A Tangle of Knots - S'more Cake

This summer I was told multiple times by multiple people that I needed to read A Tangle of Knots, written by Lisa Graff. This book weaves together several different story lines. At first, it is hard to see the connections. There is an owner of a lost luggage emporium known only as "The Owner", Cady who lives at a nearly empty orphanage and watches all the girls around her get adopted shortly after they arrive, a family with two mischievous children and a middle child trying to find her strengths, a woman known only as "V" when she loses the ability to communicate after a stroke, and a mysterious man in a gray suit. My favorite part of this book was getting to know all the characters piece by piece and slowly discovering how fate had fit them all together.

The main reason that this book was recommended to me was because of Cady. While she has a difficult time finding her perfect family, she has no trouble with baking. She can come up with the perfect cake to bake any person just moments after meeting them. As such, Cady does a lot of baking throughout the story. The recipes for the cakes she bakes for each character are even included in the book. I decided to try Will's S'more Cake: a cake that disappears quickly.

There are nine cakes in the book that all sound delicious, so it was a hard choice. However I do have a soft spot for s'mores. I've made s'more cookies before, so I was curious to try a s'more cake.

What I found most interesting about the recipe is that there is no flour used for the cake. Graham cracker powder was used instead. This makes the cake lightly sweet. It would be easy for this cake to become overloaded with sugar with the marshmallow fluff and chocolate frosting, but the cake balances everything out nicely. It is also a very moist cake, since 5 eggs and a cup of milk are used.

One thing I had trouble with when assembling the cake was the marshmallow fluff. The recipe calls for 1 cup of fluff to be placed between the layers. This was way too much fluff for me. When I put the top layer on, the fluff starting oozing out the sides, and the layers kept sliding. Fluff was still oozing when I was frosting the sides of the cake, so I had to scrape it off and frost again. I have changed the amount of fluff called for in the recipe posted below.

My one other tip for frosting cakes is to slide pieces of wax paper under the edges of the cake so that your plate stays clean. Once you are done frosting, you can easily pull them out and have neat edges to present. It will make you look really skilled at using an icing spatula.

Will's S'more Cake - adapted from the recipe found in A Tangle of Knots

For the Cake:

small spoonful of flour for preparing the cake pan
3 cups (about 1 box) graham cracker crumbs (or about 26 graham crackers)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup milk

For the Frosting:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
pinch of salt

For the Filling:

1/2 cup marshmallow fluff

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom of two 8-inch round pans. Using the cake pans as a template, trace two circles onto wax paper and cut them out. Place one wax circle in the bottom of each pan. Grease both pans again, covering the wax paper as well as the sides. Sprinkle the inside of the pan with flour, and tap the pans to distribute evenly.

2. Measure out the 3 cups of graham cracker crumbs in a medium bowl and mix with baking powder. (If you don't want to buy the crumbs, you can place the 26 graham crackers in a food processor, blender, or crush them with a rolling pin in a ziplock bag.)

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla.

4. Add about a third of the graham cracker mixture to the batter, combining well. Add about half the milk and combine. Alternate adding the graham crackers and milk until everything is mixed well.

5. Pour the batter into the two pans and smooth the surface. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.

6. When the cakes are cooling, make the frosting. Melt the chocolate chips. I used the microwave. You can also use a double boiler. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

7. In a large bowl, cream the butter until fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the cooled chocolate, sour cream, and pinch of salt. Beat to combine.

8. When the cakes are completely cooled, place one cake layer on a plate and spread marshmallow fluff on top. (If fluff is difficult to spread, microwave it for about 10 seconds and stir.) Place the second cake layer on top and frost the whole cake with chocolate frosting. Decorate as desired.