All-New Cake Mix Doctor - Anne Byrn [16]
For the classic two-layer cake, I stack the layers top side up. This also works for most three-layer cakes. But if the layers are deep and heavy you may want to stack them bottom sides together, so the flat surfaces are next to each other. Frost the side and top as you would for any cake.
Veteran cake bakers work with flat cake layers. To do this they will either gently press down on a cake in the pan after it has been removed from the oven, or they will slice the domed top off a layer after it has cooled. You can also use the baking strips found in baking supply stores. These are cloth strips that you soak in water and attach to the outside of the baking pans before putting them in the oven. As the cake layers bake the outside stays cool and the cakes bake more evenly and don’t dome in the center. And lastly, baking cakes at 325°F instead of the usual 350°F will produce a slightly flatter cake.
In this book I have tried to provide just the right amount of frosting for the job so you don’t have too much left over. You’ll see the Chocolate Pan Frosting on page 476 has several variations depending upon how much you need when you are using it on a Bundt cake, cupcakes, or a layer cake.
To keep a cake neat and tidy before frosting, place strips of waxed paper—about 3 inches by 12 inches—under the bottom layer to form a square and catch frosting run-offs. Gently pull the waxed paper out from underneath after the cake is frosted. Or you can just wet a piece of paper towel and wipe up the plate or stand after you are done frosting.
When frosting, my advice is to go lightly and sparingly at first. It’s better to wind up with a little extra frosting in the bowl that you can pile on top than no frosting left and a top that needs to be frosted. Be gentle when frosting your layers so they don’t split and crumb up. Crumbs can get pretty messy in the frosting—especially red velvet crumbs! They can turn a white frosting pink.
I’m a big believer in skim coats, that first thin coat of frosting that seals in the crumbs. Once the crumbs are sealed, go back and be more generous with frosting on top and around the side—you can be decorative and daring. Pastry chefs will put a skim coat on a cake, then chill it so the cake is even easier to frost with a second coat. In a humid summer home kitchen, this is a great trick as well.
Such sticky frostings as those made with cream cheese need to be refrigerated briefly, uncovered, before storing. Iced cakes need to rest ten to twenty minutes for the frosting to harden before wrapping. And cakes with a whipped cream frosting will need to be stored in the refrigerator in a cake saver or under a glass cake dome.
Freezing Cake
One of my favorite ways to work ahead on a busy schedule is to bake and freeze. Most cakes are great keepers, especially Bundts and pounds. Layer cakes, too, can be frozen, but you’ll have better results if you freeze the layers, then thaw, and frost them later. Cream cheese frostings, in particular, get watery after being frozen.
Freezing is also a great way to extend the life of a favorite cake and to keep you from eating too much! I freeze leftover cake in aluminum foil or in a tightly sealed plastic container, frosted or unfrosted, for up to three months. Some will last up to six months, but these are the Bundts and pounds. Whole or half cakes freeze better for longer periods of time than sliced cake.
Another thing to remember when freezing cake is to use heavy-duty aluminum foil. Regular foil is okay, but definitely don’t use plastic wrap because it does not lock in moisture. It’s easier to wrap a cake if the frosting is hard. So you need to refrigerate uncovered cakes for twenty minutes before wrapping them for the freezer.
Thawing cakes on the counter is fine unless they have a frosting or filling that contains eggs, even cooked eggs. Those should be thawed in the refrigerator. The best advice I have gotten is to keep an unfrosted cake covered until it is three quarters thawed, then uncover the cake and let it finish thawing. This lets the moisture in the cake