Making my own magic (in the kitchen)

If you read the last post closely, you will have seen CAULDRON CAKES mentioned. Just the mentioning of cake had me instantly interested as I love making cakes and decorating them, and not forgetting eating them too. I came across a recipe (with the help of my friend Sammy). After making them though, I do slightly regret using this particular recipe because it was pretty intricate and just time-consuming. I start to lack patience when making cakes because I just want to eat them. But, I stuck it out and ended up with a decent end product.

This is how they were meant to look.

The recipe is from an American blogger (Source: http://www.pastryaffair.com/blog/2011/7/12/cauldron-cakes.html). This meant that the ingredients are listed in cup measurements instead of grams or ounces. So I started by mixing the eggs and sugar together. As I didn’t know how much a cup was, I tried to find a convertor online that told me how much 2/3 cup of granulated sugar is in grams. I found a list of measurements equivalents, so I had to use my brain (and my little brother’s) to find out how many spoons are equivalent to a cup. If you don’t already know where I’m going with this, I did it wrong. I didn’t put enough spoonfuls of sugar in.

At this point, I thought it would be best if I asked my mum to help me. She pulled out a cup from the cupboard, which is the cup size that Americans use. That made the rest of the measuring easier. I should add that I left out the coffee. I don’t drink coffee and we didn’t have any at home. I mixed the dry ingredients together (like the recipe says) and then began mixing it with the wet ones (which we think the recipe is suggesting. It’s not very clear). I started doing this by hand, thinking that it wouldn’t be difficult. I was wrong. The mixture became thick quite quickly, and after a while I gave up. We still had a lot of the dry ingredients left to add, so we used the machine to finish the mixing. It was incredible thick in the end. Not the normal cake batter that I’m used to.

The batter (yes, some of the dry ingredients fell out on  to the counter)

I put the cake batter in the cake cases. This went in the oven for 30 minutes. And voila! They look like brownies, which must mean that they’ll be mouth-wateringly tasty. I also realized that the cakes didn’t rise like normal cakes. This is slightly worrying because this is my first attempt.

I continued following the recipe and melted the chocolate and butter needed to cover the bottom of the cakes. We adapted the recipe by not putting in as much butter as it suggests. I don’t think it affected the taste or consistency. I dipped the bottom of cakes into the chocolate, and then left them to set in the fridge for a while. I also made the handles with the remaining melted chocolate. I tested the suggested method by only making two handles on the tray with the cakes.

Brownie looking cakes

After I dipped the cakes into the chocolate

While this was happening, I made the filling for the cakes. Once again, I adapted the recipe. Instead of the marshmallow filling, I whipped double cream to a thick consistency. In my opinion, this made the cakes tasty as they fulfilled my sweet-tooth standards.

Back to the fridge for the cakes and the prototype handles. The cakes were perfect; not even or perfect looking, but good enough for me. I tried to take the handles off of the tray. At this point, my mum came back in the kitchen, saw what I was doing, and laughed. She knew before I did that this wasn’t going to give me the handles I wanted. Some of the chocolate curled as I took it off the tray, which came in handy as decorations. My second attempt at handles was using the rest of the chocolate/butter mixture to stick mini fingers together. In the fridge they went. I think I should add that my kitchen is not equipped with non-stick paper like the recipe suggests using. We have basic baking equipment which means we have to use our imagination when we get in situations like this.

The prototype handle

I cut out little holes (or cavities) in the top of the cakes, which was for the marshmallow filling. Or in my case, the whipped double cream filling. In this went, and a little bit of the remaining melted chocolate on the outside. Then, the makeshift mini finger handles stuck in the cakes. And FINALLY, I am finished!!! It looks exactly like the recipe’s picture, right? (Sarcasm)

The final product. They look very homemade, I know.

So, it’s time for the taste test. Just so you know, I have never tried a Devil’s Food Cake. But judging on the consistency of the cake batter before it cooked, I’m not expecting a normal spongy cake that I’m used to eating. The mini fingers are obviously tasty. They also stayed stuck together by the chocolate acting as cement. The actual cake is not bad. BUT it’s not fulfilling my sweet-tooth cravings. I think I didn’t add enough sugar at the start because I got my measurements wrong when I was doing the conversions. The chocolate on the bottom and the whipped double cream does make up for the lack of sugar though. Aside from the taste, the texture is a bit dry for me. My family liked to cakes. My older brother even patted my head, meaning he’s pleased (I think). Overall, not a bad attempt and they are quite tasty. I still don’t think I’m going to be making it very often though.