Daring Baker Challenge for July!

This month's Daring Baker challenge was hosted by Mel Cotte. She chose the Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream cake which came from the cookbook, Great Cakes by Carol Walter. This was a bit of a stretch for me, but I guess that is what being apart of the Daring Bakers is all about. I did learn one lesson from last month and that was to start earlier than the day before we were suppose to post our challenge. I also split this into parts because it had so many steps and that worked about better for my schedule. I made the cake and the praline paste one day and then the rest the next day. I then assembled the whole thing on the second day. The changes I made were to cook it in an 8" pan instead of the called for 9" pan. I also used a strawberry glaze instead of the apricot since we prefer that. Would I make this again? Probably not but it was a great challenge and I appreciated the opportunity to try something new. You never know when you are going to find a new favorite.



For the recipe you can visit Mele Cotte site here.
If you are interested in becoming a Daring Bakers, visit this this website. You can also view other members and their results. It is great fun and gives you the opportunity to hob nob with other people who enjoy the art of baking.

edited: I thought I would add what my family thought about the cake. My husband is a chocolate eater so he loved the ganache glaze but wasn't wild about the actual cake which was made with filberts also knows as hazelnuts. It was quit a process to remove the skins from the hazelnuts, which was necessary as they have a bitter taste. So I think I would take portions of this recipe and use in my own way but probably forgo making the "cake" portion again.