stale cake

[katydid]

I have two medium-sized pieces of New Year's honey cake sitting in my kitchen waiting to be salvaged into something somewhat edible (because at this stage they don't fall into that category) but need some inspiration... or are they headed for the compost pile? much thanks!

[sethy]

"punch" them with some applejack brandy or another liqueur of your choice. This means, moisten the layers with a brushing of the liquid, using a pastry brush, or a teaspoon if you dont have a pastry brush. This will get rid of the "stale". you can also moisten the cake with a simple syrup (1/2 sugar, 1/2 water, cooked until the sugar dissolves, and then cooled).

You could fill them with almost anything. Applesauce?
Cream Cheese icing ?
Just serve them with some whip cream and fresh fruit? ice cream? sautee some apples with that brandy or Calvados? and then add some vanilla ice cream?

honey cake would go nicely with an almond buttercream frosting, if you go that route.

be creative, once you have moistened the cake.

[saucyknave]

I find most leftover cake freezes well. And usually can be sliced without defrosting.

[LBQT]

You can make French Toast with leftover sponge cake, or cake of that type. If the honey cake isn't too heavy, I imagine you could use it, too.

[Middydd]

Is there any way to "freshen up" stale cake? I've got a gingerbread that's over a week old.

[joannap]

I know this may seem like heresy, but: what about the microwave?

I made a chocolate cake for New Year's Eve, and it has gotten pretty dried out in the fridge. But nuke it for a bit, especially with a nice sauce (mine's a chocolate ganache), and it's great. If it's really dried out, you could try sprinkling some water on it...

[Richie]

Make a trifle with the stale cake,fruit(pineapple,coconut,cherries,raspberries,blueberries) and a rich custard sauce poured over it. The Joy of Cooking has a great recipe for the custard sauce. My fater asks for trifle on the holidays and it's always a hit.

[chilibug]

Never done it myself, but my Portuguese grandmother used to throw all kinds of stale bread, cake, and doughnuts into a bread pudding.

[Tom Meg]

Apple Brown Betty--a great use for stale cake, bread, biscuits, etc.

Cut the cake into dice sized pieces (I'm assuming you'll have maybe 4 cups of diced cake).

Melt a stick of butter.

Toss in a bowl with a half of the melted butter and 1/4 cup white sugar, a few tablespoons of brown sugar and a teaspoon cinnamon and pinches of clove, allspice and nutmeg. (feel free to adjust sugar to your taste)

Peel and slice some good baking apples--4-6, resulting in about 4 cups of sliced apples, and toss with some lemon juice.

In a deep baking pan, layer 1/3 of the cake, followed by half the apples, another third of cake, the rest of the apples and the rest of the cake. Drizzle melted butter over and bake at 375 for at least a half hour.

Goes well with whipped cream, ice cream, etc. Leftovers also make a nice breakfast--I heat it up in a skillet, dump it into a cereal bowl, and pour a little cold milk over it.

NB--if you're using bread or biscuits, you might want to use more sugar. If the bread you're using isn't stale, dry it out a little in a low oven before starting the recipe.

Link: http://meglioranza.com

[Kaetchen]

Toast it and serve with a fruit syrup and whipped cream.

[bob666]

Rumballs!