Nathan and I were asked to bring a dessert to a cookout tonight, so last night I was flipping through my Food Network magazines to look for a recipe that would be appropriate for the summery occassion. We came across a "Tiki Cocktail Cake" that looked perfect. Nathan went with me to the store to pick up the ingredients. We had no idea how long it was going to take us searching for cocktail umbrellas. Although his tone was indicative of "Is it
that important?", Nathan was a trooper and approached various salespeople to inquire about where they could be - all of whom gave us a different answer: "party supplies", "paper products", "daquiri mixes". We didn't end up finding them - I was told to go to a liquor store, so I will have to get over there today - I mean what Tiki Cocktail Cake is complete without the cocktail umbrella? Right? After getting the supplies we got home and dove right in to making the cake. The recipe called for us to use a 6" cake pan and two 1-quart bowls. On hand we had a 8" cake pan and two 2.5-quart bowls, so we improvised. Since we knew that would make for shallower cakes, our cake would be much shorter and rounder than the one pictured in the magazine. I convinced myself that it would be fine because rather than a pineapple-shaped tiki cake, a coconut one (round shape) would be even more appropriate! Overall I was very pleased with how it turned out. It wasn't nearly as labor-intensive as I thought it would have been, the only part that took a while was toasting several batches of coconut, we assumed that what the recipe called for wouldn't provide enough...we were wrong...we now have an abundance of toasted coconut in ziploc bags in our baking cabinet. I hate to waste. Anyways, it's hard to try and sneak a taste of a cake in such a precise shape, so I can't comment on the taste, but overall the cake turned out looking good and once I stick that cocktail umbrella in it, I will be proud of our finalized creation!
Tiki Cocktail Cake
Recipe taken from Food Network Magazine
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 18.25-ounce box chocolate cake mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 16-ounce tub milk chocolate frosting
- 3/4 cup vanilla frosting
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray one 6-inch cake pan (we used an 8-inch for the coconut shape) and two 1-quart ovenproof bowls (we used two 2.5-quart bowls to make a coconut shape) with cooking spray. Beat the cake mix, eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil with a mixer.
Divide the batter evenly among the pan and bowls; bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes for the pan and 35 minutes for the bowls. Cool; unmold.
Trim all 3 cakes to make them level. Hollow out the smaller end of one of the bowl cakes, carving about 1 inch deep. (Leave a thick rim around the edge.)
Put the uncut bowl cake, wider side up, on a cake board or plate. Spread with a layer of chocolate frosting, then position the round cake on top.
Spread the round cake with frosting, then put the other bowl cake on top, carved part up. Freeze the cake about 1 hour (this will make it easier to frost).
Frost the outer rim and inside of the hole with vanilla frosting. Put the remaining vanilla frosting in a resealable plastic bag.
Spread the remaining chocolate frosting over the outside of the cake. Press handfuls of
toasted coconut into the frosting, covering the cake completely.
Microwave the bag of vanilla frosting for 5 seconds (the bag will not melt). Snip off a corner and squeeze the frosting into the top of the cake so it looks like liquid.
Add a cocktail umbrella and straw.
No comments:
Post a Comment