Sybil’s Pecan Torte with Coffee Cream

I’ll state right up front that I don’t really like pecans, and I absolutely abhor coffee (though I don’t mind the smell of it). That’s why I decided to make this week’s heavenly cake. That makes no sense, you say? Well, my logic goes like this: Rose’s recipes have a tendency to change peoples’ minds about certain flavour combinations. See posts from the other members of the group about the instant tea in the ganache from last week’s cake for an example.

Have I mentioned how much I love baking with eggs from my aunt’s hens? They (my aunt and uncle, not the chickens) came to visit last weekend, and brought a dozen of their lovely brown eggs with them. We also took them on their first trip to Ikea, and my uncle found us a brand new unopened dishwasher for 40% off in the “as-is” section. I guess someone had changed their mind about the purchase, and we lucked out. My aunt and uncle had brought their truck, too, so we didn’t even need to pay for delivery (unless you count dinner out, and breakfast made with the eggs they brought as payment).

The only problem with using eggs from my aunt’s hens is how pale and sad the grocery store yolks look in comparison when I run out. 😦

Here are those yolks and sugar mixed together. So fluffy.

I couldn’t find any instant espresso at my local grocery stores, so I had to make do with regular instant coffee. Of course, we went to the States to pick up a few other things that we can’t get locally on Good Friday, and whaddya know, there’s a little jar of instant espresso right there on the shelf at Wegman’s in the same aisle as the unsweetened instant tea. I picked up a jar of each.

This is what those ingredients look like all processed together.

Here are the other ingredients. These ones are for the meringue.

After making the meringue, you fold the nuts into the fluffy yolks, then fold the meringue into that mixture, then put the whole thing into your pan (ungreased, except for under the parchment round). Does anyone else wish someone made and sold 8 and 9″ parchment rounds? Maybe they do. If you know of anywhere that does, please let me know! I keep feeling like it’s such a waste to cut my rounds out of a rectangular piece every time I need one, not to mention the annoyance factor.

My pan was more than halfway full, which worried me a little, but I got over it. I don’t know whether this was because I didn’t weigh my eggs or because of the superior eggs I get from my aunt. Either way, it definitely rose over the top of the pan. No spillage, though!

The picture doesnt really show it, but the cake was definitely too tall for me to just flip onto a rack. So, I improvised.

Unfortunately, probably due to trapped steam, the cake fell out of the top pan before it cooled completely, so I ended up with a bit of a squashed cake.

Oh well. Nobody complained. Except Alex, who can’t stand coffee, apparently even more so than me, so declined to take a piece. I think he was rather disappointed. I actually really liked the flavour of this one, even though I’m still fairly confident in saying I don’t like coffee. I do agree with Marie’s husband, Jim, who apparently wasn’t a fan of the texture. I still don’t like ground nuts in things. Maybe I need a better food processor or something. Hey, Uncle Allan! Could you find me a Cuisinart food processor for 40% off next time we go shopping together? 🙂

On another note, I just have to share what we did this weekend. I know Jay wants to keep this purely a food related blog, but I think this counts, because it’s going to be a vegetable garden.

While I “pruned” our ancient, unkempt lilac trees with a chainsaw, Jay spent much of the weekend breaking up the sidewalk between our house and the road. It was in fairly rough shape, and wasn’t in a good location either. He used some of the broken up pieces to make a path down the middle of my new garden. I’m so excited about having real space to plant my veggies! We broke up the sod with a tiller borrowed from the same aunt and uncle mentioned earlier. Wonderful people, and I’m glad I can count them as friends, not ‘just’ family. If you’re anywhere near the right area (I know they’ve sold products as far south as Ohio, and as far north as at least Port Elgin), and you need any iron work done, check out Working Iron.