So instead of doing my English research paper, I decided to spend my day baking a cake. It was well worth it in my opinion. :)
I had originally started off making just some Devil's Food cake for my brother using those Betty Crocker mixes, but then I decided create this layer cake with my 9" pans I've never used before even though I had it for a couple of months. To be honest, I was scared that I wouldn't be able to bake a two layer cake, 'cause last time the cake broke into pieces (I was uneducated in baking enough to not know that it would fall apart easily when fresh out of the oven).
So I finally watched a couple of Youtube videos and just followed those for help. The one I used to follow basic steps in was this video:
I didn't really use the water spray though. It seemed like a good idea, but it wasn't necessary for me since my cake was already pretty moist! She also has her own blog, Veronica's Cornucopia.
Here's the recipe! :)
Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (Chocolate on Chocolate, as I call it)
1. Just follow the cake mix (I used Devil's Food, as mentioned earlier) and split the batter in half. My brother decided to help me out and mix the batter for 30 minutes even though I already mixed it in the mixer. LOL.
2. To prepare the two 9" circular pans you will use, I suggest to brush some Miracle Pan Release that Veronica had given a recipe on.
3. So pour each half into two 9" circular pans.
4. Once baked, let cool for 15 minutes.
5. Release the cake from the pan onto the splatter guard. The reason why you'd put it on the splatter guard first is to protect the dome created when the cake baked. It prevents it from cracking in half, since the cake is fragile when warm. The Miracle Pan Release worked AMAZINGLY. The cake easily fell onto the splatter guard without any utensil/knife to push it out!
6. From the splatter guard, flip it onto a cooling rack.
Tip: If you don't have a real cooling rack like me, remove one of the racks from your oven before baking your cake and balance it on a book. It's great alternative!
7. Let the cake cool and then wrap it in saran wrap to store it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
8. Once you take it out of the fridge, take out a large bread knife and cut the domes off both of the cakes. Having a flat top will make it easier for you to stack the layers and will make it look more appealing. Keep the excess cake aside to use for cake pops later! ♥
9. Now, it's time for your frosting. I made my frosting ahead of time- I used the frosting recipe from here. All you have to do is take a dollop and spread it on top of one of the layers. Spread enough to make it a thick layer, but not too much. Take the other cake and flip it over quickly onto the initial cake with the frosting to create what I have in this picture:
10. Apply frosting on the sides first. I used a butter knife and my bread knife to spread the frosting out as smooth as I can. It's obviously not going to be as smooth as fondant, so don't be mad that it's not perfect! I got a little aggravated myself, but I had to get over the fact that it wouldn't be perfect.
11. Drop some frosting on the top and spread it out. Keep going back and forth between smoothing the sides and the top to have a smooth, all around cake. I did have to remove some frosting back into the mixing bowl, so keep that around.
12. Once done, it's time to decorate! I was originally going to keep it plain, but I decided to use even more chocolate. :) I pretty much took an unsweetened chocolate baking bar, heated it up for 30 seconds to get it a little softer, and used a vegetable peeler to make some chocolate curls. They didn't turn out as curly because the chocolate was still relatively colder than it should have been. I pushed them on the edges of the top and bottom of the cake because I ran out of frosting to pipe anything, but still wanted a cute border.
13. Peel a couple of larger chocolate curls and arrange them like a flower in the middle. Be careful with these curls because they break REALLY easily. I used a skewer to pick them up or my fingers if I was careful enough. For the bottom border, I ended up just dumping some on my cake stand and pushing them into the cake (I was lazy... what can I say. :) ).
14. Melt some of the extra unsweetened chocolate in the microwave and put it into a ziplock bag. Snip the corner and pipe out some flowery designs on the top. On the sides, you can just do some messy waves like I did, if you want.
15. TADA! AND YOURE DONE. Just let the chocolate cool a bit before you cut into it. My family and I are eating the cake at this moment and they loved it! So much better than just baking a sheet cake of the Devil's Food cake - looks prettier, tastes great!
They think it's really chocolatety, so if you're not a chocolate lover, then try a white buttercream frosting instead. :)
"I hope your fire... fire burns babay." -message from Nicki Minaj relayed by my brother
Hope you liked this post and try out this cake! Tell me what you think!
XO
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