Can I have my cake and eat it too?

 

We have been dealing with stifling heat in Bangalore and in the midst of the rising temperatures, I decided to host a dinner party for some friends.

When it came to picking the correct recipe for deserts, I could only think of limes, coconuts, vanilla, mangoes, mint, etc. Somehow the idea of serving heavily creamed and chocolate centric desserts seemed very unappetizing.

As usual I started going thru multiple websites and came across three separate recipes which I combined to make my final dessert for the evening –

http://www.food.com/recipe/key-lime-cake-with-white-chocolate-frosting-paula-deen-304828

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html

http://www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/11455/lorraine-pascales-mojito-genoise

I decided to go for it!!! After all, where else will I be able to combine some of the most cooling ingredients for a sweet in this heat, other that in my head J.

 

 

Making the cake was fairly easy. I simply followed the recipe but made only 2/3 of the portions. So used 2 eggs, ½ cup butter, etc. However, I kept the key lime juice and zest amount same as original and also included the 1 tsp of baking soda.  I baked the cake in a round pyrex dish and did not split it into two separate cake dishes. It did take almost 35-40 mins for the cake to bake!

For the mojito syrup recipe from Lorraine Pascales, I simply followed her syrup recipe, except I only used ½ cup of light brown sugar in all. The rest was same as stated.

Finally, the buttercream icing was made as noted above with the only changes being in halfing the recipe and using vanilla powder instead of essence (simply because I was out of it), and adding ½ a tsp of lemon zest together with 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice.

I sliced the cake in half and applied the sugar syrup on the bottom half and the upturned top half. Then I put 1/4^th of the icing in the cake’s center and used the remaining to ice the top and sides. I garnished using fresh cut lemons and mint leaves.

There are those who say that if you don’t follow a recipe as it is stated, then you really have created a recipe of your own. But, I am one of those who likes to add her own touch/ideas to any recipe to truly make it work for me.  To the extent I have acknowledged my source and stated my modifications, I think I am being fair to both the originator and my own limited creativity J.

For those who are wondering what to call this cake.....I am open to suggestions....but, my thought is "summer is sweet"....enjoy!