Scrumptious layers of buttery vanilla cake, soaked in a decadent lemony Chambord and Vodka cocktail, layered with raspberry jam and topped off with a delicate raspberry Russian buttercream was the end result. But it all started with a date night and a bit of a disaster.

Let me back up. Gary and I set out on a date in Reheboth Beach, DE at a beautiful little French restaurant. It’s a tiny place located under a stairwell that we almost walked by, but were so glad that we didn’t. Inside were exposed brick walls, white table cloths and a waitress who greeted us with a Bon Jour and explained that the chef is from Niece so all the dishes are authentically French in preparation. I won’t linger over descriptions of the scrumptious meal that we proceeded to have, which would most likely take up most of this post. If you’d like to check this place out on your own, you can do it here.

Instead, I’ll focus on dessert. We shared one slice of the Chambord cake. One bite of this delicate creation and I was transported back to my childhood. My Aunt Anna was famous in our family for her celebration cakes. She would bake this outrageously tall sponge care, slice it in half, douse the layers (literally) in liquor, layer them with jam and then frost the whole thing with Russian Buttercream (explanation to follow). It was, without a doubt, a very sophisticated production that came out only on special occasions. I remember feeling very grown up whenever my mother would let me have a slice of it after which I would promptly fall asleep. I think that my mother may have had an ulterior motive (LOL).

I’ll preface this by saying that I don’t typically bake large intricate cakes. An occasional cheesecake or an apple cake is fine. But large, beautifully decorated cakes with multiple layers are just not my thing. However, this Chambord cake made me long for one of Aunt Anna’s creations and with Valentine’s Day approaching, I felt up to the challenge.

As soon as we got home, I pulled out Aunt Anna’s recipe which I had jotted down almost three decades ago and went to work.

As you can see from the picture, just reading the recipe was a challenge. I won’t even mention the fact that she measured everything in glasses rather than cups. But, I persevered and that’s when disaster struck.

The Cake

Disaster #1

The directions said to bake it at 250 degrees which puzzled me right from the start. Could a cake fully bake at 250 degrees? Aunt Anna said it did, so I followed her directions. An hour later, I pulled out something that had a white meringue-like top but was totally loose on the inside. Down the sink it went.

Disaster #2

I then called my mother-in-law who was one of Aunt Anna’s baking disciples and used to turn out gorgeous sponge cakes. “I don’t know what to tell you. My sponge cakes always turned out beautiful. I can’t remember how I made them though.” she said. Well, that was helpful! “Maybe look at the back of the Manischewitz box to see if there’s a recipe there”, she added.

Ok, I’ll play along, I thought. I pulled out a box of Manischewitz Matzo Cake Meal and saw something that I thought might work. I eliminated the nuts, lemon juice, zest and substituted cake flour for Matzo cake meal (because who wants to eat Matzo when they don’t have to?).

My cake rose beautifully in the oven and I thought that I had hit the jackpot. But, unfortunately, it deflated miserably as soon as I took it out. Not a total loss as it was still delicious and we enjoyed it with a cup of coffee for dessert.

Disaster #3

I then turned to a Genoise recipe from Julia Child thinking this might be it. My cake turned out flat and dense and went straight in the trash. JULIA!!!!

Disaster #4

My fourth attempt was yet another try at a basic sponge cake recipe that I found on the internet. The cake rose beautifully, did not deflate when I took it out of the oven but, it completely fell apart when I tried to remove it from the pan even after allowing it to cool completely. Again, not a total loss as it was delicious so I froze the pieces that I could salvage to use in a trifle down the road.

Success at last

At this point, I threw my hands up in the air and took my frustrated and exhausted self to bed. In the morning, I decided to turn to the one chef whose recipes never fail me, Ina Garten. Those of you who know me, know that I’m a complete and utter Ina-phile so it’s no great surprise that I would turn to her in my hour of need. And of course, without fail, Ina saved me.

I remembered a vanilla cake which originated in Cook’s Illustrated but that Ina had used in her Boston Cream Pie recipe. Not exactly the sponge cake that I had set out to make, but so incredibly delicious and easy to make. I made it (with a few minor tweaks) and it turned out perfectly. From that point on, things started looking up.

The Soak

Since I had spent so much time on the cake, I decided that it needed a special soak and that any old liquor won’t due. So, I created a lemony Chambord and Vodka cocktail instead. A simple syrup added to freshly squeezed lemon juice and topped off with Chambord and vanilla vodka. It took all of ten minutes to make and was so good that I had to stop myself from pouring it over some ice cubes and drinking it all. This will definitely become a staple cocktail in my household.

Russian Buttercream

I know exactly what you’re thinking. What in the world is Russian Buttercream? Well, I’m here to tell you that this is the creamiest, most delicate and the easiest of buttercreams that you will ever make. Best of all, it’s made of two and only two ingredients. Butter and sweetened condensed milk.

Sweetened Condensed Milk! I can hear you gasping all the way here in Maryland. But before you turn away, let me ask you this. Have you ever had American Buttercream which is used on just about any birthday cake that you may have ever had? This stuff is made of butter and powdered sugar. Have you ever had an iced cake or cookie? Icing is most commonly made of milk and powdered sugar. If the answer is yes, then you’ve already consumed the two ingredients in Sweetened Condensed Milk … milk and sugar. That’s it.

These two simple, common ingredients are reduced to form a concoction that, once you try it, you’ll want to put on everything. Reduce it further and you’ll get dolce de leche and don’t even get me started on that stuff.

The End

I know it seems like a lot of work. But trust me when I tell you that my trials and tribulations have brought this cake to a straight forward, easy to follow recipe that involves less than an hour of time on your part.

The cake and soak can be made days in advance and the cake actually absorbs more of the liquid when it’s a few days old. The buttercream takes only minutes to make and will also keep in the fridge for a few days. And, here’s the best part, the cake actually tastes better if you assemble it and store it in the fridge for a day or so prior to serving it. So you see, everything can be made way in advance. Then all you have to do is pull it out of the fridge and gracefully accept all the compliments that will no doubt come your way.

One plate, two forks, disaster averted.