A bit of a mixed bunch in the title but they all came together. Let me explain…
Back in November I wrote about the photos I took of the Yacon plant in the garden showing the plant and the harvesting of the tubers – the post is here.
But what do you do with the tubers? – recipes are scarce. The book I found out about the plant suggested grating them for a salad – this was OK but but not very inspiring. I tried boiling them like potatoes but that didn’t work. I couldn’t find anything else about using this plant (although lots of uses for the commercially produced low calorie sweetener derived from this plant.)
Then it dawned on me. Carrot cake was originated (as far as I can tell) during WWII as carrots have a highish sugar content and they are used as a sweetener. Yacon is a sweet, low calorie tuber, so why not use it for a carrot cake but substitute the carrot with Yacon.
So I found a recipe and substituted the 8oz of carrots with 12oz of yacon – I increased the amount as yacon is quite watery – and baked a cake. Yes I made it (the first cake I have made for countless years); my wife thought I was mad.
But it turned out very well – we both couldn’t keep our hands off it which is why you only see half of the cake in the photo.
But where does the focus stacking come in? – this is the technical photography bit.
I have bought a new device to help take time-lapse, HDR and focus stacking image sets (a ‘Promote Controller’) and wanted to try focus stacking. Focus stacking is a technique for getting more of the image front to back in focus especially for close-up photography. So the new yacon cake (or the remaining half!) became the subject:
These photos are my first attempt at focus stacking. The first pair had a window behind the subject hence the bright highlights on the top of the cake. This second pair had the window behind the camera.
What have I learnt? The technique needs more practice and it is more difficult than it looks to take an effective photo of a cake.
More practice is needed!