All-New Cake Mix Doctor - Anne Byrn [138]
3. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool completely, 25 minutes.
4. While the cake cools, make the Chocolate Pan Frosting.
5. Pour the warm frosting over the cooled cake and spread it with a long metal spatula so that it is smooth. If you wish, immediately add sugar sprinkles so that they stick to the frosting. Let the frosting set for 5 minutes before slicing the cake.
Keep It Fresh! Store this cake, covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to four days or for up to one week in the refrigerator. Freeze the cake in the pan, covered with aluminum foil, for up to three months. Let the cake thaw overnight on the counter before serving.
Dress Up Your Sheet Cake
The 13 by 9–inch pan may be the best-loved pan in the kitchen, and there’s no doubting its usefulness, sturdiness, and ability to travel to and fro to parties. But it can be a bit boring to look at, especially when the cake stays in the pan. Here are some simple ways you can dress up a sheet cake.
1. Invert. Don’t leave the cake in the pan—invert it! Run a knife around the edges as the cake cools and, after fifteen to twenty minutes, give the pan a good shake to loosen it. Turn the pan over to invert the cake onto a rectangular platter to finish cooling. Then, frost, garnish, and serve.
2. Frost. If you invert the cake, frost the top and sides. If you leave the cake in the pan, frost just the top. You won’t need as much frosting for sheet cakes as you will for layers.
3. Top. If the cake is a coffee cake or some other cake that is not designed to be frosted, you can add a streusel topping or even just miniature chocolate chips and chopped nuts before baking. Add blueberries to a lemon cake or press peach slices into plain yellow cake. These add eye appeal and texture.
4. Dust. Now, if the cake is really simple—as in no frosting, no streusel or crumble, no nothing—you can at least sift confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder over the top of a cooled cake before serving. If you’re feeling fancy, sift it through a stencil to create a pattern on top. If you want the sugar or cocoa powder to show you must do this over a cooled cake. However, sifting the confectioners’ sugar over a warm cake, right from the oven, makes the sugar melt and creates an easy glaze that is a nice touch for spice cakes. One to two teaspoons of confectioners’ sugar is enough.
5. Garnish. The rule for garnishes has been that they should have something in common with the food they are dressing up. So, lime slices are fine on a lime cake, lemon slices with lemon cake, and strawberries with strawberry cake, and so on. But the delicious exceptions to this rule are those garnishes that can go on anything—mint leaves (although best with chocolate and alongside fruit) and toasted nuts such as pecans and almonds (best with chocolate, carrot cake, and caramel).
BROILED PEANUT BUTTER CRUNCH CAKE
serves:
16 to 20
prep:
15 minutes
bake:
32 to 37 minutes
cool:
15 to 20 minutes
WHEN IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, resident Nelson Wong posted on my website that he was looking for a peanut butter cake he remembered as a boy, Hazel Phillips passed on this marvelous and easy sheet cake recipe. Warning: topped with a very crunchy peanut butter glaze that bubbles up under the broiler, this is for serious peanut butter lovers only.
For the cake
Vegetable oil spray, for misting the pan
Flour, for dusting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
11/3 cups water
1/3 cup crunchy or smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
For the topping
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup heavy (whipping) cream or evaporated