My very first foray into Daring Bakers - and while studying for the Bar too.  I have pretty much given up all of my joys because of the massive amounts of studying I have been doing.  But there is something about baking that relaxes me and focuses me.  This should have actually been conducive to my Bar studying.  If I hadn’t screwed it all up!

Have you heard of the Daring Bakers?  A long, long time ago, a group of adventurous food bloggers got together and decided to challenge themselves in the kitchen.  The Daring Bakers were formed and every month they (now we) try a new, challenging, hand-picked recipe.  Interested in joining? Learn more at The Daring Bakers website.

This month it is Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream.  We are allowed to make substitutions and slight variations, depending on the recipe.  I stayed pretty close to the recipe, only omitting the alcohol-based ingredients and changing the frosting from a Swiss buttercream to a cream cheese and butter frosting.

My biggest problem occurred when slicing the single cake into three layers.  The center layer ended up being too thin, split in half, and started sliding out the sides.  That left portions of the cake without the middle layer.  Also, the buttercream was originally too runny for the filling in between the layers.  The firmness was corrected for the decorative frosting.  All in all, I have enjoyed my first leap in to The Daring Bakers and look forward to participating again.

The recipe is very, very long, so I have put it after the jump!

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