound cake is simply a lb of each: butter, flour, sugar, & eggs!) the Pave Royal was the most complex recipe of the evening. You start with a butter cake made with liquor-soaked raisins and maraschino cherries. Then, you cover it with marzipan and egg wash for a cute little individual cakes:

Despite the tartness of the cranberries, this Cranberry & Walnut Cake was simple but delicious!

I loved this adorable Almond Financiers:

While this Spice and Ginger Cake looks like a brickhouse, it was the most delicious ugly dessert I've had (and that's saying a lot, given some of the monstrosities I've produced in my time):

And, of course, the true triumph of the evening was my own Pumpkin Spice Cake:

If you own a food scale, and would like the recipe, just holla at ya girl :-)