Dorie and I are on a "break"

Sorry Marie of A Year in Oak Cottage and sorry Dorie (its not you, its me I swear) I am not spending this Tuesday with Dorie so there will be no "La Palette’s Strawberry Tart" from me. It is heart wrenching actually as I had grand plans for the tart, but my thighs and I have come to the conclusion that since I have to bake a cake this week for my fondant and gumpaste cake decorating class, I really shouldn't have two types of dessert in the house. They cheered when I told them that it meant one less dimple to look forward to.

Though I don't have a tart for you (well unless I count myself) I do have my cake final from course 1 of my cake decorating class (I'm currently taking the fondant and gumpaste class because course 2 didn't have enough students signed up to proceed. A travesty. I know). It came out lovely even though the roses got a little smooshed during transit.

It is amazing to me how much you can learn in four classes. I am truly on my way to becoming a cake decorating diva. You can all sing me praises and bow down to my authority on cake decorating at your leisure. It was so pretty when I walked through the door my husband exclaimed "babe you MADE that?!", and with my head held high I strolled to the kitchen and stated "YES! Isn't is beautiful!". The buttercream is my usual recipe, but the cake was fabulous. Now onto the cake...

The cake was "Beatty's chocolate cake" by Ina Garten, and I have to say this cake must really be extraordinary because as hard as I tried to ruin it (I was missing half of the ingredients) it was still phenomenal! I know what you are thinking. Why would she even attempt to make this cake if she were missing half of the ingredients? Well if you must know, I had to make a cake for my cake decorating final, and I wanted a chocolate cake and I refused to settle for yellow cake or go to the grocery store. I do not settle. I am the baking diva, and If I want chocolate cake I will have chocolate cake damn it! Seriously I was short an egg; I had the wrong chocolate (and not enough of the one I did have so I tossed in a chocolate pudding mix); I was out of vegetable oil so I used butter; I didn't use the coffee; and I used regular milk in place of butter milk and this cake was still amazing! Don't get me wrong. The texture was a little off, but the taste was excellent! So rich and chocolaty, and I am absolutely positive the next time that I make it with all of the ingredients it is going to be orgasmic! I am shaving my legs as we speak in anticipation of this mouth orgasm...

Make sure you check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see everyone else's tarts.

XOXO

Stay Sweet;)

Beatty's Chocolate cake by Ina Garten
Source:Food network.com

Butter, for greasing the pans

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups good cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Dorie and I are having a love affair...

(From Dorie Greenspan's "Banking from my home to yours")

If I weren't already married I would propose to her. This woman's genius knows no bounds. I love you Dorie, and I put out!

Today is my boss's birthday and as a token of appreciation/extra special birthday gift I decided I would bake some of his favorite treats for him. Then I'd have some goodies to post for my weekly TWD update. This weeks TWD recipe (Madeleines) was choosen by Tara of Smells Like Home and I can't begin to tell you how amazing they are and everything else was just as awesome. The pound cake was to die for; the madeleines are out of this world and the chocolate chip cookies....O.M.G. I think I need a cold shower because I'm excited at the mere mention of them. I'm serious. The sounds of pleasure that were emanating from my mouth were loud enough to have the neighbors thinking that I was gettin' some in the kitchen. They were so good I felt like I needed a cigarette after them and I don't even smoke. If you haven't purchased this book yet then your life is just an empty shell of existence. You can't possible go on without experiencing the phenomenon that is Dorie Greenspan. Just thinking about your poor soul saddens me. I'm telling you this book is the first step to world peace. So do it for the children! And now let's give each of these stars their five minutes of fame...

Here she is in all of her regal elegance. The madeleine is a pastry with grace and confidence. You may underestimate her because at first glance she appears lackluster, but as soon as you sample this amazing cake like cookie you are running back for another. She needs no adornments for she is comfortable in her own skin. In fact I know several women who would do well to take the example of madeleine. She's light and fluffy and absolutely delicious. You must make these If only to learn to love yourself as she does;)

Aaaaahhh the pound cake. Absolutely amazing buttery delicious goodness. I made 4 mini loafs, and only packed two for my boss. After the first bite I couldn't part with the other two. It was everything a pound cake should be. Firm yet soft and exceptional in flavor. Its better than Sara Lee (and I would cut someone for Sara lee. She's my peeps)!

Where do I even begin with these cookies. They are truly extraordinary. The texture and flavor are perfect. The combination of the crunchy edges and chewy center is outstanding as far as cookies go. These are worth the 10lbs I probably gained from eating a dozen of them before I even had a chance to pack any for my boss. These will have you saying OMG like you just had some amazing sex. Once cooled they are fabulous, but straight out of the oven they are borderline illegal. Make these NOW. You haven't had it this good in a loooooooog time. Trust me;)

My boss's favorite cookie is a traditional NYC black and white so this cookie was a must for me to make for him. I found this recipe on Phe/MoM/enon's kick ass blog (she is the bomb). It is the beloved outcast of the night (meaning not by Dorie). Not that is wasn't great. In fact it was quite possibly one of the most delicious black and white cookies I've ever had (and that is saying a lot because I'm from NY. Home of the black and white cookie), but when compared to the amazing masterpieces from Dorie's book. It was waaay out of its league. Give it a try if you like black and whites. Its a really, really good black and white cookie.

Don't forget to see what all the other TWDer's have been up to this week!

XOXO

Stay Sweet;)

Traditional Madeleines
By Dorie Greenspan

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon (you know i left this out)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Working in a mixer bowl, or in a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale, thick, and light, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the better form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines.(For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the Madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pan.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan, give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet. Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don't worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven's heat will take care of that. Bake large Madeleines for 11-13 minutes, and minis for 8-10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the mods by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter.

Gently pry any recalcitrant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature. If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(Es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pans before baking. Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioner's sugar.

Perfection Pound Cake
by: Dorie Greenspan

2 Cups all-purpose flour or 2 1/4 Cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 Cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temp
1 tsp vanilla

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9X5 inch loaf pan or an 8 1/2X4 1/2 inch loaf pan. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, a full 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater and reduce the mixer speed to medium. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1-2 minutes after each egg goes in. As you're working, scrape down the bowl and the beater often. Mix in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated-don't over mix. In fact, you might want to fold in the last of the flour, or even all of it, by hand with a rubber spatula. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top.

Put the cake into the oven to bake, and check on it after about 45 minutes. If it's browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. If you're using a 9X5 pan, you'll need to bake the cake for 70-75 minutes; the smaller pan needs about 90 minutes. The cake is properly baked when a thin knife inserted keep into the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let rest for 30 minutes.
Run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan and turn the cake out, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature.

My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
By Dorie Greenspan

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well-blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and nuts. (The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen. If you'd like, rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, ready for baking. Freeze the mounds on a lined baking sheet, then bag them when they're solid. There's no need to defrost the dough before baking-just add another minute or two to the baking time.)

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls. Bake the cookies- one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point- for 10-12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle, and that's just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully, using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature. Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Black and White Cookies
Source:Phe/MoM/enon

For cookies:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg


For icings:

2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (i left out this part. why ruin a good thing with fruit flavor)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder



Make cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Spoon 1/4 cups of batter about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet (or lined with parchment).Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack and allow to cool completely.

Make icings while cookies cool:Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa, adding more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to thin to same consistency as white icing.

Happy (Belated) Mother's Day Everyone!

This Mother's day I thought it would be a wonderful touch to give something from the heart (in addition to their actual gifts of course. you shouldn't be a cheap ass on mother's day) so I made miniature individual cakes and apple martini cupcakes to give to some of the most important people in my life. They were a HUGE unexpected hit, and it made them all feel extra special and loved just to know that this thoughtful token of appreciation was made by me. On to the goodies...

How adorable is that?! Also I am super psyched because I discovered the most amazing yellow cake recipe in the world! Sound the trumpets! My take over of the world is imminent! This cake is super moist and flavorful and about as perfect as you can get in regard to a yellow cake. I torted it (that is what you call it when you split the layers. don't hate, I learned that in class last week) with my trusty cake leveler and to make it even more remarkable I filled it with vanilla pudding, and I swear I don't think I've ever been so pleasantly surprised in all my life as when I took that first bite (I secretly hated yellow cake because I'm all about the chocolate, but I am now reformed). I closed my eyes in bliss at the soft fluffy mounds of goodness floating over my tongue, and that says a lot considering I'm a chocoholic. You are going to thank your blessings and want to kiss my toes (and possibly suck them. not that I like that. that stuff is for freaks, and I'm all about wholesomeness here) due to the fact that you came upon this perfection on my fantabulous blog. I guarantee it will be your "go to" yellow cake from now on. I added some red food coloring to the buttercream to make it pink, practiced my borders on it, and added colored sugar and sprinkles and VOILA! Sweet pink perfection. My family was so impressed they must have told me a at least a dozen times they didn't even want to eat it because it was too perfect to cut! Now on to the dangerous desserts...

Here you have it, the star of the night. The apple martini cupcake! I stumbled upon them on Cuptails and I "heart" cupppycakes, and I knew I had to make them for Mother's day. I made some changes as always and sort of combined both recipes, but how absolutely awesome is it?! Never in all my life have I even seen so many gasps of shock and excitement as when I unveiled the apple martini cupcakes. Of course the first question out of every one's mouth was "do they have vodka in them?!" Ah family. They put the func in dysfunction and I love them for it. Of course! I exclaimed, and after all the excited screeching had calmed down. I pondered the mystery of how alcohol can turn a simple cupcake into a life altering goodie. I'm not kidding people were more excited about alcohol infused cupcakes than dinner! I don't know how they tasted because I'm not a drinker, but I heard that they were "good enough to sell your body for" so I'm taking that as a compliment. Make these. I wouldn't want to see you wondering the highway one night pulling over truck drivers trying to get your fix. Who would read my blog if you all did that?



XOXO

Stay Sweet;)


Amazing yellow cake
Source: Foodnetwork.com

I'm going to list the original recipe which is a white cake along with the changes I made *shock* in parenthesis;)

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used cake flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large egg whites (3/4 cup) (I used 3 large eggs)
3/4 cup milk (I used evaporated milk, and added a packet of instant vanilla pudding to the mix)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For filling:
One cup of jello vanilla pudding


2 (9-inch) diameter by 1 1/2-inch deep layer pans or 1 (13 by 9 by 2-inch) pan (I used 2 6" pans and had some batter left over, but I was too lazy to do anything with it so I just trashed it), buttered and bottoms lined with parchment or waxed paper.

Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt (and pudding). Set aside. Combine egg whites (or eggs), milk and vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the milk mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape bowl and beater often. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes (I have no idea how long mine cooked for but definitely longer than 30 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely. Torte cake and fill with vanilla pudding.

Variation:

For classic yellow cake substitute 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk (I just used the 3 eggs because using yolks grosses me out) for all of the egg whites above.

Buttercream recipe

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

4 c. sifted powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp. milk (keep adding milk until you achieve the desired consistency)

1 tsp. light corn syrup

1 tbsp. Meringue Powder

pinch of salt to taste (it helps to make it less sweet)

3 drops of red food coloring



Apple "so good you'll sell your body for them" Martini cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons of Apple Martini mix (I used Stirrings)
1/3 cup of Apple juice
3 drops of green food coloring gel

For frosting:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
A stick of room temperature butter
1 1/2 tablespoons of Apple Schnapps
1 tablespoon of apple martini mix
6 drops of green food coloring gel
Apple flavored glass rimming sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and give it a quick stir to combine. Place eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat on medium with an electric mixer until light and foamy. About 2 minutes. Melt butter (about 1min in microwave) and pour over eggs and sugar whilst beating. Add Apple Martini Mix to eggs, sugar and butter mixture then turn mixer to low. Add half the dry ingredients to the mixer. Add half of the apple juice. Add remaining dry ingredients and finish with remaining apple juice. Continue mixing until remaining dry ingredients are combined (no more than a minute) being careful not to over mix the batter. Immediately divide batter equally among the 12 cupcake liners. I like to use an ice cream scoop to do this. Helps keep each cupcake uniform size. Bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean, with no crumbs. The apple-y scent is so delicious when you open the oven door! It’s so refreshing since a sweet apple scent doesn’t often flow through the kitchen. Turn onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature. Frost cupcakes and either sprinkle them with the rimming sugar or roll them in it.

Crisco goes awry

Cake decorating homework assignment - Disaster #1





Don't let that deceiving exterior fool you. Much like its maker, there is trouble lurking within...


As some of you may already know I have signed up for a cake decorating class to feed my addiction, and to say that my first assignment did not go smoothly is an understatement. Not that I had trouble following the directions or that it was complicated. Simply that my constant inclination to improve on the perfect went amiss. Why, oh why, am I constantly plagued with delusions of grandeur regarding my baking skills? Clearly I'm a novice, and have no business imposing my self proclaimed creativity on unsuspecting class projects. This poor cake never stood a chance against my ego.


For starters when I went to the supermarket to buy Crisco for my buttercream, they were all out of regular Crisco and only had butter flavored so I excitedly picked up the butter flavor. In my head I had visions of my class cheering me on about how delicious and flavorful my buttercream was, and what did I use, and how did I think of using butter flavored Crisco. I would be celebrated as a genius! I would be the world renowned buttercream queen! I tell you the ego is tricky, tricky thing. Now keep in mind that for my first class project I had to bring in a layer cake frosted in light blue buttercream frosting, representing a pretty sky (we are going to add a rainbow to it in class), and note the color of my cake. Now onto my buttercream debacle.


I open the infamous butter flavored Crisco and much to my surprise it's yellow. Now a more experience baker would have known this, but being the novice baker that I am I had no idea that meant my pretty white buttercream would in turn be yellow as well. So I plop my shortening in with my butter and I begin adding my sugar and instead of pretty white fluffy buttercream, much to my dismay I start to get pretty yellow butter cream. Now alarm sets in as I realize if I add blue coloring to my yellow cake frosting it will turn green! What's a novice baker to do? I had no idea, so i added some cocoa and made chocolate buttercream. Fast forward to assembling my layer cake...





I began by making a dam to hold in the filling just like they showed us in class. As I start to frost my first layer I realize that my buttercream is unusually stiff, and hard to spread and it hits me that I forgot to add additional milk when I added the cocoa so it was the wrong consistency, and it pretty much ripped my cake layer to shreds when I tried to frost it. After much trial and error of removing crumbs and giant cake pieces and filling in holes my first layer was frosted. Just then my ego starts to take over, and I think to myself Wouldn't it be awesome if I added some fresh strawberries to the filling? It would be so impressive, the instructor and my classmates would say "Wow, you are so creative! You really shouldn't be in this beginner's course you are just too talented!".

Then because I can never leave well enough alone, and my inner baking diva cries to be heard i added coconut...

Now I have a HUGE 2" gap, and I'm clueless as to how to fill it and again panic sets in (aside from the cavernous gap note how level my layers are. Ha! I may be a novice, but I have the heart of pastry chef ).

How the hell am I going to fill in this monstrous gap with the unruly buttercream? Damn my stubborn pride. Also I am a bit nervous that I will not have enough to frost the entire cake. So after an hour and half of ripping the cake to shreds with the unforgiving buttercream I did it (as you can see by the initial picture posted above above), and because I deserved it, I ran a victory lap around my dining room table and cheered myself boisterously because I am a baking diva after all.

I wake up this morning and run to the fridge to check on my cake and what do I find? I find my masterpiece sitting in a pool of gooey strawberry juice mess. What kind of craziness is this? What in the world happened? Can you not refrigerate cake with fresh fruit in it? I have no idea what happened, but I'm taking it to class anyway (if it doesn't collapse first having been drowned in evil, evil strawberry goop) and I can only hope that even if my cake doesn't get the acclaimed accolade it deserves it at least survives the day.

Stay tuned for part two of this disaster when I take it to class and attempt to decorate it...

XOXO

Stay sweet;)

Devil’s Food Cake (Literally)
Source: Ghirardelli.com

· 1 1/2 cup(s) Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa (I used Ghirardelli)
· 2 cup(s) flour
· 1 cup(s) granulated sugar
· 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon(s) cream of tartar
· 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt (optional)
· 1 1/2 cup(s) buttermilk
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 4 eggs
· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottoms of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans, and line with waxed paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, ground chocolate, granulated sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Add 1 cup of the buttermilk and 1 cup of butter. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of buttermilk, the eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake 30 to 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the cake’s center. Cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans, discard the waxed paper, and transfer them to the wire rack to cool completely.

Unruly buttercream

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

4 c. sifted powdered sugar

3/4 c. sifted cocoa

3-4 tbsp. milk

1 Tsp. light corn syrup

1 Tbsp. Meringue Powder

Cream shortening, butter, and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, cocoa, and meringue powder on medium speed, scraping down bowl often. Add milk and corn syrup until light and fluffy.