Mary Ann Cake - Spring is Here!!!

I will simply ignore the fact that I've broken a couple of promises to you...yeah, I know I said I'd resume blogging, but never did. Well, I think I'm back and I've missed you terribly.

Yesterday, I discovered a cake pan that I hadn't used. As a cake pan collector, I have no idea when I purchased it, but I immediately knew I needed to use it. The recipe included was a chocolate concoction, so I had to do a quick search to find something non-chocolate. Thanks to Williams-Sonoma, I stumbled upon this recipe with the most beautimous photo of a Mary Ann cake.

If you're wondering what the heck a Mary Ann cake is, well I have no idea who she is, but the pan is designed to create a cake with a convex top. After the cake is baked and turned out, you have a cake with a hollowed out top which may then be filled with fruit, cream, ice cream, or whatever your little heart desires. So off to work I went at about 11 o'clock last night. Baking it at night gave me time to think about my choice of filling and fruit. So it simply sat naked until this evening. Here are a couple of photos of the cake as it's cooling and waiting to be dressed.

I really couldn't decide what to do with this cake, so I simply went about my day. I joined my my girl-bestie, Carol, for brunch and a Braves game and it was during our outing that she mentioned blackberries. Okay, that determined the fruit selection, but what will I do for the filling? I knew what I didn't want, that's always the easy part, but had no idea what i did want. As I walked into Costco for the blackberries, I had an idea--I'd make a creamy, lemony concoction for the filling. So I pulled everything out of the fridge. I used, mascarpone, lemon curd, sour cream, heavy cream and a wee bit of vanilla sugar. I didn't measure anything, but next time I'll use more of everything to fill it closer to the edge. The mixture kinda sorta tastes like a very lemony cheesecake and it compliments the blackberries extremely well. Isn't it lovely??

Honestly, I have no desire to eat this cake--the act of making it/using my pan was the focus. Tomorrow, I'll take it for a drive to, JD, my most favoritest brother-in-law in the whole ENTIRE world.

Sheila Denise

I Love Cake Pans!!!

I have a cake pan fetish. Yes, in addition to my out of control white dish fetish, I've managed to add yet another "addiction" to my ever-growing list of weaknesses.

As I dug through my collection for spring and summer pans, I narrowed my options down to two. My Rose Bundtlette Pan (Nordicware) and my Mini Cheesecake Pan(Norpro). This cheesecake pan is one of the best creations ever made. The bottoms lift out for easy peasy removal. You get perfect cheesecake, key lime tarts, and the like with very little effort and the ooohhs and aaaahhs they create aren't bad either. Okay I'll confess, I have four of these cheesecake pans, but they make the dainty-est, girly-est, prissy-est desserts!!!

Rose Buntlette Pan:
Mini Cheesecake Pan:
A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I NEEDED a square angel food bundt pan, so I started scouring thrift stores. My mother and grandmother have/had the traditional round version, but I was determined to own a square one. I didn't have any luck at the thrift stores, so I checked Ebay and BINGO!!! I am the proud owner of a square angel food bundt pan. I was thrilled when the package arrived. Luckily for my postal delivery lady, I wasn't at home or I would have given her a bear hug. I wonder about the history of this pan and how many smiles it produced when the previous owner used it. I have plans to use it to generate smiles as well. Here it is in all it's gently-used glory:

During one of my many strolls through TJMaxx, I found this gorgeous pan. It's a Nordiware Mini Bundt Quartet Pan. I am fond of all things Nordicware as they've never failed to perform as promised. I own three of the four shapes and thought it would be too adorable to make a large version for the grown-ups and a mini version for my great-niece. She's the only little person in the family and the first girl since me, so bear with me as I go overboard. Not that I needed an excuse to purchase this pan, it was simply too adorable to pass up, plus, it was half the regular retail price.

Mini Traditional Bundt:
Mini Star Bundt:
Mini Bavaria:
Mini Heart (I don't have the large version of this one):
Rest assured, I'll post when I make delicious treats created in these pans.

I'm sooooo excited to add two more cake pans to my collection. Can you tell??

If you are a lover of cake pans, I'd love to hear about/see your collection.

Sheila Denise