Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Unclaimed Cake

I am nervous!


This began about two weeks ago when my coworker asked for suggestions of where to find a cowgirl-boot-shaped birthday cake for her daughter.  Me, loving baking and eager to find an excuse to bake a project (not just a snack!) - I have offered to bake the cake.

I went out to different stores to try to find a boot-shaped cake mold,... but of course there is no such thing!  Party City had Hello Kitty (which I was tempted to buy anyway), Michaels had Dora the Explorer, Berings had very nice regular boring shaped pans, and same with Bed Bath and Beyond.  Why is it that in the state of Texas I can't find a cowboy boot shaped cake mold?  Seems like I should have been able to find it at any random gas station or grocery store.

So I revamped my plans and bought a giant rectangular baking pan to make a giant sheet cake that I can cut into the shape of a boot myself.  That worked out really well and now I have a lot of cut-off cake I can pig out on!

What I did not expect was that I had to run out to the store five times during the baking process because this being the first time I made a sheet cake I was not prepared for the amount of food I needed.  I used eight sticks of butter just in the icing.  I baked the Red Velvet Cake recipe I usually use for my boyfriend's birthday cake, and it makes a large three-layer cake that a family of 5+Me would take days to finish - and I found out I had to make double THAT amount in order to make a two layer sheet cake!  Don't take me wrong, I am not complaining, I really enjoy baking!  I am just saying, be warned of what you need if you ever plan on baking a sheet cake.


Cake crumbles when you ice it, so I like to put a thin layer of icing to "prime" the cake before I ice it so that you don't see the crumbles on the cake.  But sliced cake (because I had to slice it into a shape of a boot) really REALLY  crumbles.  So I actually had to ice the cake in three different layers.  Then on the top I made a glaze with icing sugar, meringue powder, and food coloring to decorate so that it looks nice and pretty and shiny!  I did not go with fondant because I personally do not like the taste of fondant and neither does anyone I have spoken with... But I have to admit fondant does make a cake look very pretty!

So why the "Unclaimed Cake"?  Because my coworker was supposed to pick it up today, I do not have her phone number, and its already 7pm.  Has the cake been abandoned?  My first pretty-cake project... has it been given up on?

2 comments:

  1. Update? Do we need to rush over and chow down? Cake for breakfast lunch and dinner?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr Astro, y'all are always welcome to chow down at the Chow's

    ReplyDelete