Zoom Zoom!

This chocolate fudge cake was a nightmare. You'd have thought the initial shape of the cake and design looks relatively easy, but my god, how I got to the end of this cake I'll never know. Especially because I rolled home from a night out at 3am, awoke at 6am, made this cake and delivered it by 10am. Yeah, that's how I roll... (And this was one of two cakes I delivered at 10am... Booyah!!! Coming next post haha!)

When I made this cake it was the first time I'd ever attempted to use one of those number-shaped cake pans. They're weird, and have no bottoms. God knows why. So the pan I used looked like this:

I asked the ever-trustworthy (?) lady who owns the cake shop I frequent for advice on what the hell to do with it, since I hired it from her for the meagre price of £1.75 for 3 days. She's very reasonable when it comes to her prices, I'll give her that. Sometimes she gives me ribbon or a small cake board for free because she knows what a good customer I am :) Anywho, she recommended covering the TOP of the pan in tin foil, and sellotaping it to the tin. Apparantly it works a charm every time. Well, I couldn't get the damn tape to stick, so I just wrapped the foil up the edges of the tin and put it on another baking tray. Now I say you cover the TOP of the tin in foil. Why - may you ask? Because us cake-makers know that when you turn a cake out, you always ice the BOTTOM of the cake, as that has the smoothest surface. So turn out your cake, level off the top, but of course you still get that crumbly, juuuuust slightly imperfect surface. So flip it, ice it, and BAM!

Right, so on we go. I fill the pan with the cake mixture, and bake away. Of course, so my horror upon opening the oven later on, the mixture has spilled up and over the top, out of the edges - it's everywhere really. The cake wasn't level all the way through, it was just a disaster. So obviously my time and patience are wearing thin, and I decided to level it off as best I could and set about covering it in icing. That always adds a bit of bulk to a cake anyway, so I knew it would be okay once I got the ball rolling. Which it did! That checkerboard ribbon I picked up was fabulous for this cake! I was well impressed with it. Look at that, my janner voice is coming out even as I type. "Well impressed." I'm reminded somewhat of my Auntie Anne, but that's going off track... Ahem :P Get it...?

Icing on the Top:

•  Bearing in mind my minimal time window (self-inflicted, I know. But this is what I'm talking about when it comes to making the decision to collapse the business. It was either have a social life and save my sanity, or make cakes.) I was really pleased with how the car came out! Yeah, he could have had a little more detail on him. But for a piece of decoration that was going to come off the cake five minutes after everyone "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed at it, it was pointless. Plus, the recipient was two years old. He knew what it was and was squeeling "Lightning Mcqueen!!" at the sight of the cake. Oh, how I aim to please.
• My skill level whilst still slightly drunk. Not too shabby.

Burnt Bits:

•  Although you can't see it, the top left corner of the cake was considerably smashed to bits :( The consistency of the chocolate fudge cake I used to make - albeit absolutely gorgeous tasting - was just too crumbly to be used for cake making. I now buy my chocolate cake mix ready made. Not the Betty Crocker rubbish from supermarkets, but from my cake shop that the owner mixes up herself. It saves so much time melting chocolate, adding in foreign ingredients like sour cream etc, and is just so much cheaper. I know I sound like the devil even as I type, but I made hardly any profit when I had the business. A sponge mix that costs £3.75 versus making it from scratch for over a tenner is going to win anyday.) Wow, that was a long bit in brackets. Anywho, so the smashed bit had to make up its shape in chocolate buttercream and was then well-disguised with the icing. I think that was the last time I used that recipe.
• I should have practiced with the cake pan before making the cake. I would have saved so much hassle and actual cake that it would have turned out a lot deeper, but alas it was not to be.

So, this cake has a few hidden flaws. From the outside persective you wouldn't have thought it, which is hard for me to say because obviously I like my cakes to be good on the inside as well as the outside. Many people mistake that about the high-flying cake makers of the world. They gasp in shock at these masterful creations, but at the end of the day does it all really matter unless the taste good? I love Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, but once you take away the structure of the cakes, and all the interior light shows and smoke machines, how much of it is actually edible? Suffice it to say, all of my Number 2 Lightning McQueen cake WAS. And it tasted prettty damn good :)

Sorry - I ranted for much of this post. It seems I have a lot to say lately. My texts are like essays, and my diary will need to be replaced soon. I have too much time now.

Happy Baking x