TWD: Imitation White Out Cake

From whiteoutcake

Some may shake their heads at this post. While others, may breathe a huge sigh of relief. First some background. Before, I became a homemade challenge kind of cook and baker, I was a semi-homemade expert, a byproduct of being a working, single mother who wanted desperately to make nice eats for everyone under the sun, but had very little time and resources.

To pay homage to those days and also by scanning Dorie's Devil's Food White Out Cake recipe, which was just a little too much for me to do this week, I decided to Sandra Lee this recipe up! Here is how I did it:

First, I used Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix. I mixed the batter according to the package directions. Then, I mixed in 2 heaping tbs of cocoa and 1/4 cup of melted chocolate chips to the batter. I baked the batter in a Wilton 9x3 inch round pan for approximately 40 minutes. I allowed the cake to cool over night. This is best for preventing excessive crumbiness. It also allows for smoother decoration. Plus, it breaks up the work.

Then, this morning, I crowned, leveled, and torted my cake as directed by Dorie. I frosted the cake with a sweet and fluffy Whipped Icing (the marshmallow-meringue thing did not sound appealing to me this week), using broad, whimsical strokes, lifting the spatula upward. The good thing about this cake is that you do not have to worry about cake crumbs as much as you normally would working with a dark cake and light colored frosting. However, I still applied a crumb coat, but reduced the "set" time and covered the few crumbs that showed through the icing with the cake crumbs used for decoration. I also gathered the loose crumbs on the bottom and press them into the cake to form a border for a more tapered look.

From whiteoutcake

Although the cake looked good as is, I still felt it needed something on top, so I quickly made up some X and O's chocolate centerpieces. Voila, cake complete. I just wish I had remembered to decorate my cake board first! This cake deserved a great cake board.

From whiteoutcake

There you have it. I hope you will not be to deeply disappointed with my "shortcuts", but I think the result is amazing, simple, and affordable. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Did any one happen to see a similar version of this cake on the magazine stands about a month or two ago?

Now don't forget to go see what the other genuine imitators did at TWD's blog roll. I am sure they came up with wonderful creations, as they always do. Thanks, Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater for choosing this week's awesome challenge!



P.S. I will post cut cake pictures later when we eat it.