I have been baking for years and selling baked goods for several months, however, I have never been into making cakes. I'll be honest I think it's because it can be hard to keep a cake moist and not have it fall. With cupcakes and breads, I was able to easily master a basic set of recipes and expand from there...with that said, a friend of mine was able to talk me into to not only making a cake but a very big cake. I am always up for a challenge and love to be in the kitchen so, I really didn't put up much of a fight.
Melissa arrived excited and ready to bake bake, she enthusiastically announced, "start the clock in kitchen stadium--The Ultimate cake challenge has began". Little did I know then, this statement would hold more truth than I could imagine. I set her to work making the homemade fondant and I began the task of baking 6 cakes. The day included a range of emotions for my amateur assistant Melissa, but that is expected with a project of this magnitude. At times, she insisted that she was ready to give up and just go buy a cake at Kroger. Stubbornly, I knew if I stuck with it an edible cake could be produced. However, I wasn't sure I could make it assemble a Rubik's cube. We ended up baking, mixing, frosting, and decorating from 1:00pm- 11:30 pm. The cake took a total of 9 hours and 30 minutes to make. We made emergency trip to the store and had a delivery of black gel icing in order to complete the cake. Melissa aka "the fondant Queen" did a great job making and dying the fondant. Seeing how proud Melissa was at the end of the day made the 9.5 strenuous hours totally worth it. In addition, the Birthday girl loved her cake!
Hershey Chocolate Cake via Hershey's website:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (recipe follows)
- Directions:
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
- Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.
VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.
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