"easy cake" news and stories

The Internet has made it pretty darned easy to spot a-mazing cakes. But what's really special is when you can see a beautiful and incredibly creative cake that doesn't take a slew of know-how or ingredients.

That image to the right, that's actually 100% cake goodness, with a side of cake fries for good measure, created by Kristina Woo over at Creative Loafing. It looks complex and professional, but it's simply layers of cakes and ingredients -- two thin vanilla cakes for the bun (with Rice Krispies for sesame seeds), chocolate cakes for the meat, fruit for the toppings, whipped cream for the mayo, frosting for the ketchup, and the most brilliant -- dyed coconut for the lettuce. All she had to do was bake the cakes and layer it all together.

A little creativity can go a long way!

[via Serious Eats]

I still have about 25 apples left from the apple picking episode of Slashfood in the Kitchen that Scott and I made a couple of weeks ago. I've done a pretty good job of using them up, what with the apple sauce, apple crisp and apple muffins that have passed through my kitchen recently. However, I'm eating at least two a day and they just aren't going away.

I was flipping through my grandmother Bunny's old recipe card file a little while ago and stumbled across the card you see above. I can see her sitting at her old typewriter, making up that card for herself, knowing she didn't need to add any specifics other than "Mix goodies in left column; add dry stuff. Bake 1 hr. at 350." I do believe I will have this one baking before the day is out.

Restaurant Widow's Orange Polenta Cake with Mascarpone Dolce and Orange Sauce may have a mouthful of a name, but what a mouthful! This fantastic looking cake is very easy to make, only using one bowl to mix everything in. The mascarpone dolce topping is made simply by stirring a few tablespoons of caramel sauce into softened mascarpone cheese, though some stores, like Trader Joe's, carry a brand of this sweet mixture in their cheese departments. You could substitute cream cheese for the mascarpone, says Lisa, or you might sweeten your topping with honey instead of caramel sauce. Come to think of it, though, a drizzle of honey is probably all you'd need to top this delicious cake and have it for brunch!

Source

White chocolate is a great choice for making chocolate decorations because it is easier to handle than dark or milk chocolates. It is mostly cocoa butter with milk solids and sugar. It doesn't have cocoa solids, and does not have the same problems with "blooming" as milk and dark chocolates. Blooming is when cocoa butter appears on the surface of chocolate, contrasting with the cocoa solids and giving the chocolate a whitish appearance. While I have seen a few mentions that white chocolate must be tempered, a technique used to stabilize other chocolates, I have never done so and have never had problems with it.
For the snowflake cake, you can make the whole vanilla cake or decorate the icing of another kind of cake. To make the snowflakes, simply chop white chocolate and seal it into a plastic bag. Place the bag in a bowl of hot, but not boiling, water, until it melts. Cut off one of the corners of the bag and pipe snowflakes onto a piece of parchment paper. The snowflakes can set up at room temperature or in the refrigerator. When they are set, gently press them into smooth, white icing for a beautifully wintry look. The cake will have a slight crunch from the snowflakes, followed by a melting creaminess as the chocolate warms in your mouth.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]