Passion Fruit Challenges

On one of my last days in Boston I went to the Danish Pasty House (the one mentioned in my last post!) and in my state of sadness about leaving I ordered a big slice of their passion fruit cake. And it was the BEST slice of cake I've had in a loonnnng time. There's something about the tartness of the filling that makes it very appealing to me, probably because it's not a taste that I've had much exposure to. Anyways, when I got back home I couldn't stop obsessing about the cake so I decided to try and make my own version.

This recipe for Six-Layer Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Filling comes from Food&Wine.com, and it is by far one of the more complex recipes I've tried. There were a lot of ingredients involved and a lot of time periods where I was just waiting (for the cakes to cool, for the filling to firm up, for the frosting to firm up as well....so much waiting!) The other reason this was tricky for me was because it was supposed to have SIX layers, and it was challenging for me to cut through the three original cakes I had made without cutting the layers too thin, because then they would fall apart as I would move them...So as you can see, the six layers were reduced to three because I was much too panicked that I was going to ruin the cake. However, the downside to only having three layers is that each layer was heavier than it was supposed to be, meaning the filling would come out down the sides (!!!)

I'm usually pretty laid back in all aspects of life, but not with my baking. And I was probably the most Type A I've ever been while baking this cake (my family and boyfriend evacuated the kitchen because I was just awful!) I get very bossy and very irked when things don't go my way, and in addition to the layer trouble I also had some challenges with the frosting, which I may have overwhipped because it was a little difficult to spread. But overall, the cake turned out well given all the challenges! I do wish I had made the filling a little sweeter because it was a little more tart than expected, but the cake itself without anything added was soooo delicious, it was moist and soft it's a good recipe to hold onto for other baking challenges.

I added some toasted coconut on top and ta-da! It was well worth the headache.

My next challenge is to make a dessert that is "wet and cold" and dense, like a tres leches cake or something along those lines...Rachel sent me some recipes so I'll decide soon!