THE CAKE IS NOT A LIE!!!

Today I wanted to make a cake, due it being a friend of mine’s birthday and she loves Portal.  Now this cake may look difficult to make as there are many steps involved, it is in fact extremely easy and just takes a lot of time, due to freezing the cake a little in between steps.

Now, for this recipe you will need…

A box of cake mix, your favorite kind

A frosting for filling; I used Whipped Strawberry

Fruit for the filling; I used Strawberries to go with the icing

Chocolate Icing; it can be butter cream, whipped, whichever you prefer

A large Hershey’s Chocolate Bar

Vanilla Icing

Maraschino Cherries

Unsalted Butter; for greasing the pans

A little bit of flour; also for the pans

2 Round 9″ Cakes pans

A Large Star Decorating Tip and Bag; I think the largest I had was a size 8

A Spatula; for the frosting

Kitchen Cloths or Parchment Paper; to catch the crumbs

Now, the first step is the easiest.  Take the cake pans and lightly grease them with the butter.  I like to place a little on the bottom and then use a paper towel to spread it about so there’s not much.  Afterwards, add the flour and shake it around so it coats the entire pan.  Pour out the excess.

Once you have done that, make the cake according to the instructions.  (Tip; If you want a really moist cake, add 1/4 cup of Sour Cream to the mix.  It gives so much life to cake mixes especially if you keep a few boxes in the pantry and they get to be really old!)  When they have finished cooking, let them sit for a few minutes and then remove them from the pans.  Afterwards, leave them on a rack until they are cool to the touch, then place them in the freezer for one hour.  (This is where all the waiting comes into play.)

While waiting for the cakes, you can use this time to prep your decorating station.  You want to make sure that if you are going to use icing that has been in the fridge for a while that it is room temperature so it is easier to spread.  Set up your piping bag as well, so you don’t have to do it later.  You are also going to want a large knife, I like to use my large bread knife.  Lay out a few kitchen cloths or some parchment paper in order to catch the crumbs (there will be a lot of them!) and in the middle place the serving tray you are going to use for the cake.  I didn’t have mine at the time so I simply used a plate.  Last part of the prep is washing and cutting up your fruit, if you are using something larger than a blueberry and shaving your chocolate bar into shavings.

Now, the first thing you are going to do once you take the cakes out of the freezer is level them.  What I do, if I have my cake decorating turn table, is I hold the knife in one place and turn the cake.  That way, it’s not going up or down which would make the cake uneven.  (Don’t throw away the trimmings!  They make excellent snacks if you get peckish and don’t want to make another cake.)  If you don’t have the luxury of such a device, go slow, the freezing should help the cake stick together and not fall apart too easily from the handling.  When both of those are leveled, place one upon your stand.

Using your spatula and filling, place a generous amount in the middle and move it outward towards the edge.  Once that’s done, lay out the fruit neatly and then add a little more frosting on top and cover the fruit.  Doesn’t have to be completely but enough that the fruit isn’t going to touch the top layer too much.  Now, carefully add the top layer, placing the trimmed side against the filling so the flat bottom is pointing up.  Press down gently so it adheres to the filling and then use the spatula to make the filling flush with the cakes as it will gush out a bit.  Place back in the freezer for about twenty to thirty minutes.

Now, be prepared to get messy.  The next step involves using your spatula and covering the cake in your chocolate frosting.  Make sure it’s a semi thick layer, you don’t want the cake poking through because then the next step won’t work.  Once you’re done with frosting it, unless your frosting is falling off the cake, you don’t have to place it in the freezer again.

As you can see in my above picture, I moved the cake to the plate I’m going to serve it on and surrounded it with paper (I didn’t have parchment at the time) and a tray.  I did this because chocolate flakes will slide right off instead of sticking to a cloth.

Now, taking your shavings and tilting the plate slightly, firmly press the shaving to the cake.  The frosting will act as glue and yes you will get frosting on your hands.  Keep turning the cake, keep it on an angle and pressing shaving to it until the side is covered completely.  With that done, you can sprinkle the top and press lightly to make sure those adhere as well.  As you can see, it doesn’t matter if you do that sides or top first.

With that done, you can have fun with the last few details.  Taking your piping bag that has been fitted with your Large 8 Star tip, fill the bag with vanilla icing and place eight really large dollops on top.  I like to start at the top and then do the bottom, then the sides before I fill in the spaces.  That way they’re spaced evenly.  Once you have that done, take your Maraschino Cherries and place one atop each dollop.

Final touch, add a single large white candle and TADA!!

THE CAKE IS NOT A LIE!!!