Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cake

A rich cake

Countess Elena — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:18:09 -0800

Can you help me identify the recipe for a cake I baked years ago? I was a teenager and I needed to bake cakes for some parties. This was both easy and completely delicious. I'd like to make it again for gifts, but my mother, who found the recipe, can't remember what it would have been.

The name was something like "butter cake," but most people think of a pound-type cake when they use that term, which is nothing like this cake. The cake was baked in a 9x13 pan, and came out with a smooth gold surface, like the top of a fresh pan of blondies, and delicious bubbling liquid around the edges. The cake was swimming in moisture, almost like a pudding, and there was no question of taking it out of the pan until it was time to cut and serve the pieces, which were messy and relatively small, like the size of a brownie. It had a sort of dulce de leche or toffee flavor, though no candy was used. Condensed milk might have been the magic ingredient.

Let me know what you think --

Utterly butterscotch recipes!

orange swan — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:53:38 -0800

Please hit me with your best butterscotch cake/dessert recipes. I'm planning a company dinner and when it came to deciding on a dessert, I found I had a hankering for something butterscotch. What are your best butterscotch cake or dessert recipes? I'm thinking something relatively simple that can be served with ice cream, because one of my company is four-year-old boy who loves his ice cream.

Edible buzz

maggieb — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:55:43 -0800

Pre-baked virgin fruitcake. Is it too late to infuse it with brandy or rum? I've read the online scratch-made recipes which take weeks and weeks. Should I poke a few little holes and dribble in some brandy between now and 25 December? If so, how often?

Recipe on a tombstone

Daddy-O — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:31:08 -0800

My Googling skills are apparently insufficient. I remember once upon a time seeing on the web a picture of a woman's tombstone that said something like "I told you you could have my (coffee cake?) recipe over my dead body" and underneath followed the recipe. Does anyone know where on the net it is? Thanks!

Fondant Question

PrettyGeekAtx — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:30:01 -0800

I recently started working with fondant and have made 2 practice cakes now in preparation for making my son's groom's cake for his wedding at the end of this month. I pretty much have the whole rolling it out and draping it over the cake part down, but I can't get it to look smooth & glossy like it does in the pictures and videos I have studied. I am using powdered sugar underneath and on top when I'm rolling it out, because otherwise, it sticks to the rolling mat on the bottom and my rolling pin (one made by Wilton especially for rolling out fondant) on the top. By the time it's on the cake, it's all dusty with powdered sugar, and try as I may, using a soft pastry brush and/or a soft paper towel, I just can't get the dusty look to go away. Water and shortening are enemies of fondant, and while I can sort of get rid of the extra powdered sugar with them, they end up eating into the fondant itself. What the hell am I doing wrong?

I have checked old posts having to do with fondant, but none of them seem to address this specific issue.

Thanks, MeFi bakers!

Yellow lemon cake of heaven

blithecatpie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:19:10 -0800

Please help me identify this snack cake! I went to this dinner last night (I'm in the Bay Area), where, for dessert, they served a selection of tiny cakes, including one that I now must have.

It was about 1.5in in diameter, a circular, lemon cake covered in a solid, daffodil-yellow glaze with white stripes on top. It definitely seemed store-bought.

Please help me identify this cake and where I might possibly acquire more. Thanks!

ISO: Cake Pan in shape of Comedy/Drama Masks

He Is Only The Imposter — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:49:29 -0800

I'm looking for a cake pan/mold in the shape of the traditional theater comedy/drama masks. This is for a gift, so I need an actual pan, not a workaround for making the cakes. Googling got me cookie cutters but no cake molds. Thanks!

Piece of Cake

misha — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:38:42 -0800

My lovely castle cake pan is sadly suffering from disuse. Help me out with your favorite bundt cake recipes and glazes. I'm especially looking for recipes that go well with seasons or themes (for example, for Fall/Halloween, maybe a pumpkin or haunted house chocolate bundt cake), but I'd enjoy anything from your favorite, easy-to-make staples to the most exotic variety. Again, don't forget to include special glazes (and yes, I have seen the top 20 on allrecipes.com).

What's the difference between good buttercream icing and old fashioned birthday cake icing?

kdern — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:27:24 -0800

What's the difference between good buttercream icing and old fashioned birthday cake icing? My fiancee and I have picked up cake & icing samples from a couple well known bakeries here in St. Louis... we need to order our wedding cake soon. Traditional birthday cake is one of my favorite foods - yellow cake with white icing and flowers.. but the buttercream icings from these bakeries taste nothing like what I'm used to.

I'm sure the buttercream icing is supposed to be better and more elegant, but I like the thicker, sweeter icing I grew up with on birthday cake since I was a kid.

(Note - I don't mean the super light, lardy, cheap icing that some supermarkets have. I mean rich, sweet, birthday cake icing. Here in St. Louis, Dierberg's Supermarket bakery uses it. In Northeast Philadelphia, Hesh's Bakery on Castor Avenue uses it.)

So what is the regular stuff called? Is it just a buttercream with more sugar and less butter?

Also - my fiancee says the kind of icing I like is not elegant enough for a wedding cake. Do you agree?

Can this cake be saved?

zinfandel — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:57:14 -0800

I just made a chocolate birthday cake that fell apart when I took it out of the pan. What now? I greased the pan with Pam and "floured" it with cocoa, which has worked for me before, so I don't know what went wrong. It's a recipe I've made at least twice before, too. Even if I could reassemble it into a cakelike shape, it's too broken up to slice. What can I do with it? I thought about covering the whole mess with whipped cream, but that's not going to keep before we can eat the cake. I'd like to be able to stick candles into it, too.

Victorian-lit-pastry-filter: What would a Christminster Cake look like in reality?

Doug — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:26:48 -0800

In Jude the Obscure, Jude turns to creating and selling Christminster Cakes, pastry representations of Chrstminster, Hardy’s stand-in for Oxford. What would one of these cakes actually look like? How can I make one? Would these be three-dimensional, Ace of Cakes style cakes, or would they be more two-dimensional, with an image drawn on top?

Pertinent text: “Why did you choose to sell gingerbreads?"
"That's a pure accident. He was brought up to the baking business, and it occurred to him to try his hand at these, which he can make without coming out of doors. We call them Christminster cakes. They are a great success."
"I never saw any like 'em. Why, they are windows and towers, and pinnacles! And upon my word they are very nice." She had helped herself, and was unceremoniously munching one of the cakes.
"Yes. They are reminiscences of the Christminster Colleges. Traceried windows, and cloisters, you see. It was a whim of his to do them in pastry."
"Still harping on Christminster--even in his cakes!" laughed Arabella.

Turn my plain-jane banana bread into a bombshell dessert thingy.

wowbobwow — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:56:38 -0800

Turn my plain-jane banana bread into a bombshell dessert thingy. I am attending a party tonight and underestimated how much cake to bring. I made a 9 inch red velvet cake but it won't be nearly enough, it turns out.

I do have a loaf of banana bread, which is I think decent enough to be transformed into a dessert. It's your standard rectangular loaf, unsliced. It should be something simple to do (aka not hollowed out and filled with truffles, etc). I'm a fairly experienced pastry cook, but I'm stalling out on how to repurpose this.

I'm eager for your ideas!

Tried and true fat-free baked dessert recipes that don't suck?

vytae — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:21:02 -0800

I'm looking for fat-free (or super low-fat, like under a gram per reasonably-sized serving) recipes for baked goods that you've personally made and enjoyed. Cookies, cakes, quick breads, etc. are all fair game. Bonus points for chocolate stuff. I've heard all the usual tips about using apple sauce, prune baby food, black beans, instant fat-free pudding, etc. in place of the oil. I'm not averse to those things, but I'm having trouble finding any recipes using these techniques that aren't followed by 150 reviews saying how disgusting the results are. So: I'm not looking for general low-fat baking tips, I'm looking for specific recipes that you've actually had good results with. I don't expect the results to taste exactly like the real thing, I just want a non-gross approximation, and I trust the taste of my fellow MeFites more than a slew of random complainers on the internet cooking sites.

(Also, I understand that 2 bites of the real thing may be more satisfying than a huge piece of some nonfat substitute. And that adding sugar to make up for lost fat yumminess doesn't reduce overall calories. And that low-fat diets aren't a cure-all. I'm hoping to head off any derails here at the pass - just recipes, please! Thanks!)

Help me bake a cake!

DeltaForce — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:00:47 -0800

I have never baked in my entire life. Now I must bake an amazing cake. Halp plz n thnks! I am making a cake for a special someone's birthday. It will be a white vanilla layer cake (I'm thinking two layers? Three?) with raspberry buttercream frosting.

I will be using very good quality ingredients from a local health food store, so if I do it right, it should come out pretty good.

As I am so utterly clueless when it comes to making baked goods, I would really appreciate any "tricks of the trade" that experienced bakers would be willing to share.

I don't have more than a couple days to make this cake, so I pretty much get one go at it. Anything I should watch out for? Tips for avoiding dry cake, flavorless/over-sweet frosting, and burning my house down?

Thank you!

Cakes as art, when did it start?

juniper — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:39:06 -0800

Can anyone tell me when and how super-fancy, customized cakes became so popular, sought-after, and possible? On various cake-baking reality shows I've seen cakes shaped like anesthesia machines, dj tables, and the Sutton Hoo helmet, and even around town in bakeries, most wedding cakes are fondant-covered and incredibly detailed. The armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias is an old example, but it was played as an odd joke, and unless I'm wrong, this explosion in creativity is novel.

I'm tired of eating faux-souffle.

Ms. Saint — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:47:18 -0800

I've made four cakes, and two of them have fallen. Enough with all the plates of beans -- please help me overthink (and correct) my cakes. I'm pretty sure the problem has to do with the fact that I'm not following the recipes. I don't want to make anything as huge as a two-layer 9'' cake (but I also get a kick out of making two-layer cakes). So, I've been halving cake recipes and using two 6'' cake pans. The packaging for my 6'' pans said to cook them at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

The first time I did this (using this recipe), it turned out beautifully. The second time, one of them had fallen by the 25-minute mark, and the other fell immediately upon me testing it with a toothpick. The toothpick came out with stuff on it, so it didn't seem overcooked. The third time (using this recipe), both of them looked really iffy at 25-minutes, but I couldn't tell what was going on with them, and they fell right before my eyes as I tested them with the toothpick.

I'm growing very angry at my toothpicks!

Here are some factors I'm pretty sure I'm not getting wrong:
* Freshness of ingredients. I checked all of their expiration dates, especially the baking soda and baking powder. All of them are good.
* Ratio of ingredients. I've been very careful, measuring. I've read that even halving a baking recipe can lead to disaster because of the chemistry-magic involved... But, really? Is it that disastrous an idea?
* Altitude. My town's elevation is 1,117 Ft. That's pretty normal, isn't it?

Here are some factors I'm pretty willing to blame:
* Those stupid toothpicks. Am I testing for doneness too early? I know you can also test by putting your hand on it and so on, but so long as the batter isn't wiggly anymore, I don't really understand what to look for. I also worry that I'm opening the oven too early into the cooking process, but I can't see into the oven too well without doing so.
* Recipe-to-pan ratio. Yeah, 6 is not half of 9. But it worked the first time I tried it, so I figured it was okay. Was I just really lucky the first time?
* Oven temperature and cook time. I am having a lot of trouble finding any understandable guide about how to alter temp and cook times for cakes. I've read that oven temperature should stay the same, is that true? I would assume that, given less batter and smaller pans, I would have to cook the cake for less time.. But, this last time, the recipe called for a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes and even mentioned that you should check early, but my smaller cakes fell after cooking for 25 minutes at 350! And they came out all gooey, so it's not like they were overcooked. Yes, I make sure the oven's preheated (but maybe I shouldn't trust it's thermometer?).

My main suspicion is on the baking time and temperature, but I just have no clue how to correct it.

So, any advice? Am I just an idiot for trying to alter recipes? Am I making any other obvious mistakes, from what I've said? Is there a good way to ensure you cook a cake properly, when you're altering the size of the recipe?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I really enjoyed making the two cakes the came out well, and I loved seeing people enjoy these confections of my own making. The fallen cakes have really left me feeling frustrated and let down by my own lack of baking skills.

Oh, and the recipes really are delicious, even when they fell for me. I'd recommend them, definitely.

Look Ma! My cake glows!

santojulieta — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:59:44 -0800

How can I include Mountain Dew as an ingredient in baked goods? I recently asked about making interesting and weird cookies and got a lot of awesome resources.

Well, the results are in, and the male masses have asked for Mountain Dew baked goods. I've found a recipe for Mt. Dew cake, but what else could I do? How would I go about simply adding Mt. Dew as an ingredient to baking recipes?

Bonus points for suggestions about frosting/icing and Mt. Dew ice cream.

Party foul, or reason for jihad?

dejah420 — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:41:46 -0800

Party foul, or unforgivable etiquette breach? My best friend was having a birthday party, and my present to her this year was going to be a decorated cake. (Sorry, no pictures of the finished cake...reason to follow.)

So, for about two weeks, I got ready for this cake; trying different recipes to get the flavor she wanted (it was a chai spice butter cake, with hazelnut cream cheese icing), I made tons of sugar flowers, flow-in butterflies, fondant bees, etc.,etc. Most of the cake parts had to be transported separately, because these things don't travel well, so I drove down (about 4 hours) to the party a half a day early to put the cake together, which took another 3 hours.

The birthday girl wanted to cut her cake after the pot luck dinner, and after everyone had a chance to go swimming.

I came in from the pool, and found that one of the guests...known for her rather tacky behavior, had disassembled the cake...put the sugar flowers all over the house, and had taken what looked like a huge handful of cake out of the cake itself. I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of the final cake, the birthday girl didn't get a chance to cut her cake, and nobody else at the party got the experience of the whole cake ritual. (singing happy birthday, etc.)

I was furious. Livid, even. My exact words were "What the hell is wrong with you? Were you raised by wild animals? Under what circumstances does this qualify as acceptable behavior?"

The woman who did all the damage ran out crying, and her husband came in to berate me for making his wife cry. At which point, I just threw up my hands and walked away. Now, keep in mind, these are not kids. These people are all over 40.

I feel like I have every right to be angry that some twit destroyed my present and hours and hours and hours of work, and that I should never have to do anything but be country-club polite to her ever again. (Yes, I know that it is a particularly vicious female tactic. I only use it when jihad seems too kind.)

Other people say that it was an egregious party foul, but given that the person is socially clueless and inept, that I should forgive and forget. (Other than randomly seeing this twit at parties, I have no contact with her, and I'm not demanding that anyone else stop seeing her, I'm just saying that I will no longer be friendly to her, especially since she feels like she shouldn't have to apologize "because I yelled at her". )

So, your opinions: Am I over-reacting to an egregious party foul?

Dairy Spoilage Question, or should I Mooooove on?

dithmer — Sun, 24 May 2009 09:19:23 -0800

There's a recipe I love doing - chocolate eclair cake - it's pretty much graham crackers, frozen whipped topping mixed with prepared (with milk) instant pudding mix, and the chocolate top is cocoa, sugar, a little bit of milk, and butter. This weekend, I'll be taking an 8 hour train to NYC, then have about another 3 hours to kill, then I'll be at a fridge for the night, then the next day, I'll be walking around NYC for about 8 hours, and then delivered to the house of the person the cake is for, with another fridge. So aside from the pain in the ass of carrying it around... am I risking major major dairy spoilage? I've left this cake sitting out on a table at work all day, but this seems a bit different. Thank you!

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage...

Point n Click — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:12:18 -0800

Help me throw the perfect baby shower! I need some advice about throwing a baby shower! I've been to lots of wedding showers before, so I assume it's somewhat like that, but this is the first baby (!) in our friend group and I'm a little nervous about how to throw one/what's expected.

At a baby shower:

Do you play games? What kind of games?
Do you have cake? What kind of cake? How is it decorated?
Also! Do you serve food? What kind of food?
What are the decorations like?
Does the host give baby shower favors or door prizes?
Where are baby showers usually held? What time do they usually start? How long do they usually last?
Does the Mother-to-Be open the gifts during the shower? When does this happen?

Is there a difference between what happens/doesn't happen at a "friends" shower vs. a "family" shower? Or a "baby girl" shower vs. a "baby boy" shower?

Both traditional and non-traditional ideas are welcome! Or tales of good or bad experiences or advice or anything else I've forgotten to include! Thank you!

London cocktail bars recommendations

laumry — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:03:00 -0800

Cocktail bars in London that are cheap? And serve food (esp. cake)? Hello all. I'm going out on Friday night in London with a few friends (2 men, 2 women, all early 30s). Can anyone recommend a decent cocktail bar in London which:

1) Is not too expensive;
2) Serves food (including cake. There must be cake.);
3) Has a bit of a buzz - music and a late licence and a freewheeling mingling spirit (which would probably discount the stuffier hotel bars)?

Thanks a lot!

Vanilla mousse cake in Houston

thack3r — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:19:39 -0800

Where to get (awesome) vanilla mousse cake in Houston? I need to wrangle up a delicious vanilla mousse cake for a friend's birthday in Houston, TX. Does anyone have any bakery recommendations? I have plenty of time (a couple months), but I don't want to screw this up.

Have your cake recipe and bake it, too?

nonmerci — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:35:43 -0800

Calling all bakers! On the look-out for fabulous, creative and complicated cake recipes. Baking has been a long-time passion of mine, since a very young age, and I have since become the resident cake-baker for my immediate family and friends. Simply put, I love a challenging, unusual recipe, or a cake I haven't made before, or incorporate interesting ingredients or flavors. I also love the opportunity to showcase or try out new techniques--meringues, mousses, syrups, curds--and I really go *all out* for a cake I'm baking (always special occasion, as an everyday cake should be simpler, IMO).

That said, I am exhausting my resources. While there are some great search engines out there (and I did indeed comb through over 100 pages on epicurious to find recipes that "called" to me), my eyes glaze over after montonous clicking. So here's what I'm looking for:

Anything delicious, anything "special", anything you wouldn't normally make or easily get in a bakery. I like to bake cakes that have a lot of components--an interesting filling and frosting, and of course a delicious cake recipe itself--so any suggestions for recipes that will in one way or another be involved in a completed cake are welcome.

I am most interested in layer cakes, as I make layer cakes for birthdays exclusively. It's traditional, and expected. I'm also less interested in recipes for chocolate cake, unless they are absolutely divine. The cake I'm currently scouting will be for my mother, and should be both rich and light and involve fresh ingredients, but that's the only "requirement". Since I can't really search for an ingredient, browsing recipe engines is a daunting tasks.

So, faithful MeFites, please shower me with delicious cake recipes! Anything goes, truly, and I'd especially appreciate anything "foreign" or otherwise unusual. I know this is a broad question, but may it become a treasure of useful delights.

Wherever there is fun, there's always... Coca-Cola-Cake?

pseudostrabismus — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:11:50 -0800

Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake recipes, please! Valentine's day approaches, and my boyfriend sure likes him some Coca-Cola. I'd like to make him a chocolate-cola cake. I've also heard these called "Texas Sheet Cakes". I've googled this, of course, and found some recipes, but I was hoping someone here would have actually made one themselves and have tips.

The key requirements for me are a recipe that's (a) easy to bake (b) tastes strongly of Coke, and (c) has a Coke-flavoured frosting.

Also, I was thinking that after the cake came out of the oven, and before frosting it, I might stab the cake with a fork and drizzle on some reduced Coke (simmered to a more syrupy consistency) to give the cake more moisture & flavour- anyone know if that'll work?

Thanks! (so excited to try this!)

Best Apple Dessert

yellowbkpk — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 10:30:34 -0800

The best Apple Crisp/Cake dessert in the Twin Cities? It's my birthday weekend and after dinner I'd like to find the best Apple Crustata/Crisp/Cake a la Mode dessert in the Twin Cities area. Can the Hive Mind make any suggestions?

The best I've had so far is Bravo Cucina's version that they recently took off the menu.