Last Tuesday in school I was thinking about what to make for PATH that week, and while I was craving something chocolate-y and I wanted to make something challenging, I thought of the ultimate dessert that's always a crowd pleaser... chocolate cake! I didn't have a lot time to make the cake from scratch because I knew that the assembly would already take a while, so I stopped by Ralphs and picked up 2 boxes of Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake mix, 2 large tubs of chocolate frosting, and one tub of vanilla frosting to make my master piece.
It took about 3 hours, a messy kitchen, and a whole lot of energy, but I ended up making a cake I couldn't be more proud of. Usually when I made layered cakes there had been some problems with crumbs, broken pieces, and balance, but I thought of a couple tricks that could save me from my misery!
First: Instead of using cooking spray (which was a little expensive because I used it so often), I used oil as a new way of coating the pan. But instead of just putting some oil in the pan and letting it sit until I popped it in the oven, I would first coat the pan in oil, make sure it got in all the empty spaces, then stick it in the freezer so the oil really held onto the pan until I put in the batter. I've done that trick the past couple times I've baked layered cakes and it's worked like a charm every time.
Second: Whenever each layer comes out of the oven, I don't know why or how but it always turns out that the center of the cake rises up a bit creating a bit of a "hill" on top of the cake. With multi-layered cakes this is extremely inconvenient because it makes the cake harder to balance and it doesn't stand well. But to solve this problem, I realized that all you need is a heavy bowl, a large piece of saran wrap, and a couple drops of oil. I would put the saran wrap on the top of the cake and lay the heavy bowl on top of that. This way the bowl would act as a weight, pushing down the cake in the middle and making it even with the edges. And to stop the cake from sticking to the saran wrap, I would put some drops of oil under the saran wrap where it would touch the cake. Simple as that!
These tricks were extremely helpful in making the cake look as beautiful as it did. Wanna see? Here are some pictures for your enjoyment :)
The cake turned out really pretty and I was so happy with what I made! I loved the contrast with the white and black on the cake because it really makes the designs on the cake pop out. What I was most happy with this week was how I tried out a new design on my cake and how successful it turned out. For the first time, I attempted at making a spider web style cake (the design is on the top of the cake), and with a lot of care and precision, it turned out great! It was a great accomplishment :)
Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned for more posts coming up!
Sincerely,
The Blissful Baker
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