All-New Cake Mix Doctor - Anne Byrn [73]
4. Ladle about 6½ cups of cake batter into the prepared 12-inch cake pan, about 3½ cups of batter into the 8-inch pan, and about 2½ cups of batter into the 6-inch pan. The batter will be about 1 inch below the top of the pans. Smooth the tops of the batter with a rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven. If your oven is not large enough to hold 3 pans on one rack, place 2 pans on the center rack and place the third pan in the center of the highest rack.
5. Bake the cake layers until they just begin to pull away from the side of the pans and the tops are lightly browned. A toothpick inserted in the center of the layers should come out clean. (Although I usually don’t advise using a toothpick to test for doneness, these cake layers are dense and thicker than usual.) The 12-inch layer will bake quickest and be done after 42 to 48 minutes and the thicker 8-inch and 6-inch layers will be done after 47 to 53 minutes. Transfer the cake pans to wire racks to cool. Immediately press down gently on the top of each layer for 10 to 15 seconds with your hands or with the bottom of a saucepan that is the same size as the layer (make sure the bottoms of the pans are clean). This will level the layers and make them easier to stack. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each cake layer and gently shake the pans to loosen the cakes. Invert each layer onto a wire rack, then again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up.
6. Let the cake layers cool to room temperature, 1 hour longer. Then, wrap them well in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days before frosting. Or, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and then in heavy-duty foil and freeze them for up to 1 month. In warm weather, make sure the cake layers are cold before frosting them. Place them in the freezer if needed to chill.
How to Feed Nearly 100
You can do this by doubling the cake recipe and adding a 16-inch layer to the bottom of the cake. You will also need slightly more frosting; increase it by 1 package of cream cheese, 4 tablespoons of butter, a teaspoon of vanilla, and 4 cups of confectioners’ sugar. You’ll get at least an additional 52 slices from that 16-inch layer.
How to Use a Pastry Bag
Never fear: I managed to bake cakes for some twenty years before I ever touched a pastry bag to decorate them. When I did, I was in Paris and I was paying for pastry lessons, so you bet I was picking up the pastry bag! But once back to America and life in the suburbs with a family and little children there was no real need to use a pastry bag. If something needed to be piped—a name on a birthday cake or the filling of deviled eggs—I either snipped off the corner of a resealable plastic bag or used the compact pastry bags with fitted tips found on the supermarket baking aisle.
Whether you use the supermarket bags or a more professional pastry bag, follow the steps in this box to do it.
Experiment with tips with small plain holes for thin lines and more elaborate tips for making flowers, fluted borders, and so on. Refill the pastry bag as needed and, when you have completed the job, wash the bag and tips by hand, then dry and store them.
1. Fit the tip into the end of the bag.
2.Place the bag, with the tip at the bottom, in a tall glass or jar.
3.Open up the bag and let the edge drape over the side of the glass.
4.Spoon the frosting into the bag, taking care not to fill it too full.
5.Twist the edge of the bag together, pick up the bag, and push the frosting down to the tip.
6.If you are right-handed, pick up the bag with your left hand and use this hand to press on the bag and move frosting toward the tip. If you are left-handed, pick up the bag with your right hand. Hold your free hand down near the tip to balance and steer the bag.
7. Make the frosting: Place the cream cheese and butter in a very large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until creamy, 1 to 1½ minutes. Add the 1 tablespoon