Birthday Cake!!

So The Boy's birthday is exactly a week away and we are both really getting into cooking competitions on TV (could be argued that one of us, read The Boy, is being bullied into liking them). The latest show on our Netflix binge list is The Great British Baking Show. Obviously all this is leading up to me announcing my first cake bake. Woohoo!

From the outset, I was determined not to buy any yeast or baking soda or flour because I would probably never use it again or get very experimental with the leftovers. Also the idea of baking without measuring cups for dry ingredients was not appealing. With this inherent bias and some googling, I settled on using the Arrowhead Mills Organic Chocolate Cake Mix, which The Boy immediately vetoed for Vanilla.

This is where too much TV becomes a bad thing. Watching show after show of fancy cake this and pretty cake that, I didn't want to make a plain ol' vanilla cake. Obvi. Did I mention this is my first time baking a cake? I want to make a fancy, two-layer cake with something (so technical!) in between and something else (another technical term, not to be confused with the first something) on top.

Since The Boy likes fruit flavors instead of artificial, I want to stay away from chocolate and icing as much as possible and instead opt for fruits that are in season for the one or both "somethings". Given the time of year, my choices are Apples, Bananas, Cranberries, Pears, Pineapples and Raspberries. Did I tell you The Boy does not like jam? Yes, I too wonder how we are married now. So we need fruits but no jam or at least jam that is not too sweet. I also want some nuts in there (The Boy is a big fan) - pistachios, almonds, walnuts.

I would have liked to amp up the flavor of the basic cake using some liquids (orange juice, lemon juice or coffee) but the recipe calls for milk and I've grown up being taught milk and citrus don't mix. Coffee would work great if The Boy did not love fruits so much.

Finally, frosting - there will be none of it because of The Boy's dislike of most things sweet and my reluctance to buy/make anything too sweet and artificial. The cake will most likely be topped with whipped cream if anything (besides the fruits and nuts).

So as of today, here is where we stand with the recipe:
Ingredients
For the cake: Vanilla cake

• 1 Package ARROWHEAD MILLS® ORGANIC VANILLA CAKE MIX
• 1 ¼ cup milk
• 4 oz. butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp cardamom

For the something in between: Raspberry, Ginger and Pepper Jam

• 1 1/2 cup raspberries
• 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 tbsp of diced candied ginger
• 1 blood orange zest and juice
• 1 round of rough milled pepper corns
• 3 tbsp sugar (TIP for next time: 2.5 tbsp)
• NO thickener

For the something on top: Whipped Cream and Chopped nuts

• Crumbled pistachios
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 lemon zest
• Sugar to taste