Chocolate World

Monday, January 22, 2007

Baking a cake for the first time can be daunting, but worth it

by Lisa Sokolowski, lsokolowski@timesleader.com

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, or so the cliché goes. That puts a lot of pressure on people like me, who are never so close to becoming a chef as when opening a can of Chef Boyardee.

Yet it was my boyfriend James’ birthday that prompted me to put on a baker’s cap and (try to) play the role of Betty Crocker.

I saw a recipe for a chocolate cluster-peanut butter cake in Kraft’s “Food and Family” magazine. Kraft’s tagline is “Deliciously simple. Everyday.”

I can do simple, I thought.

I thought wrong.

Because this was my first cake, I nixed the idea of making the batter from scratch. Instead, I added water and eggs to a box of chocolate cake mix and split it into two round pans, as the recipe instructed. Then I opened the oven every few minutes to make sure the cakes weren’t burning.

They didn’t burn. In fact, they rose just like cakes should. However, when making a layer cake, crowning is anything but ideal.

The filling, though, which consisted of vanilla pudding and peanut butter, was great, even after I realized I bought chunky because that’s what I like.

When the cakes cooled, I put the filling between them. That’s when I first noticed the wobbling. I hoped the frosting (the leftover filling mixed with whipped cream) would help an actual cake result from what was quickly becoming a game of “Topple.”
But it only added to my woes. The frosting was thin, so it dripped all over a pink serving tray that doubled as my cake plate.

I added chocolate-covered peanuts as a garnish on top – and watched in horror as the frosting started to slide them right off the cake. I quickly flung the cake in the fridge and said a prayer for it before I went to bed.

The cake god must have heard me. When I opened the fridge the next day, the cake was solid, and the peanuts were stuck in the frosting.

I drove it to James’ apartment in a coat box and put it in the fridge to prevent a potential disaster. But after “Happy Birthday” was sung and the candles were blown out, the cake tasted phenomenal. It wasn’t perfect, but our stomachs loved it.

Next year, though, I’m buying him cupcakes.

Chocolate Cluster Peanut Butter Cake

* 1 package chocolate cake mix
* 1 cup cold milk
* 1 package vanilla-flavor instant pudding and pie filling
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
* 2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
* 1 1/2 cups thawed whipped topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare and bake cake mix as directed on package in two greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.

Cool 10 min.; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.

Meanwhile, pour milk into medium bowl.

Add dry pudding mix. Beat 2 minutes or until well-blended.

Add peanut butter; beat well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Mix peanuts and melted chocolate; stir until evenly coated.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet covered with waxed paper.

Refrigerate 10 minutes or until firm.

Place one of the cake layers on cake platter; spread with 1 cup of the pudding mixture.

Cover with remaining cake layer. Gently stir whipped topping into remaining pudding mixture. Spread over top and side of cake.

Decorate with chocolate peanut clusters. Store leftover cake in refrigerator.
Recipe from KraftFoods.com

SOME EXPERT ADVICE
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I chatted with George Blom, a partner at Bakery Delite in Plains Township. Blom and his crew make every cake here, from wedding to birthday.

How do you successfully make a layer cake and not have it crown?

“If you have too much of a crown on your cake, there could be a few reasons. One is that the temperature you baked it at is too hot. ... The best thing, sometimes, is to make sure to use a thermometer in the oven. If you set the oven for 350 degrees, it might be 375 if the thermostat is off. … It could be overmixing too. Or the wrong combination of ingredients, or you didn’t measure right. Mostly, it’s that it’s too hot a temperature in an oven. There’s always a little bit of a crown; it’s not completely flat. You have to trim it so it’s flat. Just cut off the crowned top.”

Note: Oven thermometers start at $9.99 at Target.

Labels: chocolate cake, eggless chocolate cake

posted by All About Home @ 9:04 PM

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