Today I stumbled upon some non-bakery (aka mass-market) “lavash” bread and I bought a package to test out. It was some kind of non-plain version, maybe oat and flax? Something like that.
Tl,dr: I liked it far more than the ersatz tortillas that “wrap” sandwiches are wrapped in. Those things often taste like… I don’t know, wheat-flavored paper.
So I’ll do a test tomorrow to see if it dries out if prepared and left to sit for, say, an hour.
Ok, I tested it at 30 min. Could tell it was a little dried out. So if I use these, I’ll employ the damp paper towel method. I still like them though. Kinda tasty.
Trying out an asparagus soup recipe tonight as a candidate for the soup offering.
I was surprised to see how popular a creamy tomato soup was with younger people at Sadelle’s in Toronto today, in case you are still considering some other soups. (Realize the attendees at the tea might be slightly older, or a wide age range)
I’m surprised I am not seeing a copycat recipe online.
Here is someone else’s creamy tomato soup recipe.
Related: CLICK HERE if you’d like to know what happens when a new Vitamix owner turns the blender to HIGH for the first time 
You only make that mistake once! I hope
You are not kidding. Soup was blazing hot - I’m lucky I didn’t get burned.
Test run, finally, of the tiger cake!
Wow, when I was tasting the batters, I was like, this is nothing exciting. But both Mom and I really like the cake. This was a slice from the end, so I’m curious what to see what it looks like in the middle of the cake.
I dirtied every bowl in the kitchen and all the measuring implements, but I think it was worth it. Considering this as something to offer, in neat slices, for the tea.
This is a lovely fast soup to make. I use jar roasted peppers and add a can of white beans drained which gives the soup some body when blended. Goes nice with all sort of sandwiches
Maybe the resident Tiger cake pros @Saregama @MunchkinRedux and @Nannybakes have tips.
I need to get a lot more spring in my cake. I did smush it down a little when turning it out of the pan, but even so, needs more spring. Hard to achieve at such low baking temp…?
Someone on the baking internet’s had a technique which called for a blast of heat initially then dropping to a lower temperature to finish. I think it was Sally’s baking addiction for muffins but don’t quote me on that basically 425 for the first 5 minutes and the dropped to 325? To finish. I was surprised how much of a difference it made
I checked my notes. It looks like I typically bake the tiger cake in a straight sided pan (sides not at an angle). Maybe that helps with the rise, kind of like it should for gluten free breads? If you have a pullman pan which fits the recipe (or can make the recipe fit the pan), it might be worth giving it a try. Other than that, my only tip is keep each layer slightly “less than” the one before, giving the batter a bulls-eye appearance once the pan is fully loaded.
Yes , starting slightly hotter is what I was thinking as well …
Ugh, I specifically wondered if I should use my straight-sided loaf pan, and then decided not to. I’ll correct that next time.
I also really really wanted to weigh both batters and then figure out how to layer based on weight, but at that point I had dirtied so many bowls that I didn’t have the mojo to dirty more - but I’ll weigh both next time and then, instead of aiming to split the three layers evenly (33% each) I’ll tweak it so that the weight tapers .
Thanks!
I’ve baked tiger cakes in a variety of pans – metal loaf, silicone loaf, foil takeout pan – and had consistent results each time, so I don’t think it makes much of a difference. I’m going to try a small round for the next one.
There’s plenty of both baking powder and eggs in all the recipes for the cake to rise at 325; I’ve not had any issue with that in any iteration.
Actually, I bake all my cakes at 325 – or even 300 sometimes if I want to minimize the bump without cake strips.
I weigh the two halves roughly before stirring the chocolate into the second batter. I try to give it about 60% for the vanilla bowl and 40% for the chocolate bowl, but I don’t get too exact about it. I def don’t have the patience to weigh each layer.
