Taking the Cake

Okay, let’s talk cake! I’ve made a few in my time. It used to be all about the flavour and moist-factor for me, decoration took a back seat. Plus in my early baking days I assumed decorating all came down to fondant icing and as someone who could barely turn a ball of Play D’oh into literally anything resembling anything I warded off fondant like the plague and to be honest I have no burning desire to incorporate it now. I feel like you’re either a fondant baker or you’re not and I am most definitely the latter.

The other alternative of course is buttercream, which I love working with. However, if you can believe this. I only discovered the magic of piping bags about 4 or 5 years ago so prior to that I just used the smear method which to quote Bianca from the current season of MKR (2019), resulted in “Ugly Delicious” confectionary offerings.

So, back to cake. The key when decorating cakes, particularly when you’re combining a few layers, is to get them as flat as possible. This can be achieved by levelling the cakes with a knife post-baking or if you follow this fabulous tutorial by John Kanell of Preppy Kitchen with the use of cake strips!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNuAMoMgq70

I have lifted this explanation from John’s YouTube tutorial to explain why you need cake strips in your baking life:

When you bake cake layers the outside heats up and baked more quickly than the center, which is insulated by the rest of the batter surrounding it. So basically the outside of the cake layer bakes first; the inside of the cake layer has more time to rise and by the time the inside is set and baked through the outside is starting to dry out and burn. This is why you see so many cakes with dark edges which are not pillowy soft.

What the cake strips do is cool the outside of the cake during the baking process which creates a more even overall bake and stops the top of the cake from doming.

How to Make your own Cake Strips

There are actual cake strips you can buy but I followed John’s easy method of DIY cake strips using kitchen paper and tin foil. Take your cake tin(s) and wrap the kitchen towel around until its measuring the same diameter as your tin. Soak it in water and squeeze it out. Unfurl it and fold in half (and half again depending on the height of your cake tin) and place it in the centre of the same length of foil. Fold one side of the foil down over the kitchen roll and then the other and essentially wrap it so that the foil is completely encasing the kitchen paper. Then tightly wrap it around your cake tin and crimp the ends to hold your strip in place.

As for the cake itself, for my first cake strip experience I used John’s vanilla cake recipe and threw in a heap of chocolate chips for added texture, and I made the chocolate sponge cake I’ve been making for years which is actually a cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.

Here’s what I learnt… John advises that merely greasing and flouring the cake tins is sufficient to be able to expertly extract your finished cakes from the tins. However, while the sides of my cakes most definitely pulled away nicely from the sides, the base was not quite the same story. Lesson learnt: next bake I will be lining the base of my tins with parchment (baking) paper. What I ended up with were definitely flat layers but due to my issues separating them from the tins, the bottoms of my cake layers, the vanilla more than the chocolate, were not as desired.

Having said all that, the cakes were beautifully moist, no burnt edges and no domed tops!

RECIPES

Vanilla Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 213g

• 1 cup sugar 228g

• 1/4 tsp baking soda 2g

• 1 tsp baking powder 4g

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter 176g room temperature

• 3 egg whites (you can use the whole egg but without yolks your cake looks less yellow at completion)

• 3 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup sour cream 133g

• 1/2 cup whole milk 113g

• *100g chocolate chips (add more or less as you desire)

Method:

Preheat oven to 340˚F (170˚C approx.)

Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. (Remember to add the circle of parchment paper on the base)

Sift the dry ingredients (including sugar) together in a large bowl.

Beat the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl using a hand mixer.

Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined.

If you want to add chocolate chips do it now and stir them in with a silicone or wooden spoon.

Divide the mixture evenly into the cake pans. (You can use a digital kitchen scale at this point if you want to be sure you’re placing the same weight into each). Apply wet cake strips around pans.

Bake at for about 25-30 minutes or until the centres are springy to the touch and a sharp knife comes out clean.

*optional extra

Chocolate Sponge recipe

Ingredients:

200g plain flour 40g cocoa powder 280g caster sugar 3 tsp baking powder A good pinch of salt 80g unsalted butter (at room temperature) 240ml whole milk 2 eggs ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 340˚F (170˚C approx.)

Combine the dry ingredients and the butter in a bowl. If you have a stand (bench) mixer use the paddle attachment and beat on a slow speed. I’ve tried using my hand whisk (in the absence of a stand mixer) but the ingredients fly everywhere so I prefer mixing it by hand. You want to create a sandy consistency once everything is combined.

Measure the milk into a measuring jug, add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Slowly pour half into the flour mixture and beat to combine. With your mixer on slow speed, gradually pour in the remaining milk mixture (use a rubber spatula to scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl). Beat until your mixture is smooth and silky. Do not overmix.

Bake in the preheated oven for approx. 20-25 minutes or until the top is springy to the touch and a sharp knife comes out clean.

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