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7 Baking Fails and How to Avoid Them

September 22, 2016 by cookingupsomedough Leave a Comment

7 Baking Fails and How to Avoid Them

Buzzfeed – you left us hanging! You showed us the painful (but familiar) disasters that sometimes happen when we bake but you didn’t show us how to avoid the mistakes that cause them.

In an effort to rescue home cooks everywhere from committing these baking crimes, I’ve collected the videos below to give you an education on how to avoid common baking fails.

1.Blob Cookies

In addition to placing your cookies farther apart on the tray, Beeta Hashempour recommends that we refrigerate our cookie dough before baking.

2. Scorched Biscuits

Prevent scorching your biscuits and cookies by using a good quality baking pan (avoid the dark pans), baking on the middle rack of your oven and making sure your oven temperature is correct.

3. Cake Sticks to Pan

You can make sure that your cake releases from the pan by preparing your pans properly before cooking. Watch the video below from Allrecipes – just don’t forget to remove the parchment paper from the cake.

If you want to save a step, you can purchase pre-cut parchment circles that fit your pan.

4. The Deflated Cake

Cakes that fall in the middle most likely have had the cooking process interrupted in some way. You’ve either taken the cake out of the oven too soon or opened the oven too early or too often during the baking process and interrupted the cooking.

 

5 and 6. Cracked Cake and Crumbling Cake

There could be several reasons that your cake cracks or crumbles. First, check your oven temperature to make sure that it is not too high. Next, be sure to measure the ingredients properly. Also avoid over-mixing your ingredients. If all else fails, your cake will still be delicious as cake balls or a trifle.

 

7. Melting Icing

Frosting a cake that is still warm will cause the icing to melt. Watch the video below from America’s Test Kitchen for the proper way to frost a cake.

 

Cherry Chip Celebration Cake with Hershey’s Birthday Cake Kisses

September 13, 2016 by cookingupsomedough 9 Comments


hersheys-birthday-cake-kisses-cake

Since last week, when I used my Facebook group to report the introduction of the new Hershey’s Birthday Cake Kisses, I’ve been waiting to make this cake. The Kisses weren’t due to arrive in Walmart until today, September 12th, but there was a rumor that the candy had been spotted on store shelves a little early. Unfortunately, no stores in my area carried them.

When I heard about the Kisses, I immediately wanted to create a special dessert. I considered trying a thumbprint style cookie but no one flavor of cookie stood out to me as a flavor profile to pair with the white chocolate Kiss. I recalled a conversation that I’d recently had with my cousin about the little known practice of bakeries using a boxed cake mix and adding a few ingredients to the batter for a richer taste. This would be a perfect opportunity to test one of those cakes. For some reason, the color pink came to mind.

I thought about using sprinkles in the cake to mirror the sprinkles that were supposed to be in the Kisses. But then, I remembered the look of a cake that was probably out in the 70s. It was a Cherry Chip Cake. I thought it would complement the new Kisses perfectly. Keep in mind that as I’m planning this cake, I still haven’t actually seen or tasted the new Kisses.

I went on the hunt for the Cherry Chip Cake mix and discovered that it was very difficult to find. As I stood in the store searching for a solution, I decided to try a white cake mix and add maraschino cherries to it. I came home and searched for tips to make a box mix taste like homemade. Some of the tips called for so many additional ingredients that I might as well have started the recipe from scratch. There were a number of tips however that called for eggs, butter and milk. So, I made the cake a day in advance and I’m writing this as I wait for the stores to stock their shelves.

I wanted a pink frosting with the color and flavor coming from the maraschino cherry juice. Searching through Pinterest, I found a great recipe for Maraschino Cherry Frosting at Mom On Time Out. Because I am sensitive to almonds I substituted an Imitation Clear Vanilla extract so as not to muddy the color.

Update: The Kisses are here! I cut some of the kisses in half from the top to show the confetti look inside. I then randomly scattered them around the cake, pressing them into the frosting. Next I added sprinkles for an even more festive look. Here’s an up close look at the inside of the kisses and the maraschino cherry chips inside the cake.

Cherry Chip Celebration Cake with Hershey's Birthday Cake Kisses

 

This cake is delicious but it is very sweet. With the richness from the eggs, butter and milk, giving the taste of homemade, and the overload of candy, you can only have a small slice. The cake definitely lives up to its’ name – Celebration Cake.

 

Cherry Chip Celebration Cake with Hershey’s Birthday Cake Kisses

Created by cookingupsomedough on September 12, 2016

Cherry Chip Celebration Cake with Hershey's Birthday Cake Kisses

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 1 package White Cake Mix
  • Replace water with equal amount of milk
  • Replace oil with butter and double the amount
  • 1 additional egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons cherry syrup from maraschino cherries (from jar below)
  • 10 fluid ounces jar maraschino cherries, drained, stemmed and finely chopped (reserve syrup)

For Decorating

  • Buttercream Frosting
  • Sprinkles or Confetti shaped edible decorations
  • 2 packages Hershey's Birthday Cake Kisses

Instructions

  1. Mix cake according to package directions, making the addition of the egg and replacing oil and water with melted butter and milk. Add the vanilla and cherry syrup and mix.
  2. Stir in the maraschino cherries by hand. Bake cake according to package directions.
  3. While the cake is baking, make your buttercream frosting. Refrigerate.
  4. Unwrap the candy kisses. Cut about 40 in half. Set both aside until ready to decorate.
  5. After the cake has completely cooled, lay strips of parchment or wax paper around the edges of the cake stand. Add a dollop of icing in the center of the plate and lay the first layer of the cake on top. The icing anchors the cake and prevents it from sliding as you decorate and the paper strips keep the plate edges clean. Give both layers a crumb coat and refrigerate about 30 minutes until buttercream is firm.
  6. Ice cake again generously with the buttercream. Gently press sprinkles into the side of the cake. Press kisses randomly into the sides of the cake, adding a few of those that have been cut so that inside is facing outward. After decorating the sides, add kisses to the top of the cake. Add sprinkles to the top to cover the spaces between the kisses.
  7. Once your icing and decorations are complete, gently pull the paper strips from under the edges of the cake.
  8. Enjoy!
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Cooking is one of the skills that I am most proud of having. Cooking gives me the opportunity to offer the gift of hospitality to both friends and strangers, feeding people in times of celebration and in times of need. Cooking has also been a financial lifeline for me and my family. When money was short, I’ve been able to open my kitchen and “cook up some dough”. Join me here as we learn to make the most of our cooking skills for nourishment, fun and profit.

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