Strawberry Rose Cakes

For Christmas, I got a "Sweetheart Rose Cake Pan" manufactured by Nordic Ware. Well, I finally got around to using it when I decided to make some sweets to take up with me on a road trip to Mt. Washington. Rather than scour through my recipes in search for something to make, I decided to try the Raspberry Rose Cake recipe on the package. Well, I don't care for raspberry nor did I have any on hand. However, I did have strawberry jam that had been sitting aorund waiting for such an application (as we don't eat strawerry jam). If I recall correctly, this jam was foisted on us by someone who didn't care for it either. I knew I'd be able to bake with it so I kept it around. =) And so Strawberry Rose Cakes were born.

Surprisingly, these cakes weren't bad at all! Though a bit dense and filling, they were quite palatable. Just like the Mango Upside-Down Cake, the batter was fluffy like buttercream. Upon seeing this, I became eager to try them out as soon as they were ready. ;) The difficult part was actually buttering and flouring all the deep crevices of the rose mold properly. The first batch was fine and all the roses looked perfect. The second batch had a few missing bits here and there because the pan was too hot for me to properly prep it. Granted the mold is non-stick, the baked-on strawberry jam held on to the pan just enough to tear the batter away. And so fortunately, it was not difficult to clean. I just ended up with some less than pristine roses.

What's great about these molds is that the presentation just wows everyone. They really look gorgeous yet no added effort on my part. Another bonus was that the batter was easy to make. ;D Though the recipe called for a dusting of confectioner's sugar, I chose not to bother with it. Who needs more sugar, and why make the roses look as if they were infected with powdery mildew? ;P