Half-Size Birthday Cake
I wanted a big, layered chocolate cake for my birthday. But I didn’t want 3/4 of the leftover cake to sit around afterwards! So I made half of a birthday cake– problem solved.
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Have your birthday cake, and eat it too (without all the leftovers)!
A FEW THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT THIS RECIPE:
- CHILL, CHILL, CHILL! The key to any layered cake is to keep it chilled every step of the way. But when working with HALF of a cake (with half the stability), it was especially crucial to have a completely chilled cake from start to finish. In the video, you can see my cake is leaning a little bit. That’s because I didn’t have the time to let it chill completely! If I had taken the time to chill it after each step, I’d EASILY have a perfectly straight standing cake.
- I’d also highly recommend keeping it chilled up until it’s time to serve!
- I used my favorite doctored up cake mix recipe for the cake (recipe below). And it makes A LOT of cake. As you can see in the video, it made two VERY thick 10-inch rounds. Which was a little too much to stack in 4 layers, so I only used 3. If you use my recipe, you can just save half of one cake by wrapping it in plastic wrap and freezing it. But FYI: if you were to simply bake a cake using a cake mix according to the directions on the box (instead of my fancied-up version), you should be able to stack all four layers with no problem.
Half-Sized Birthday Cake
I wanted a big, layered chocolate cake for my birthday. But I didn’t want 3/4 of the leftover cake to sit around afterwards! So I made half of a birthday cake– problem solved.
ingredients:
• 18.25 ounce devil’s food cake mix
• 3 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt (fat free or regular for both works fine)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 cups semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (optional)
FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM:
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4-5 cups powdered sugar
• 8 ounces melted chocolate, slightly cooled
• 2-3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• additional milk or powdered sugar if needed to reach desired consistency
instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Beat together all of ingredients until smooth batter forms, reserving the chocolate chips if using.
3. Mix in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
4. Divide batter into two 10-inch round baking pans (you can use other pans and baking times according to the directions on the cake mix box). Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. Let cool completely.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
1. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the butter until smooth.
2. Whisk in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding a tablespoon of milk as well when the mixture gets too thick (crumbly). The milk should keep it smooth.
3. After 4 cups of powdered sugar have been added, slowly pour in the melted chocolate while the whisk is still running.
4. If needed, add more powdered sugar until desired consistency is met.
CAKE ASSEMBLY:
1. Cut both of the cakes in half (right down the middle of the cake). Set aside one half to save for later use.
2. Layer the remaining 3 halves with buttercream. Chill (or freeze) until the buttercream is firm.
3. Frost the outside of the cake (if seeking to create a smooth outside layer, first apply a crumb coat and chill before applying the final– smooth– layer of buttercream).
4. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
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0 Comments on “Half-Size Birthday Cake”
It is interesting to read your blog post and I am going to share it with my friends.aybabg
I always like your blog so much because from here I always get some good quality of recipe as I want to make some good dessert at my home. If you also can make any content about baklava then I can also try this at my home. For best quality baklava to buy you can visit Dubai's different good dessert shop because after Turkey only Dubai can give you the real taste of baklava.