Chocolate Sheetcake

I needed to make a super-sized dessert to serve at the Wednesday Community Meal tomorrow and so I created this moist chocolate sheetcake. I love making sheetcakes because they come together quickly and because you serve them right from the pan, they are a breeze to frost since they require just a top coat.

I made a double batch of the recipe for my extra large 13 x 19 -pan and after the cake cooled, frosted it with buttercream that will be very hard to recreate.  I had some raspberry and salted caramel buttercreams in my freezer left over from making macarons, so I added to those to a package of cream cheese, a stick of unsalted butter, vanilla, a cup of cocoa powder and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and whipped it until it was smooth and creamy. My nephew who is my official taste tester said "oh, that's gooood," when he took a taste.

It's fun getting creative and using leftovers to make something special. And really, just about any frosting would be great with this easy cake.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Sheetcake 
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3/4 cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large eggs

Grease and flour a 11 x 17 baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the water, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In another medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer, whip together the butter, sugars and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whip after each addition until the mixture is smooth and well-combined.

Alternately add the flour and cocoa/water mixture in three additions, beating after each on low speed until blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan before frosting. Enjoy!

Cake For A Crowd

Mini Red Velvet Cakes

Before serving, place each cake in a cupcake liner and add a dollop of cream cheese icing.

These Mini Red Velvet and Carrot Cakes were part of a dessert buffet that I recently catered and of all the things I made, they were the easiest and very well received. I think people liked that the mini cakes were small enough that they could try one of each without over indulging and I liked that I was serving cake without having to slice and plate it.

To make the mini cakes, I simply baked my favorite Red Velvet and Carrot Cakes and then broke them into crumbs that I mixed with enough cream cheese icing to form a mixture that would hold together. This is basically how cake balls are made except that I skipped the rolling into balls step and the dipping into a coating step and just scooped (I used a 1-inch cookie scoop) and released the cakes flat side down on a piece of parchment paper. When you are ready to serve, place each cake in a mini cupcake paper and add a dollop of cream cheese icing on top. That's all there is to it and you have my favorite new way to serve cake to a crowd.

Mini Carrot Cakes

A tray of mini carrot cakes at the reception.

Here are the cake and icing recipes I used, but don't be afraid to get creative and make these using other cake and frosting recipes. Be creative and have fun.

Red Velvet Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ounce red food coloring
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line two 9-inch cake pans.

Cream butter, add vanilla and mix well. Add sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs, sour cream, food coloring and buttermilk. Mix well.

Add salt and baking soda. Mix well.

Add cocoa powder and flour and mix just until blended. Don't over mix.

Divide batter among the two cake pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until done.

Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable (I have also used canola or olive oil)

4 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups raw grated carrots (I usually add an additional cup to bring the total to 4)

1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. With a whisk, cream together sugar and oil. Add eggs; cream well. Add flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix well. Add carrots, nuts and pineapple. Mix well and pour into two 9-inch cake pans that are greased and floured. Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

 Cream Cheese Icing

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

12 oz. (1 1/2 pkg.) cream cheese 

1/4 cup softened butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

Whip cream cheese and butter thoroughly. Add vanilla. Add sugar, a little at a time and whip until smooth.

 

Cake Tip: Add A Frosting Frame

A cake with a frame. Adding the design detail is easy when you create an outline to follow.

A piped icing frame around lettering on a cake is a nice way to add decoration and little extra oomph to the design. Piping a perfect shaped frame is easy to do if you first create an outline and you do this using a dish. That's right, a dish.

Let me explain. First add the lettering to your cake then find a dish with a shape you like that fits around the writing.

For a recent sheetcake, I used a 2.5 quart CorningWare casserole dish. Once you have your dish, you just carefully set it upside down centered around the lettering on your cake so that the lip creates an outline in the base frosting to follow for piping your frame. Carefully remove the dish, add the piping and you have a frame for your cake.

The casserole dish that I used.

Adding the piping.

Piping closeup. I used a Wilton star tip for this design.

A few icing roses are also nice but that's another story.

Chocolate Flan Cake 2.0

I really didn't think it was possible but there is a way to make the unbelievably delicious Chocolate Flan Cake recipe from America's Test Kitchen even better. I posted the recipe before but now I need to repost it with one definite improvement — Use salted caramel. 

The good news is that you don't have to make the salted caramel yourself. Just buy a jar of salted caramel topping and you are good to go.

This cake needs to be made a full day in advance because it has to chill in the fridge for 8-12 hours before serving and has a few steps but it's not hard to make and always gets rave reviews.

Here's the updated recipe:

Chocolate Flan Cake 2.0
Note: A 12-cup nonstick bundt cake pan is needed for this recipe.

Cake:
1/2 cup cup salted caramel sauce or topping
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used dark chocolate chips)
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Flan:
2 14-oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 cups whole milk
6 ounces cream cheese
6 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12-cup nonstick bundt cake pan.

Pour the 1/2 cup of caramel sauce in the pan.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Put the 4 oz. of chocolate and 6 tablespoons of butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 50% power for 1-minute increments, stirring in between, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Add the eggs, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla to the melted chocolate mixture and whisk. Add the cocoa powder and flour mixure and whisk again until combined.

Spread the chocolate batter over the caramel.

Using a blender, process all of the flan ingredients until smooth. Pour the flan mixture into the pan. When you do this, the cake batter will float to the top of the pan. And be careful not to overfill the pan. You might have a little flan mixture left over. If you do you can put a little caramel sauce in the bottom of a paper lined muffin tin, top it with the left over mixture and bake for a cook's treat.

Place the cake in a baking dish or roasting pan filled with warm water that reaches halfway up the sides of the bundt pan. I added the water after the pan was in the oven. It's much easier this way. Bake the cake for 75 to 90 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean and the flan registers 180 degrees.

Place the baked cake on a rack to cool completely at room temperature. After cooling, refrigerate the cake for 8 to 12 hours before removing it from the pan.

To remove the cake, fill a bowl with hot water and place the bottom third of the bundt pan in the water for 1 minute. Place a cake platter with at least a 1/2 inch rim to hold the caramel sauce on top of the cake and flip the cake over. Slowly remove the pan, letting the caramel drizzle over the top of the cake. Serve chilled.

Days Of Cake

It's been cake, cake and more cake at my house over the last few days as I've been working hard trying to make the best celebration cake for my friends Marc and Michael's 10th wedding anniversary today.

They have been so supportive and easy going about me making it, basically saying, "Heidi we would like you to make our cake and anything you do is fine." Seeing the finished cake will be a complete surprise and I so hope they will be pleased.

I promise to post a picture of the finished cake later today but until then, here are a few pictures of what I've been up to:

Coming Soon...A Tiered Anniversary Cake

Anniversary Cake Supplies.

For the last month I've been working on a design for a tiered anniversary cake for a celebration this coming Sunday. Since showtime is quickly approaching, I'm doing my best to stay organized and trying to get as much as possible done ahead of time.

Over the weekend I finished getting all my supplies in order and the first task I knocked off my to do list was covering the cake boards.

I say cake boards because in addition to the tiered cake, I'm making two large cakes that we can slice into first so that the centerpiece cake can remain intact, at least for a bit.

For cake boards, I use 16-inch wood rounds that I cover with fabric and trim. I purchased the boards at the hardware store and I love that they are sturdy and reusable. When the party is over, I just remove the fabric and trim and set them aside for next time.

When it comes to choosing what fabric to cover the boards in, I like neutral and simple since the cake should be what stands out. For this event I'm using muslin since I'm trimming the cake boards with a burlap trim and thought they'd look nice together. The materials I chose also add a bit of texture to the cake boards which I like and feel is perfect for a fall celebration.

Here's how to cover a cake board:

Lay the board on the fabric and simply pull the fabric taut around it and staple into place. Don't worry if the stapling looks messy. This is the underside and no one will see it.

See how nice this looks.

To add the trim, measure the circumference of the board and add one inch to this to get the length you need. Cut the trim.

I used a glue gun to adhere the trim to the side of the board, working just a bit at a time until the side is completely covered. When you get to the end, cut the trim neatly so that it overlaps just about 1/4 of an inch.

Here are my completed boards. Notice the seam of the trim on the bottom board — It doesn't look too bad but I always make sure it's on the backside of the finished cake.

Buttercream Cake Decorations

Eleanor blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, iced and decorated with buttercream.

Elaborately decorated cakes often taste not so great. That's right, not so great.

This is because satin smooth finishes and fancy three-dimensional decorations are usually obtained with rolled fondants and gumpastes, sickly sweet sugar doughs that frankly taste terrible.

I really don't want to eat a cake that's covered with something bought in a can at the craft store, not to mention the manhandling that goes into getting these decorations onto the cake. Do I really want eat fondant that's been warmed in someone's hands before being rolled out and pressed and smoothed onto a cake? No, I don't. I want cake topped with homemade frosting that's applied with a spreader.

The fact is though that I do get requests to make special theme decorated cakes for celebrations and I've done my best to figure out a way to make these cakes with buttercream.

Recently my daughter Eleanor asked me to make a CaptainSparklez cake for her 15th birthday celebration. For those who don't know (I wouldn't if it weren't for Eleanor), CaptainSparklez (real name Jordan Maron) is a very popular minecraft Youtube personality with more than eight million subscribers.

For her birthday cake, Eleanor asked me to put the CaptainSparklez logo on top of a Guinness chocolate cake.

The CaptainSparklez logo.

 Lucky for me, the logo isn't too intricate and with a bit of help from my much more artistic husband Joe, who outlined the logo for me onto the cake using a wooden skewer, the cake turned out great. The final buttercream decoration looked clean, was recognizable and most importantly tasted great.

Eleanor's cake.

And, it was easy to make. After Joe outlined the logo, I traced the outline with buttercream using a #2 tip and then filled it in by adding more buttercream and simply smoothing it out with a small table knife. Completing the decoration took just about 30 minutes.

Joe used a skewer to outline the logo onto the yellow buttercream iced cake. If you don't feel comfortable just going for it, an option would be to print and cut out a template that you could trace.

I outlined the design using a # 2 tip, filled it in using the same icing and tip and used a small knife to smooth it out.

Almost done!

Here are some other cakes I've made using the same technique of piping an outline, filling it in with buttercream and using a knife to spread the frosting. The more you practice, the easier it gets.

Airplane Cake:

This is still my all-time favorite cake and was for my friend Jack's 90th birthday. The airplane is the B-29 he flew as a navigator in World War II.

I traced the plane using a cardboard template. Once again, my husband Joe helped by drawing it for me. Then I set the template on the cake, traced it then outlined and filled it with buttercream.

 

The template.

Adding more details with buttercream.

The skewer trick of tracing on your design before you add the icing also helped me get the lettering onto Jack's cake.

Dinosaur Cake:

This cake was for my Goddaughter GraceLin's 5th birthday party.

I used a dinosaur cookie cutter as a guide to making a template.

Outline.

Fill in the dinosaur and smooth out the buttercream using a small knife.

Looking good.

Looking even better with some pearl sugar for teeth, a candy eye and upside down heart sprinkles for spikes.

And, here's the recipe for the Swiss Meringue Buttercream that I use. It's from Julie Richardson of Baker & Spice Bakery and it's absolutely delicious and not too sweet.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
6 large egg whites
1 1/4  cups granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon of fine sea salt
1 tablespoon espresso powder, dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water.

Place the whites in a clean mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar and cream of tartar.

Place bowl over a double boiler on medium heat, stir frequently until the mixture is very hot (120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit).

Move to mixer and whip whites on high for 2 to 3 minutes; turn down to medium low until cool (use the bowl as your guide).

In a separate bowl with a wooden spoon, stir butter to soften.

With mixer on medium/high speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, adding the next tablespoon just as the previous one is blended in. Once all the butter incorporated, add in vanilla, salt and coffee and whip on high speed until fluffy.

Dinosaur Cake

I've said it before and I'll say it again — I'm not a fan of fussy cake decorations using gumpaste, fondant and crusting buttercream.

They all are sickly sweet and frankly taste terrible. Crusting buttercream isn't even made with butter. It's made with shortening and bakeries like it because it's cheap to make and forms a protective crust that makes cakes iced with it easier to box and transport.

For me, taste is what matters most and nothing is better than a subtly sweet Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  So that's what I used to make this Dinosaur Cake for my Goddaughter GraceLin's 5th birthday celebration.

My secret for adding a perfectly shaped dinosaur to the top of the cake is to use a cookie cutter as my guide to make a template. Then all you have to do is trace the template with a toothpick or skewer and add icing and decorations. It really is easy.

Here's how:

Use a dinosaur cookie cutter as a guide to draw a template. I made the template out of cardboard from a cereal box.

Cut the template out.

Position the template on the cake. I had to give the tail a clip to make it fit better.

Use a skewer or toothpick to outline the template.

Now this dinosaur is ready for some color.

Outline the dinosaur with green buttercream.

Fill the outline with more green buttercream and use a small knife to spread and smooth it out.

Looking good.

I used the pink candy hearts to make spikes down the dinosaur's back.

Just stick them in upside down.

Break some of the white hearts in half for toes.

That was easy.

Use a candy sprinkle for the eye.

GraceLin is going to love it!

Swedish Pearl Sugar makes perfect dinosaur teeth.

The candy decorations add nice pops of color to the design.

I added a bit of hot pink sanding sugar down the dinosaur's back and I used a skewer to write "Happy Birthday" so that I can be sure all the letters fit before going over them with icing.

This cake is ready!