Ahhh a new challenge. I was asked by a friend to make a birthday cake using an enormous cupcake mould, and I accepted, because who doesn’t love a last minute baking challenge….and this was a last minute challenge of the most exciting.
The mould!! I examined it for a good ten minutes, thinking about sciencey things like oven temperature. The tin is quite deep and wide, so I was a bit worried about the damn thing actually baking all the way through. After this initial assessment, I decided to kill two cakes with one tin, and make a practice cake that could also be a congratulations on your PhD/Happy 4th of July present for my lovely American boyfriend.
Oh mayte, am I glad I did that.
Cake One
So…the plan was to whip up a quick almond sponge, fill it with berries and whipped cream, ice majestically and present to my boyfriend with a casual, ‘well….I had the time and I love you’. Here’s what he was presented with a manic 3 hours later.
Ok, do let’s talk about what went wrong shall we?
1. GREASE! GREASE THE MOTHER FLIPPING TIN! I thought I did, but no- three sticks of butter and a roll of greaseproof paper and you might be nearly there. The above monstrosity is what happens when you deftly rub a thin slick of oil in the vague direction of the tin. No- butter, flour and greaseproof paper- it’s your only chance.
2. Patience. I will not lie to you readers, I hacked that thing out with a knife. The bottom came out in 3 billion pieces. Say it with me……easssssy does it.
3. A drizzle of glace icing only works when the cake itself holds a perfect smooth shape. See above.
4. Colour scheme- obviously, it had to be red, white and blue, for the colour of the ‘Murica (and France and England and so on), I used freeze dried raspberries, and coloured some granulated sugar blue to dust the top with. However, these significantly undelicate colours do not work on a cake that has no grace or beauty itself.
So, armed with hindsight and renewed determination (and energy- that cake actually tasted great), I had a go at the serious one. What do you think?
Stay Unchained ❤
Unchained Baking 