Weekend Mishaps and Confessions

So over the weekend I had been planning on going on a chiffon cake recipe marathon.  I was going to try baking 5-7 different chiffon cakes.  But then I got a call from my mother, who told me that I was commissioned to bake a large celebration cake for my church's event.  I also knew I was supposed to bake something for my mother's dinner guests the coming Monday.  So I ended up cancelling my long-awaited chiffon marathon, and moved on to planning the cakes.

I ended up baking a chocolate/vanilla layered cake for the church celebration. I used my chocolate cake and vanilla cake recipe to do this, along with my buttercream icing recipe.  

I baked 2 chocolate cakes and 4 vanilla cakes in order to make this downright huge cake.  It took me a total of 6 hours to finish this cake.  I brushed a sugar water coating on all layers to keep them moist, then added a thin layer of frosting.  

I had no idea how I wanted to decorate this cake, and later I found out that the cake height was just a little too tall for the cake box I bought.  So I decided on a simple chocolate curls topping.  The cake fit well, and was delivered successfully. I had a few mistakes here and there, including cracks in the cake, but nothing frosting can't fix.

Then on Sunday evening I finished baking a tiramisu cake for my mother's guests.  Its the same tiramisu cake I baked last week.  There were only two differences in this tiramisu and the one from last week.  First is that I ran out of chocolate when I used it all up for the celebration cake.  Second, is that I really disliked the recipe the book gives for the cake part of the tiramisu.  The cake part, after being in the fridge overnight, was slightly hard and stiff, even after hours of being left out of the fridge.  

So this time I used a basic chiffon recipe for the cake (that I will post later), that way the cake would keep moist and soft.  The tiramisu cake I made this time was much better in flavour and texture than the last.

Red Rose Chiffon Cake

I made another cake right after I finished making my green tea chiffon cake.  The original recipe calls for Earl Grey tea, but I only had Red Rose on hand.  The instructions were clear and was really easy to follow.  The cake came out beautifully.  It was light and fluffy and the height of the cake didn't shrink drastically.


Red Rose Chiffon Cake:
Adapted from Honey Bee Sweets
Makes one 20-cm tube cake

• 5 egg yolks
• 30g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 80mL vegetable oil
• 30g Red Rose tea leaves or 3 sachets
• 2 sachets of tea
• 180mL water
• 120g cake flour
• 2/3 tsp baking powder
• 5 egg whites
• 90g caster sugar

1. In a small saucepan, pour the water and place the leaves/sachets.  Heat until it boils, then turn the heat off and leave the tea to soak for 5-10 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 170C or 338F.
3. In a medium-large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar (30g) together until slightly thick and pale.
4. Slowly drizzle the oil and mix.
5. Pour 100mL of the tea (cooled) and mix until smooth.  Add in the tea grains of two more sachets and mix.
6. Sift in the cake flour, salt and baking powder.  Mix until there's no more lumps.
7. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until frothy and foamy.  Then gradually add in the sugar (90g).  Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
8. Put a large dollap of the egg whites into the yolk mixture, and fold together quickly and neatly.  Add this mixture to the rest of the egg whites, and fold gently and carefully.
9. Pour into a tube pan and spread out evenly.  Tap against a counter to remove air bubbles.
10. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.
11. Garnish with fruits and sifted caster sugar if wanted.  Serve immediately.  Cake should be soft and fluffy.

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

Today I finally received my new digital kitchen scale and two piece tube pan in the mail.  Of course, I have to check if they're faulty or not, right?  So I went and baked a green tea chiffon cake.  The pan was absolutely amazing.  Its a non-stick aluminum heavy-duty pan (to prevent dents).  The cake came out cleanly and smoothly.  It was a bit small since the recipe was for an 18-cm pan whereas mine is 22cm.

The cake itself was extremely soft and fluffy.  The only thing I disliked about the cake was that the green tea powder I have on hand is really strong, and I didn't take that fact in when I measured the ingredients.  The flavour was a bit strong and sharp, instead of tasting light and refreshing.  I'll be cutting the amount of green tea powder I use next time I bake this.  Though if you own a natural, high-quality green tea powder, following the recipe the way it is, is fine.


Green Tea Chiffon Cake:
Adapted from Green Cilantro
Makes one 18-cm tube cake

• 3 egg yolks
• 40g caster sugar
• 100g cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt (or a pinch)
• 2 tbsp green tea matcha powder
• 50mL vegetable oil
• 75mL water
• 3 egg whites
• 40g caster sugar

1. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, salt and green tea powder together; set aside.  
   
2. Place egg yolks in a medium-large bowl and add the sugar (40g).  Whisk until it becomes pale and sticky.
3. Drizzle in the oil, whisking until fully incorporated.  Do the same with the water.
4. Add in the flour mixture and mix until fully wet.
5. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until it becomes frothy and foamy.  Gradually beat in the sugar (40g), then beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
1. TIP: Egg whites are stiff when you can hold the howl upside down.  
   
6. Add in a large dollap of the egg whites into the yolk mixture.  Fold together quickly and gently.  Then add the mixture to the rest of the egg whites and fold together gently and carefully.
7. Pour the batter into an ungreased 18-cm tube pan.  Spread the batter evenly, then tap the pan against the counter to rid of air bubbles.  
   
8. Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until you poke a cake with a toothpick and it comes out cleanly.
9. After you remove it from the oven, invert the pan and place the center of the pan on a can or cup.  Leave until the pan is cool to the touch.  Take a blunt knife and run it along the sides of the pan.  If the pan is a two-piece, take the bottom out then run the knife again along the bottom, then carefully slide the cake out upside-down.
10. Garnish with fruits and sifted caster sugar if wanted.  Serve right away.
1. TIP: You will know if the cake came out correctly if you press the cake and it springs back.  Should be fluffy and light.

Tiramisu Cake

Last night I made this tiramisu cake for my church's Easter potluck.  I wanted to make something fancy only the adults would eat, since the children usually has dibs on the dessert table.  So I made this tiramisu cake with rum, so only adults could eat it.

I got this recipe from the dessert cookbook my friend got me for my 18th birthday.  It's a cookbook by Williams Sonoma, and all the recipes comes with fully coloured photos.

The only thing with this recipe, and I'm not too sure if it's because I did something wrong along the way, but the recipe this book gives for the cake part of the tiramisu (ladyfingers aren't used for this), the cake is really spongey when it first comes out of the oven, but when I tasted the cake the next morning, the cake was a little hard.  Next time I'll be using my own recipe for the cake.

The tiramisu came out extremely smooth and creamy, and it was rich in taste.  Though this book doesn't particularly indicate what type of mixer/beater to use, I highly recommend using a stand mixer instead of a hand-held one.  Some parts of this recipe requires beating for amounts of time that would be tiring if done by hand.  In fact, when I first made the cake part of this recipe, I used a hand-held mixer, and the cake came out hard and flat.  The second time I used my stand mixer, and it came out just like the instructions indicated.

Tiramisu Cake:
Makes one 9-inch cake

Cake:

• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Syrup:

• 1/2 C water
• 1/3 C sugar
• 2 tbsp dark rum or coffee liqueur
• 2 tsp instant espresso or coffee powder

Filling:

• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1/4 C dark rum or coffee liqueur
• 1 tbsp instant espresso or coffee powder
• 1/2 C heavy (double) cream
• 1 1/2 C (375g) mascarpone cheese
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish:

• Chocolate curls
• Unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly grease the bottom of a 9-in round cake pan and line it with parchment paper.  Lightly grease he paper and sides of the pan and then dust with flour.
2. To make the cake, in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until blended.  In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium-high speed beat the eggs until pale and thick, about 3 minutes.  Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until very thick and tripled in volume, about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and, using a rubber spatula, fold gently until blended.
3. Pour into the pan and spread evenly.  Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly touched, about 30 minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes.   Run a small knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake.  Invert onto a cooling rack and lift off the pan.  Let the cake cool completely.
4. To make the syrup, combine the water and the sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.  Stir in the coffee liqueur and espresso powder.  Set aside and cool to room temperature.
5. To make the filling, in the top of a double boiler, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, coffee liqueur, and espresso powder.  Set over barely simmering water and beat with the mixer set on medium speed until very thick, about 6 minutes.  Remove the top of the double boiler from the heat and set aside to cool, stirring frequently.
6. Meanwhile, in a bowl, using the mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream until stiff peaks form when the beaters are lifted.
7. When the yolk mixture is cooled to room temp, add the mascarpone and vanilla.  Beat until smooth and well blended.  Using the rubber spatula, fold in the whipped cream.

To Assemble:

1. Cut the cake horizontally into 2 or 3 equal layers.  Remove the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, or use a cake mould, and set on a serving plate.
2. Place 1 cake layer in the ring.  Generously brush and sprinkle with some of the syrup. Scoop about 1 3/4 C of the filling onto the layer and spread evenly.
3. Repeat step 2 until you placed all the cake layers and filling into the ring.
4. Holding the ring and plate together, gently tap against the counter to settle the ingredients.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
5. To serve, run a thin knife around the inside of the ring to loosen the cake.  Remove the ring by unclasping the pan, or by slowly pulling the ring up.  Garnish with chocolate curls, then sift a dusting of cocoa over the top.

Green Tea Mousse Cake

Last weekend I finally bought the ingredients for this matcha green tea mousse cake.  I couldn't find the match green tea powder in any of the local grocery stores, so I stopped by the Chinese supermarket, T&T for it.  This was my first time using green tea powder in a recipe, and I was thrilled by how great this came out.  Now I'm trying to explore different green tea desserts.  I've made green tea iced lattes and shakes, and I plan on baking a green tea chiffon cake later this month.

The mousse came out really smooth and creamy, and the jelly coating added a nice touch to the texture of this cake.  I actually had to redo this recipes twice since it is originally written in grams, and I don't own a scale.  So it took me some time to convert the measurements to cups and tablespoons, and the inexact measuring caused me to mess up quite often.  I was able to dig up enough money to buy a proper digital kitchen scale (a Soehnle), and it's supposed to come in next week, so I'm really excited.  With a scale, I'll be able to try out more foreign recipes, especially European desserts.

You don't have to garnish this cake.  You can just leave it as it is, and maybe sprinkle some extra green tea powder or even icing sugar.  I had extra whipped cream and fruits, so I just went ahead and decorated mine.


Green Tea Mousse Cake:
Adapted from kikaching888 Link

Chiffon Cake: (12 cm cake tin)

• 1 egg
• 20 g caster sugar
• 25g cake flour
• 15 mL oil (vegetable or canola)
• 20 mL water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mousse:

• 100 mL whipped cream
• 100 mL milk (at least 2%)
• 100 g yogurt (try getting thicker yogurt, like Greek yogurt)
• 35 g honey
• 1 tbsp matcha green tea powder
• 1 tbsp gelatin
• 2 tbsp hot water

Jelly Topping:

• 1/2 tsp gelatin
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 1 tsp match green tea powder

1. Separate the egg yolk and the egg white into separate bowls.  Beat the egg white until it becomes foamy (about 2 min.), then add in 10g of the caster sugar.  Beat until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
1. TIP: You will know when the mixture is stiff if you can hold the bowl upside down and nothing falls out.
2. In the bowl with the egg yolk, add in the rest of the caster sugar (10g), water, oil, and the vanilla extract.  Sift in the cake flour.  Whisk all the ingredients together until you get a smooth, watery mixture.
3. Add the egg white mixture into the batter, and fold together gently until fully incorporated.  Pour the batter into the cake tin lined with parchment paper and tap the tin a few times against the counter.  Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for approximately 25 minutes.  After it's done baking, let it cool upside down on a cooling rack.
4. In a saucepan under low heat, whisk together the milk, honey and green tea powder until fully dissolved.  Then pour it through a strainer into a medium-large bowl.  This will get rid of the lumps.  Place in the fridge to cool.
5. In another bowl, whisk the whipped cream until it forms medium-soft peaks.  Then carefully fold in the yogurt.
6. Add the whipped cream mixture into the cooled green tea mixture, and fold them together gently to make a smooth, creamy mixture.
7. Pour the gelatin in a small bowl, then add the hot water.  Mix until the gelatin fully dissolves.  Add this to the mousse mixture, and fold in gently.
8. Take your cake and cut it in half.  Then place one layer at the bottom of your moulding tin.  Add in half of the mousse mixture, and smooth it out evenly.  Then add in the second layer, and pat it gently on top.  Add in the rest of your mousse, and smooth it out evenly.
1. TIP: If your moulding tin has a bottom, tap the whole tin against the counter.
9. Wrap the tin in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
10. After you take the cake out, pour the gelatin in a small bowl and add the hot water.  Then add in the green tea powder.  Mix until fully dissolved.  Pour this on top of your cake, then rewrap it and leave it in the fridge for another hour.
11. If your moulding tin has a bottom, place the tin on top of the pan and push the sides of the mould downwards.  Your cake should come out cleanly.  If your mould does not have a bottom and you used a plate or cake board, simply slide the tin upwards, doing it slowly and gently so it won't break the mousse.
12. You can garnish your cake with whipped cream and fruits, or you can just sprinkle it with green tea powder or caster sugar.  Serve fresh.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

So here's the chocolate cake recipe.  I'll be putting up the buttercream icing recipe up next.


CHOCOLATE CAKE:

-2 C sugar
-1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
-3/4 C HERSHEY'S Cocoa
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1 1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp salt
-2 eggs
-1 C milk
-1/2 C vegetable oil
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 C boiling water


1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

VANILLA CAKE

Hey guys, it's been a while sine I've last posted.  I've been baking a bit in the last few weeks so I'll be putting up some new recipes, including a new banana bread recipe to replace the one I currently have.

So I'm just posting the recipe for vanilla cake because it's originally on another post, under "DOLL CAKES", but that was one of my first posts on this blog, so I put 4 recipes on one post, which makes it harder for me, and maybe others, in reaching the individual recipes.  The 4 recipes were vanilla and chocolate cake, and buttercream and chocolate frosting.  This is the vanilla cake post, enjoy.  :)



VANILLA CAKE:

-1 1/2 C all purpose flour
-1/2 C butter or margarine (softened)
-1 tbp vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-1 3/4 tsp baking powder
-1/2 C and extra 1/8 C milk (as suggested from others)
-1 C sugar
-food colouring (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the pans with butter or oil and coat with flour

2. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and set aside.

3. Make sure your butter or margarine is room temperature or softened. Cream the butter than add the sugar and cream some more. In small bowl, whisk/beat each egg one at a time and add each egg into the cream and sugar mix separately. Then add in the vanilla extract.

4. Add the dry ingredients mixture into the wet ingredients until all the ingredients are wet, add milk and stir.

5. Next pour the batter into a pan (if you chose to use more than one colour, bake in separate pans for each). Bake for about 20 min to 30 min, or when a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted into the cake. Let it cool.

Tips:
-If your butter is straight from the fridge and is hard, try microwaving it for at least 20 sec.

-If you use colouring, the colour of the cake will come out of the oven slightly lighter than it looked before as a batter.

New York Cheesecake

I made a cheesecake for my mother's birthday last December.  Never got a chance to post this, along with my other couple of recipes (I will put them up, count on it).  It was my first time making a cheesecake, but with all the reviews, it came out GREAT.  And I also made ganache for the first time too.  It didn't come out too well at first.  I'll also put up that recipe as well.

I could probably say this is the best thing I've ever baked in my life. :)

Cheesecake:

Adapted from Chantal's New York Cheesecake

(Make sure ingredients are room temperature for the best results!)

• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Crust:

• 1 1/2 C graham crackers, crushed 
• 1/4 C melted butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 C sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the ingredients for the crust. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.  Do not overbeat.
4. Leave a water bath (pan or bowl of warm/hot water) on the rack below the cheesecake.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 4 to 5 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator overnight or a few hours before serving.

• 
  

TIPS:

• Both the instructions and ingredient list are slightly different than the original directions because of recipe improvements.
• This cheesecake recipe usually come out very rich and dense.  Perfect for cheesecake-lovers, but not so for light eaters.

CINNAMON CRUMBLE COFFEE CAKE

My family visited Panera Bread a few days ago and we bought a delicious cinnamon crumble coffee cake. Unfortunately, it was devoured too soon and my younger sibling was insisting for more. So I decided to make the same cake for her. I have not tried this recipe out yet, but reviews show it comes out great. :)


CINNAMON CRUMBLE COFFEE CAKE:

Coffeecake Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
¼ cup softened butter
1 egg
½ cup milk
1½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cinnamon Crumble Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted butter



1. Heat oven to 350.

2. Cream butter and sugar, and mix in egg and milk.

3. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl.

4. Gently mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients just until moistened, and spread into a greased 8×8-inch baking pan.

5. Combine cinnamon crumble ingredients and sprinkle atop coffeecake dough. Using a fork, swirl cinnamon mixture through dough.

6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.


Links:

Cinnamon crumble coffee cake: http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2010/01/wednesday-baking-cinnamon-crumble-coffee-cake/

CARROT CAKE

Last week my family and friends went camping. I HAD planned on making my "ultimate cake design", but things got in the way so I was only left with a simple cake. Carrot cake is one of those "simple" recipes. I found this new one before and I hadn't make carrot cake for at least 3 years. This one had added ingredients such as pineapple and apple sauce. I don't usually put these "extras" but I was like, "well, hell with it." :P

CARROT CAKE:

4 eggs 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

Extra Ingredient Tips:
1C white sugar and 1C brown sugar (substitute)
Extra tsp of vanilla
Add one 8oz. can of pineapples (squeezed and blended)
1/4 nutmeg
Extra 1tsp of cinnamon
3/4 C canola oil and 1/2 C apple sauce (substitute)
Any nuts (ex: walnuts, almonds, etc)



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir in carrots and pineapples. Fold in nuts. Pour into prepared pan.

3.Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped nuts. Frost the cooled cake.



Tips:

-I didn't have Canola oil so I simply used normal vegetable oil. Worked out fine.

-Don't over-beat the mixture or it'll become hard.

-I used tinfoil bread pans so they took a little longer to bake. Most people just use round cake pans.

-Of course, the cake goes better with a cream cheese frosting. :)


Links:

Carrot cake: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/carrot-cake-iii/detail.aspx

BANANA CAKE

So I haven't posted anything up recently since I haven't been baking. But last Sunday my mom held a dinner feast for my family friend's birthday. We had him and his whole family come over, but since they forgot THEIR birthday cheesecake, I decided to make a birthday banana cake (also since my banana's were getting really ripe). I got the recipe out of a book from Lez's house (the lady I usually volunteer for).

see " photo gallery " for more photos

BANANA CAKE:

-2 cups flour
-1 3/4 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
-1 cup mashed banana (usually 2 large)
-1/2 cup softened butter
-1/2 cup buttermilk
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla

*NOTE* (buttermilk can be substituted w/ 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice w/ milk until 1/2 cup is reaches. Leave still for 5 min then stir.



1. Combine flour, baking powder & baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add sugar, banana, butter and buttermilk (or substitute). Beat. Add eggs & vanilla. Beat until smooth. Pour into pans.

2. Bake for 35-40 min at 350 degrees.


TIPS:

-when I made my cake, it took well over 40 min to bake thoroughly and for a toothpick to come out clean when poked into the cake. It may vary depending on how ripe your banana is. Mine were COMPLETELY black and I had to bake for around 1 hour.

Doll Cakes

So I was paid to make 2 birthday cakes for these two girls from my church. They love girly stuff, so after lots of surfing the web, I decided on making doll cakes for them, and by using google and youtube, I learned how to make one. It looks complicated, but it's actually pretty simple and I believe beginners may even try it out if they wanted to. The only thing though is that this type of cake takes patience since there's lots of waiting time involved.

The two cakes I made into two different flavors: chocolate and vanilla. Vanilla for the youngest girl (I think is turning 8), chocolate for the older girl (I think is turning 10). The vanilla recipe I got from my friend when we baked a cake together for school, and the chocolate is a simple one I took off of the back of a Hershey cocoa powder container. :P
For the vanilla cake I also used vanilla frosting (cuz the girl wanted pink frosting) for topping and filling. For the chocolate cake I used chocolate frosting filling, but vanilla topping so I could add bright colours.


Chocolate Cake:

• 2 C sugar
• 1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 C milk
• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 C boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Vanilla Cake:
Adapted from SCOTTOSMAN

• 1 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1/2 C butter or margarine (softened)
• 1 tbp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 C and extra 1/8 C milk (as suggested from others)
• 1 C sugar
• food colouring (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the pans with butter or oil and coat with flour
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. Make sure your butter or margarine is room temperature or softened. Cream the butter than add the sugar and cream some more. In small bowl, whisk/beat each egg one at a time and add each egg into the cream and sugar mix separately. Then add in the vanilla extract.
4. Add the dry ingredients mixture into the wet ingredients until all the ingredients are wet, add milk and stir.
5. OPTIONAL: Next in separate bowls colour the batter with your colour of preference. Separate batter into different bowls, one bowl for every colour you choose (I made one layer pink).
6. Next pour the batter into a pan (if you chose to use more than one colour, bake in separate pans for each). Bake for about 20 min to 30 min, or when a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted into the cake. Let it cool.

Tips:

• If your butter is straight from the fridge and is hard, try microwaving it for at least 20 sec.
• You can mix ingredients together using an electric mixer, but I prefer using a hand whisk (using an electric mixer will make the batter more smooth if you're not used to whisking by hand).
• If you use colouring, the colour of the cake will come out of the oven slightly lighter than it looked before as a batter.

Chocolate Frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Vanilla Frosting:
Adapted from xoshadyxo

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used margarine)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 4 drops food coloring, or as needed (optional)

1. Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.
2. Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached.

Tips:

• If you prefer to use just frosting to cover the cake instead of whip cream, add more milk so the frosting is more smooth and easier to spread.
• If you make the frosting more firm (less milk), decorations will also be more firm after it's chilled and less prone to being ruined by touch.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Take the bottom layer and cut (using a knife with "teeth") the top until flat and smooth (make sure all layers are completely cooled or else frosting will melt). optional: take the top layer and cut around edges until smooth and looks round (if you want to make a more dress effect).
2. Stack the top and bottom layer, make sure they're aligned. Take a circular cookie cutter or a knife, and cut a hole in the middle of the cake larger enough for the doll to fit, but not too large.
3. Lay the bottom layer on whichever plate you want the cake to be on (try to find the flattest plate/bottom to put the cake on, it makes decoration easier). Take your frosting and put a generous helping onto the bottom layer and spread around the top.
4. Take the top layer and put it on top of the frosted bottom layer. Put more frosting on the top layer and spread. Spread frosting on the sides of the cake as well, but only a thin layer (this will be the base layer of frosting). Chill for at least 1 hour.
5. Take the frosted cake out of the fridge, make sure frosting is cooled and firm. Put a generous helping of frosting on top of the cake and spread all around (this is final layer so put on as much frosting as you want). Put the cake into the fridge to cool another hour until frosting is cooled.
6. If you choose to only use frosting, then you can skip this step and move onto step 7. If not, take your cake out of the fridge and add whip cream. If you want the dress to have a specific design using the cream, you can look up doll cakes on google. I just spread the whip cream all over the cake to create one whole dress piece. Put into the fridge to cool another hour until cooled.
7. Take out the cake from the fridge. Make sure it is firm and cooled before decorating. Prepare your icing bags if you have one. If you don't have one, there are many makeshift icing bags you can hand-make if you look it up on google. Using paper or a ziplock bag are some examples.
8. Take your doll. Make sure you wash it thoroughly with soap (take off all clothing). Tie the hair up if not done already so it doesn't get frosting on it. After drying, you can choose to put the clothes back on or leave it off. Wrap the doll tightly with plastic wrap from the chest and down (if you leave the clothes on, push the shirt down so the doll is "topless" for decoration). Do not wrap the arms.
9. Place the wrapped doll into the hole in the cake (its okay if frosting gets on the wrap, that's what it's there for). The cake should reach around the doll's hips/waist (you may need more layers if the cake is too short or a smaller doll). Fill the hole with leftover frosting or whip cream so it looks like the dress is attached to the doll.
10. Now start decorating! Using your prepared icing bag, decorate the dress any way you want it to. Make sure to ice the doll's top to match the dress. With the icing, you can use stars, dots, lines, etc.
11. Either put the cake back in the fridge until the cake is needed, or serve right away!

Tips:
-try to chill everything completely for at least 1-2 hours before decorating; it makes decorating a lot easier if the surface of the cake is firmer and colder.