Vertical Layer Cake - First Try

Have you seen Dimitrana's gorgeous cakes? I know, they're fantastic. And when I saw all of her incredible vertically layered cakes, I knew I had to give the technique a try.

I wanted to make a quick go of it, and concentrate on the technique, not the fanciness of the ingredients. So, I was excited to find that my local Super Target had a full stock of the new Betty Crocker gluten-free baking mixes! I chose the devil's food cake mix, and a couple of gluten-free frostings.

The cake is chocolate, of course, and I bought a white icing which I spiked with peppermint extract and green coloring. It was light, fluffy, and creamy, which was what I wanted... but that also made it slippery and a bit difficult to wrap into the swirly cake construction. After putting it together and refrigerating for a while, I iced it with the chocolate frosting and decorated with a bit of green frosting ( and some of the leftover mint cream).

My family loved it, and I was very pleased with the new Betty Crocker cake mix! As you can see, however, I still have some work to do regarding the structure of the cake layers. It was fun, though! :)

Dark Chocolate Challenge

Kim and I decided that we needed a little baking challenge. We asked our co-worker to choose an ingredient that we would both have to use in a baking creation. He got together with some of our other co-workers and they came up with our mysery ingredient: dark chocolate. Immediately, we knew this was going to be a challenge for both of us, since neither of us like dark chocolate! That night we went home to make our plans. The next night was for baking. And the following morning we had to bring our creations to the office for tasting and judging.

Kim's Creation: Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Bars with Fresh Berries
[no photos! boo.]
Despite the fact that she doesn't like cream cheese, and thus doesn't like cheesecake, Kim made the most delicious chocolate cheesecake I've ever tasted. The crust was crisp and chocolaty, and the cake was made with raspberry yogurt and chocolate, so it had the most wonderful flavor! We all took one bite and were in heaven.


Kelley's Creation: Dark Chocolate Mint Cupcakes with Mint Creme Filling

I was struggling on what to do with this dark chocolate, and finally decided that if I was going to experiment, I might as well go out on a limb and make mint cupcakes. I've never baked with mint before, and while I know chocolate+mint is a winning combination, I didn't know how it would turn out in cake form.

For the cake and mint creme filling, I used a recipe from my Chocolate and Coffee Bible. Of course, I used my gluten-free flour mixture for the cupcakes, and I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. This is probably the best gluten-free cake I've made so far. It was moist and springy, and had a great consistency all the way through. And the hint of mint was very nice. The mint creme recipe I used from the book wasn't very satisfactory in my opinion. It was basically whipping cream and mint extract (with some green food coloring, which I added). It quickly sunk into the cakes. I think next time I will add a little powdered sugar and maybe a bit of butter to give it some more flavor and consistency. The frosting was a complete experiment. I melted a bar and a half of Ghirardelli 70% chocolate with a stick of butter, then added two cups of powdered sugar and some mint extract. It turned out rich and delicious, although I didn't have enough to cover all 18 cupcakes - I got about 15 of them.

I am also pretty pleased with the way they look. They taste wonderful right out of the refrigerator, since you get that rush of coolness not only from the temperature but also from the mint in the cupcakes. I also nuked one of the non-frosted ones for about 10 seconds and it was delicious warm, too. The mint creme melted into the cake and gave it a nice added moist, minty flavor. Yum!


And the winner is: Kim!
We handed out samples to all of our co-workers and students that were in the office. Although we didn't have an official vote (everyone was preoccupied, preparing for Hurricane Ike), I think the answer was clear. Even I voted for Kim's cheesecake! It was to. die. for. (I mean, really, who can win against cheesecake?!)