30 Transformer All-Spark Cubes, made of devil's food cake with a whipped cream filling and a hard chocolate coating. Took 3 days, but it turned out pretty much how I wanted it to. I think I've found my baking niche: intentionally rough and ugly baking designs. Mud and stone-looking confections, I'm your man.
I wouldn't last half a day on "Top Chef: Just Desserts," but at least they taste pretty good, and you don't have to worry about cutting pieces— slap a block onto a plate and call it a day. This will probably be my last large format themed birthday cake; I think parties for the entire class may be coming to a close this year. We'll see... you may be seeing a giant Iron Man Chest Plate done in marzipan come next September 29th.
I have been practically sweating chocolate this past week, what with this and the fiasco of the school birthday treats (see previous post) but I will say this: having made, and made over, and made over again, chocolate cake, I feel like I have an intimate relationship with the medium. I can whip up a devil's food cake without fear, understand the zen of pouring melted chocolate. Nothing like a little forced experience...
Next challenge: getting that damned rolled cake right! There is a homemade Yodel with my name on it... or at least a Ring Ding. Yes... Ring Dings...
Kudos! I hope there is one left over cube that I will gladly arm wrestle anyone (aged 9 and under)for. But Ring Dings... this could be a cry for help.
ReplyDeleteWell done, you! Loving taking this journey with you, my friend - and perhaps we can virtually share experiences with rolled cakes. I can make them so they taste great, and with frosting/sauce, can hide a multitude of sins, but they always crack. Watched a show on Cooking Channel yesterday that gives me some new ideas about cooling it BEFORE rolling it (contrary to most recipes). My goal is to get to that dark chocolate ho-ho cake with the red-hot cinnamon filling on the first episode of Top Chef/Just Desserts...well, that and a perfect Swiss Roll.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Richard
I have only made one rolled cake - a "Bouche de Noel" when I was 17. It turned out perfectly - go figure. I seem to recall that we let it cool completely, put the filling on it for several minutes to soften it up just a little, then zip-zap it was done. I will try again and let you know the results, but this small 30-year gap in attempts may affect the results. The cake/bricks look great. I spent three days baking this week, too...turtle cut-out cookies for Ellie's class on her birthday, and two large layer cakes decorated as pumpkins for her birthday party at the pumpkin patch. I thought of you while I was baking...wish our kitchens were next door like the old days so we could "co-bake" during the week of our children's birthdays. xo.
ReplyDeleteOK, I'm gonna throw down my birthday cake triumphs. The cake part is usually fairly pedestrian (hands-down crowd pleaser is a chocolate cake that uses BEETS--mmmm). However, the form is what my cakes are all about. There's been a princess (cake was her dress), a castle, and a butterfly. Loretta starts asking what her cake will be a month before her birthday.
ReplyDeleteCan I place an order for a Greyskull Castle cake for my 31st birthday?
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