I was inspired by this picture from SprinkleBakes, but was disappointed with the taste, hight, and texture of her cake. So I took what I liked from her ideas and winged the rest for Karl's anniversary of his 29th birthday.
So for these people who have the nerve to have birthdays in the middle of the week, I like to break up the baking into chunks that can be done after work. Day 1 was spent baking the cakes, and day 2 was spent making the whipped filling and assembling. These directions make 18 mini cakes.
******************************** Day 1 ***************************************
Day 1 Ingredients
3 boxes of Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix (made one at a time)
9 eggs (3 for each box mix)
3 cups of luke warm water (1 for each box mix)
1 cup vegetable oil (1/3 cup for each box mix)
Day 1 Special Equipment
Mixer with paddle attachment
3" cookie cutter
Offset Spatula
Jelly Roll Pan (preferably with 1 inch sides, I used one by Fat Daddio that was 10" x 15" x 1")
You will need something like these to serve them on. The gold squares came from Cake Carousel, a baking supply company in Dallas. The polka doted paper cups are at Bed Bath & Beyond.
This is the cake mix that I used. Duncan Hines is a good brand because it is a little more dense than others. This makes it easier to handle once it is baked.
1) Prepare the jelly roll pan by first greasing the bottom and sides with Crisco. Then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, trimming as needed. Then put Crisco on top of the parchment paper too.
2) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place your rack in the middle of the oven. Make the mix according to the directions on the box. Pour into your jelly roll pan and spread out as evenly as you can. I shake it a little to help level it out.
3) If your oven is perfectly level, cook it for about 12 minutes. If your oven is like mine, see photo below on right, put it in the oven and set the timer for 2 minutes. At 2 minutes turn the pan 180 degrees and set it for another two minutes. Continue doing this for the first 8 minutes. Then let it cook 4 more minutes undisturbed. Total cooking time should be about 12 minutes. Use a toothpick to test.
4) Let it cool in the pan 10-15 minutes. Use a 3" cookie cutter to cut out 12 rounds like this. You can see my cookie cutter in the background. It's one of those double sided ones. This works well because it is tall and I can cut all the way through the cake without losing it. Don't worry if they're not all perfect. No one will care because they will be delicious!
5) Repeat this process with the other cake mixes. When completely cool, store on cookie trays between layers of plastic wrap. Seal the whole thing tightly and place in the refrigerator. This is the end of Day 1.
******************************** Day 2 ***************************************
6 cups heavy whipping cream (2 per batch)
16 oz cream cheese softened (4 oz per batch) I might try using more creamed cheese next time.
1 cup granulated sugar (1/3 cup per batch)
1 high quality chocolate bar (1/2 a square per dessert)
Powdered sugar for dusting
Day 2 Special Equipment
Mixer with both paddle and whip attachments
Large plastic piping bag with large star tip, or a large zip-top bag with the corner snipped
6 - 3" Pastry rings
Today is all about whipped topping and assembly. This is the fun part! I made one batch of the topping and then a double batch. That worked well because a double batch was pretty full in my stand mixer. Otherwise you might try using a very large bowl with a hand mixer and do them all at once.
1) First place the creamed cheese in the bowl of the stand mixer with the paddle attachment to break it up.
2) Switch to the whip attachment. Pour in heavy whipping cream and beat on medium. Gradually add sugar. This can be messy with a double batch. I had to cover my mixer with a dish towel to keep from getting splattered.
3) Whip on high until stiff peaks are formed. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula and mix again, making sure everything is completely incorporated.
4) Fill a large pastry bag with the topping. Use a large star tip. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it all in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
5) Put one cake in the bottom of each pastry ring. Add about 1/4 cup topping. In this picture I was doing it the hard way with a knife. Use the piping bag as it give you much more control.
6) Now put the second cake on top of the cream. If it is too tall like the picture on the right, you can slice it off level with the top of the pastry ring. Or you can just have extra tall cakes. And if the texture on top gets messy, flip it upside-down and make that the bottom when you remove it from the pastry ring.
7) Cover the tops with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
8) Slide them out of the pastry rings directly onto whatever they will be served on.
9) Top with a swirl of the creamed cheese topping and a chunk of chocolate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar immediately before serving. (I placed these in a sealed and refrigerated container overnight for taking to work the next morning. The powdered sugar had been absorbed into the cake. So add the powdered sugar right before serving.)
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| Happy Birthday Karl! |
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