Cake Flavors

Let me start out by saying I’m a cake snob. I didn’t used to be and I’m sure like every kid on this planet, I ate every cake that came my way. However, the women in my family are quite great bakers so almost every cake that came my way was pretty darn awesome. I didn’t learn to bake until about a year ago. Until then, I tried not to set the house on fire with my rock-hard cookies. The cakes I’ve had in the US tend to me a bit more sweet and many have buttercream frosting. I’m not a fan of that but many people are and more power to them. Personally, I think the regular sheet cake from Costco is a disaster…

Since I don’t eat a lot of chocolate anymore, I learned to bake and am experimenting with flavors. A lot of European cakes tend to be coffee cakes, meaning not necessarily buttercreamy birthday cakes, but dry cakes (think no frosting) that one might enjoy with tea or coffee. In my family’s household, it’s often served as an afternoon snack. I know that sounds cliché but we tend to get hungry right about 4-5pm and European dinners are served late, so cake at that time comes in pretty handy.

Personally I like fruit-flavored cakes but I’ve been experimenting with different herbs in my cakes. For example, I took a pre-existing recipe (of course) and substituted different flavors, so I added rosemary or dried lavender. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I once made a cake with pumpkinseed oil. The oil is an Austrian specialty and since the seeds are green, so is the oil. I did indeed make a dark green cake that was not the most appetizing to look at however it was different tasting and quite tasty in my opinion. I’ll have to try making it again although not sure if my husband will want to be my guinea pig again.

My inspirations for new cake flavors come from different countries but I am trying to learn from the Viennese bakers. Paris is known all over the world for their fantastic pastries and to their credit, they know how to bake a darn good baguette and pain-au-chocolat (similar to a chocolate croissant). I do think however that Vienna is very much overlooked in the dessert world and deserves a bit of respect. After all, they’ve been baking for centuries (royal history and all). So until I order some Austrian cook/bake books, I’ll have to research online and experiment on my own. I’ll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, here are a few pictures to get you drooling.

Fruit Cake

Walnut Cake 

Sacher Torte 

Eszterhazy Torte 

Schwarzwaelderkirschtorte (Black Forest Cake) 

Dobos Torte

Fig & Poppy Seed Cake