Reusable Cake Boards

What is a cake board? This can be used to separate cake layers, provide protection between your cake stand and cake, and provide support for heavy cakes...

That said: they are often cardboard.

As a semi crunchy granola person, I do not want to use cardboard cake boards to separate my tiered cakes...

I also learned the hard way that cutting a cake on a marble cutting board runs the risk of gouging the board...

I have also realized that reusable cake boards are expensive! Especially the multipacks with different sizes.

My DIY solution:
Use a flat plastic plate! Or if you're like me and don't have one, wrap the bottom of a springform pan with layers of foil.  YES foil is still not ecofriendly, but I don't bake often enough to justify investing in reusable cake boards --- yet.

https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Cake-Board-Set-4/dp/B07C2FCTP9

Recipe Nutrition Generator

N always asks how many calories in x,y,z - particularly for baked goods. I don't know that it's accurate, but the most convenient calculator I've found is VeryWellFit.com --- you can copy/paste the entire recipe, enter the number of servings and serving size.  You can then edit the ingredients as needed.

I find that it does best with decimal measures (1.75) rather than fractions (1 3/4).

https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076

Blackout Cake

As a precursor, I'll try to structure my posts as follows:

Brief blurb
Original Recipe Links
Important/Helpful Notes
Ingredients I used
Steps I followed (+ helpful notes in italics)
Final Thoughts


Blurb
I, like many other millenials, am obsessed with Bon Appetit's youtube channel.  They have capitalized, perfectly, on a generation's desire for consumable content, produced by highly skilled professionals that simultaneously relatable and perfectly polished. I enjoy Rick's recipes and style, so when he posted the video in May, I KNEW I had to try it.  I also knew then, as I do now, that my household is cutting back on refined/processed sugar. Finally, my birthday provided provenance - and the recipe did NOT disappoint.

The original recipe is: blackout cake + pudding filling + frosting
I baked: blackout cake + toasted coconut caramel + frosting

The toasted coconut caramel recipe was lifted from Claire's Baking School - we were hosting an outdoor party, and keep our AC warm, so pudding was of no interest.

Original Recipes
BA Blackout Cake Video
BA Blackout Cake Recipe
BA Claire Makes (Toasted Coconut Caramel) Filling

Important notes:

• As with all baking, I find it so helpful to read recipe fully.
• RT = room temperature
• AP = all purpose
• I did not find it necessary to premeasure dry ingredients before mixing.  For my 2nd bake I realized it was better to separate wet to bring to RT.
• Original recipe calls for dark brown sugar, but I preferentially use turbinado sugar - I added approximately 1 tbsp of light maple syrup to compensate.
• Because I baked separately, I did not need to use my stand mixer - hand whisking was so perfectly easy, and I had no noticeable difference with final product.
• I had to double the recipe to produce a big enough cake.  partially because the first batch did not rise quite enough, and I did not split the batter well (my first 10" base was not tall enough).
• base layer = 2 x 10 inch torted into 4 layers
• top layer = 2x 6 inch
• My first base was not tall enough to torte, so I compensated in the 2nd
• My caramel seized on adding the heavy cream, partially because I didn't know what I was doing, but mostly because my smaller measuring cup was occupied (i was adding 1/4 cup, then measuring another amount, then adding).  In hindsight I needed to add sugar more slowly, measure all my cream and pour more slowly, while simultaneously stirring.  My heat was also too high, and the caramel basically started boiling (stovetop user error)

Original Recipe
yield: two 8-inch deep rounds
servings: 12 slices

Cake Ingredients
Unsalted butter, room temperature (for pans)
0.75 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus more for pans
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
0.75 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1.5 cups (packed) turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup (sub molasses or golden syrup)
0.75 cup sour cream, room temperature
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
0.75 cups hot water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
0.75 teaspoon kosher salt

Frosting
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup (sub molasses or  golden syrup)
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
0.75  cup sour cream, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Toasted Coconut Caramel
2 cups shredded coconut (or flakes)
1 cup heavy cream
pinch of kosher salt

Cake Steps
1. Prep
- Set out anything that needs to be RT (cracked eggs, sour cream, butter). This can take several hours.

- Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°

- Line pans with parchment paper

- Grease (on top of parchment) with butter, then dust with cocoa

- Tap out excess.

2. Dry

- Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder into a medium bowl

- Whisk to combine.

I measured all dry into a sieve, then pushed through with a chopstick.  Totally appropriate, as long as your bottom bowl is deep enough.

3. Wet
- Whisk egg, egg yolk, brown sugar, sour cream, oil, vanilla, salt.

I precracked eggs and premeasured sour cream (in separate bowls), to bring to RT. This made for very easy addition. You can store egg white in fridge (for use in 1 day) or freezer (for much later use).

4. Combine
- Whisk dry ingredients into wet, until just barely combined.
- Whisk hot water.
- Mixture should get shiny.

No need to add dry in parts - you can dump and go.

5. Divide and Bake
- Divide batter between prepared pans.
- Bake 25-35 min, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Time will vary for smaller layers.
- Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cake cool completely in pan.
- Run a knife (or sharp thin spatula) around cake's circumference to separate from pan.
- Invert onto a plate (or your hand, but be careful if your hands run hot - caketop may stick to your hand). Gently peel the parchment off.
- Invert again (so it's right side up).

You can toast coconut while your oven is still hot.I baked both small and large together on the middle rack, with no appreciable issues.Cake can be baked 2 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.  For same day prep, chill the cake before torting and assembly. 

Frosting
- Bring cream, syrup, and salt to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Remove from heat
- Stir in chocolate, sour cream, and butter.
- Let sit, stirring occasionally, until chocolate and butter are melted and mixture is smooth and no streaks of white remain.
- Transfer to a medium bowl, let sit at RT, stirring every 30 minutes or so, until thickened and spreadable.
- It will look ridiculous (like a broken chocolate sauce) but eventually will start to thicken.
- Stir until smooth.

My kitchen is very warm so I chilled frosting 5 minutes at a time. (BA says chill if warmer than 72°, otherwise let sit on counter for 1.5 hours, stirring every 30 min).

Stir to combine cooler outer edges with warmer center, then chill another 5 minutes. Repeat until it reaches the consistency of sour cream.

Filling


Assembly
- Using a serrated knife and sawing in long, even strokes, carefully torte cakes (cut them into 2 layers).
- Set aside the 3 best layers for use. Identify your layer order (tallest on bottom, most even on top)
- Crumble any extra layer into fine crumbs

crumbling can be done by hand (beware the cake is extremely moist) or push through a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet (using a gentle circle motion

- Spread a small amount of caramel filling on a cake stand, tray,  or cake holder.
- Set your tallest layer, cut side up.
- Place a frosting ring around the outer layer of cake (to keep filling from oozing out)
- Spread filling in the middle.
- Put on your second layer
- Repeat (frosting ring, filling)

I had to go semi sparingly because I did not know my caramel yield relative to number of layers.  I placed a much thinner caramel layer between the cake's base layer and topper. You can use frosting+caramel to even out torting inconsistencies. Chill cake (approx 1 hr) before frosting.

- Lay down a crumb coat (spread a thin layer of frosting) all over top and sides of chilled cake.
- The frosting on top should be as smooth and level as possible.
- If using the crumb coat outside, the sides can look messy; Otherwise make that shit clean & smooth.
- Chill between layers of frosting for easier application.
- If applying crumb coat: press crumbs to the sides of the cake turning as you go.

Per BA: Cake can be assembled 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered.

Let sit (for a little while) before serving.