They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, here are four thousand words about the disaster that was my Tuesdays with Dorie French Strawberry Cake:
My cake went from lopsided…
…to flat…
…to ugly…
…to rubbery.
My problems began with overmixing my genoise batter. I accidentally dumped 2/3 of the flour mixture into the batter at once, and it was impossible to get it all mixed in without deflating the batter. I probably should have stopped right there, but I foolishly pressed on, resulting in the hockey puck you see above.
My daughter and I ate the strawberries and whipped cream, then threw out the cake.
I probably would have been upset by this disaster if I hadn’t already found the perfect strawberry cake recipe. Check back tomorrow for the post.
In addition to Tuesdays with Dorie, this post participates in Strawberry Week here at Of Cabbages & King Cakes. Check out the other posts for the week (I promise, this is the only disaster).
Our hosts for this recipe are Allison and Sophia. Be sure to check out their posts.
Of Cabbages & King Cakes 
Classic Génoise {ModBak} « Of Cabbages & King Cakes said,
August 13, 2012 at 7:59 am
[…] didn’t. You can check out the French Strawberry Cake post to see just how wrong things went. Suffice it to say, after that experience, I wasn’t […]
Kayte said,
July 6, 2012 at 1:34 pm
How disappointing….I didn’t make it, but I was going to get to it sooner or later and now I am not sure. Just not sure. It looks pretty and the ingredients all sound lovely…but throwing away cake is not a good sign. Thanks for the tips.
Cathleen said,
June 21, 2012 at 11:33 am
Oh no! Glad your “Perfect Strawberry Cake” turned out better for you.
gaaarp said,
June 21, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Thanks!
isthisakeeper said,
June 20, 2012 at 8:07 pm
I love your honesty…I am sure most people can relate so some experience that is similar!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
gaaarp said,
June 20, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Thanks. I need the occasional flub up to keep me humble, I guess.
Baking is my Zen said,
June 19, 2012 at 9:43 pm
The cake was a bomb for me as well…look forward to your new post on ‘perfect strawberry cake’.
~ Carmen
http://bakingismyzen.wordpress.com/
gaaarp said,
June 19, 2012 at 9:45 pm
This was a bomb, but the other one’s da bomb!
Jessica of My Baking Heart said,
June 19, 2012 at 5:32 pm
I tried to salvage mine and eat the poor genoise I ended up with… to no avail. Should’ve done the same as you!
gaaarp said,
June 19, 2012 at 9:07 pm
You can’t mess up macerated strawberries!
judy said,
June 19, 2012 at 4:33 pm
I carefully folded in the twice-sifted cake flour in thirds…and my genoise still came out like a hockey puck. I thought the cake might have softened a bit the next day. No such luck. I’m looking forward to the perfect strawberry cake recipe tomorrow.
gaaarp said,
June 19, 2012 at 9:06 pm
I made a coffee cake the other day that had beaten egg whites folded in at the end, and it worked perfectly. I’ll try another genoise someday, although I’m not in a big rush.
Conor Bofin said,
June 19, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I love it when somebody is brave enough to post a big fail.
They say that if one has not failed, one has tried nothing. On that basis, well done.
Best,
Conor
gaaarp said,
June 19, 2012 at 9:05 pm
Thanks. In that case, I’m an expert. At failing, that is.
Allison@thinklovesleepdine said,
June 19, 2012 at 4:07 pm
Sorry if I laughed but I love hearing about problems OTHER people have in the kitchen. It makes me glad that I’m not the only one. I am looking forward to your strawberry cake recipe.
gaaarp said,
June 19, 2012 at 9:04 pm
It’s from Nick Malgieri’s “Bake!”. More a set of assembly instrucitons than a recipe, although he does have a recipe for the cake itself.
Cher said,
June 19, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Oh dear. Some things just aren’t meant to be I guess…
This cake seemed to be a bit on the fickle side. There’s always hazelnut bisotti to look forward to…
gaaarp said,
June 19, 2012 at 3:50 pm
I would have tried it again if I weren’t in the middle of the Modern Baker Challenge Cakes section. I’ve got cakes coming out my ears, so if one doesn’t work out, I move on.
Abby said,
June 19, 2012 at 9:38 am
Oh no! 😦 Your picture reminds me of that cocoa genoise I made (although mine went directly into the garbage, didn’t even attempt to try it!) 🙂 At least you know what happened & glad you have another good strawberry go-to cake!
gaaarp said,
June 19, 2012 at 3:49 pm
I’ll be interested to try NM’s genoise recipe to see if I have better luck with it.