Melissa Barlow - Easy Christmas Cut-Up Cakes

Melissa Barlow

Zac Williams

Easy Christmas Cut-up Cakes

Digital Edition 1.0

Text 2018 Melissa Barlow

Photographs 2018 Zac Williams

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

Orders: 1.800.835.4993

www.gibbs-smith.com

ISBN: 978-1-4236-5037-9

For my mom, Nancy, who lifts my spirits all year long.

This book is full of easy cake ideas that you can make for any special winter holiday occasionespecially Christmas. Choose your favorite pattern and surprise your family and friends with your creative genius!

The first step when making any cake in this book is to read the entire recipe before starting. Make sure you have the right pans for the cake youve chosen and gather all the ingredients together so they will be handy.

Preheat the oven while you grease the cake pans and mix the batter. An oven that has been preheated will cook the cake evenly. And pans that have been greased will let the cake pop out in one piece after it has cooled a bit.

Follow the instructions on the cake mix package for ingredients. After mixing the ingredients together and making a smooth batter, carefully transfer the batter to the greased pans. Place the pans in the oven and bake for the time listed in the recipe. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Let the cakes cool completely before you frost them. This will help keep crumbs out of your frosting. You can even bake the cake a day before you frost it.

Frosting is one of the most important parts of decorating your cake. Frosting can be messy, so proceed with patience.

To help keep your cake plate clean, stick little pieces of wax paper just under the edges of your cake. When you finish frosting the cake, pull out the wax paper pieces and throw them away.

There are many store-bought frostings that taste great and will work just fine with these recipes. Some of these purchased frostings are whipped, making them easier to spread, however, sometimes you need frosting that is stiffer, like for squeezing through a decorating bag to draw lines or make shapes. For stiffer frosting (or if you want to flavor the frosting yourself), you can make your own frosting using the provided recipes.

If you use one of the homemade frosting recipes, , you can put it into a decorators bag and use special tips to make shapes like dots, stars, and flowers. You can also buy decorating icing that comes in tubes at the grocery store or craft store. You might want to use these instead of decorators bags. They are great to use for decorating and adding details to your cakes, and you can often screw on decorators tips. The tubes come in small and large sizes. The small tubes are usually filled with gel frosting and the large tubes with decorating icing. Both come in all kinds of colors and are very easy to use.

Most grocery stores carry food-coloring kits usually located where youll find cake mixes. These work well, but sometimes the colors arent as deep or as dark as youd like them to be. You may want to go to a craft store and buy some specialty gel, paste, or powder icing colors such as the Wilton brand. They are not expensive and will help you get the exact color you need. If there isnt a craft store near you that carries these products, some chain stores like Wal-Mart do, or you can also purchase icing colors online.

Add small amounts of food coloring to homemade frosting or store-bought frosting, stirring until you get the color you want.

Now comes the best part. You can choose to decorate your cake with your favorite candy and other treats. You dont have to use exactly what is listed in each recipe. You can make substitutions if you cant find the cookies or candies listed, keeping in mind that its best to use bright, colorful candy for the best looking results.

The most important thing is to be creative and have fun. The possibilities are endless!

1/2 cup butter, softened*

3 to 4 tablespoons water or milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Pinch salt, optional

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter, water or milk, and vanilla together with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Add salt if using. Gradually beat in the sugar, 1 cup at a time. If the frosting is too thick, add more water or milk by the teaspoon until it reaches the right consistency. If it is too thin, add a little more sugar.

Note: Substitute 1 cup regular vegetable shortening and clear vanilla if you want a pure white frosting.

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 to 4 tablespoons water or milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Pinch salt, optional

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter, water or milk, and vanilla together with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Add salt if using. Beat in cocoa powder. Gradually beat in the sugar, 1 cup at a time. If the frosting is too thick, add more water or milk by the teaspoon until it reaches the right consistency. If it is too thin, add a little more sugar.

The Cakes

Candy Cane

Serves 10 to 12

Pans

1 (8-inch) round pan

1 (8-inch) square pan

Cake

1 (15.25-ounce) box white cake mix

1 recipe or 1 (16-ounce) can white frosting

Fruit by the Foot

Red licorice ropes or red M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pans with nonstick cooking spray.

Make cake mix according to package directions. Evenly divide the batter between both pans. Bake for 27 to 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean; remove from oven. Cool cake in pans for 10 minutes, and then invert and cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut the cakes according to the diagrams.

On a large serving platter or foil-wrapped board, stack the 2 round halves on top of each other to create a two-layer cake, frosting between the layers. Stack the 2 long strips together with frosting in between. Position the strip to make the long part of the candy cane. Stack the 2 smaller squares to finish off the hook. You can eat or throw away the unused piece.

Frost the entire cake smoothly with remaining frosting. Press the Fruit by the Foot and licorice or red M&Ms on the candy cane to create the stripes.