The Original Pin
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| http://www.madeinmelskitchen.com/2009/09/kit-kat-cake/ |
The Pinstrosity
Isn't that cute?! I love it. But Janelle had a little trouble getting it to this point and it didn't end up quite like the pin as she had wanted.
"I took a little bit of a different route on this cake by choosing a heart shaped cake pan rather than round. I, once again, did not follow any directions, it was a copy by picture method."
"1. The heart shaped cake pan I used was probably too big causing my double stacked hearts to be significantly shorter than the height of the standing Kit Kats. Therefore I took a knife to each one to shorten them. You can tell my how close the imprinted "Kit Kat" is to the bottom of the candy."
- I went to the original posting on this and read how they created their Kit Kat Cake. They actually do suggest to have the cake be shorter than the standing Kit Kats. If you look at the picture of the original cake you can see how low the M&M's go if you look in the cracks between the Kit Kats. The cake is supposed to be shorter than the Kit Kats to help hold in the candy.
- Domed tops on the cakes can happen if the heat distribution is not right and the cake bakes unevenly, or if your oven temperature is too high. Here are some ways to help prevent a domed top:
- Lower the temperature of your oven by about 15 degrees. Your cake will take a little longer to bake, but not too much longer.
- Buy the Magic Cake strips that you wrap around the outside of your pan. These help to distribute the heat more evenly and keep the cake from cooking too fast.
- Buy really nice cake pans.
- I remember my mother wrapping a wet flour-sack dishtowel around the cake pan (and diaper pinning it on). The did kinda the same thing as the Magic Cake strips.
- This one's just a matter of personal preference. More candy will make it look like the original, but you'd probably have to eat them off before you cut into the cake.
- To make a ribbon "stick" to the heart shape I'd probably first try pinning it in with toothpicks, wood or plastic (read the comments to learn about not using metal pins). A little hole would have to be made in the ribbon before hand, but it could work...maybe. If that didn't work, I'd dab a little bit of Karo syrup on the back of the ribbon so that it'd stick to the heart. Maybe a combination of the two?
Again, thanks for the great pointers!!! :-) Maybe I'll start learning my lesson and read directions before I attempt to make pins. But then it wouldn't be as fun! LOL
ReplyDeleteI think we all have the "Who needs directions?! I'm smart" projects. No worries there. And it can definitely make more adventures.
DeleteA tip to level a cake with a rounded top. Using a serrated knife, cut the dome off the top, then when you stack the cakes put the cut side down, so that when you frost it the crumbs don't get into the frosting as bad.
ReplyDeleteExamples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNix3qZ3qnk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGQwO8QVyRw
Thanks for the good links Carolyn.
DeleteI think she did a GREAT job! Mine would never have turned out so pretty!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would have even attempted it either, but she did fantastic.
DeleteI second Carolyn, this is how it was done in the grocery store bakery I worked at.
ReplyDeleteCake mixes will almost always produce a rounded cake. Scratch cakes usually come out more level.
ReplyDeleteAnother tip for the "rounded" top... for two layers, just put the rounded edges in the middle of the cake. In other words put the top layer TOP SIDE DOWN. You can fill in the rounded middle with frosting, and the top will be perfectly flat!
ReplyDeleteThose magic cake strips that you wet and put around the pan while the layers are baking always work for me.
ReplyDeleteWell, you can't be too surprised that something doesn't turn out like the picture if you don't follow directions. And I think it looks fine and agree that there would be too many M&Ms... if that's ever possible. And yes, I heard many cakes round on top and America's Test Kitchen says to use the serrated knife to even the top and then turn it over so you don't have a lot of crumbs in the frosting. Happy Baking!
ReplyDeleteOver mixing batters can cause mountains or cone tops as well. If it happens, I cut them off with a serrated knife as well.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to make a cake that is flat on the bottom, you trim the top off with a grated knife and then flip the cake upside down
ReplyDeleteAnd when you trim the top off, you get to eat some of the cake early! :)
ReplyDeleteMost pro bakers smack the filled cake pans down on the counter before baking to knock the air bubbles out of the cake to get it flatter. You can also spin the pan to send the batter out to the edges. Both of these work good for me.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to keep from the cake being domed if you don't want to use a cake leveler is when it comes out of the oven, take a clean kitchen towel (one that is not fuzzy) and press the top of the cake with it. I fold the towel, lay it on the cake and press it down with my whole hand so that the cake is level with the top of the pan or at least all level. It works great!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the heartshaped one. It may not have turned out the same way as the original but I think it looks even better!
ReplyDeleteJust came across this post via a Pinterest link. Awesome website! I have to mention, though, as a professional baker, your suggestion of sticking a pin into the cake to hold on the ribbon is a NO NO NO. The metal on pins is NOT food safe, and in fact, leeches toxic chemicals into your food. (The same goes for sticking "cake wires" into cakes for pop-up decorations. You see it all the time, but doing so makes your cake toxic. What you don't see on those professional cakes with wires sticking out of it is a tiny straw inserted into the cake where every wire is. The wire goes into the straw, NOT the cake.)
ReplyDeleteTo secure a ribbon to a cake, use a "sugar glue", which you can make out of watered down fondant, gumpaste, or a dab of royal icing. Or you can also use piping gel. The karo syrup likely would work okay too, but it doesn't have quite the stick power of the other things I mentioned. You could also use a dab of frosting, but unless you have a coated ribbon, the grease from the frosting will soak through your ribbon.
Just don't put metal in your cake. :)
I made this cake (and I have very little cake baking experience) and it turned out fantastic. I did have to cut the kitkats, but they still ran tall and I FILLED it with mini-m&ms which were easier to spread on thinly and filled in all the gaps so you could see no icing at all. That being said, it was so sweet that I cut the cake into super skinny slices (imagine kit kat width!).
ReplyDeleteIm going to do this, without directions, to make it more fun..... expect my mail with my pintrosity xD
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the original pin the Kit Kat bars stand above the M&M's and if you look closely between the cracks the cake its self is quite a bit lower that the level of the M&Ms... If you were to cut and take a peice of the original pin out, then the rest of the M&Ms would go tumbling out... because they are not on the icing holding them in place... I thought the heart idea was a great idea though!
ReplyDeleteWhen I made mine, I placed the m&Ms individually in rows so they would all stick, but there was no frosting showing, and since it was a single layer it was less m&Ms than the original, plus I did individually colored stripes so it was pretty (sorry I don't have a picture) plus as has already been recommended, I cut the layers down to remove the dome effect.
ReplyDeleteI have made this cake twice...and its super easy ! Just cut off the top if there is a dome, the kit kats stand much taller than the cake it self so no need to cut them, just fill it up with m&ms (the candy is decorative, if people don´t want to eat this much candy there is no need to) ...no problem cutting the cake, the candy just falls on the plate the cake is standing on...in my experience there is no mess and everybody can have some extra candy if they want :) ...I didn´t fallow any instructions...just common sense ;)
ReplyDeleteI have done a cake like this a few times but I use raspberries or strawberries in the middle instead of M&M's. Plus use the snack size Kit Kats around the edge and you don't have to worry about them being too high.
ReplyDeleteI like the heart shaped cake better than the original.
ReplyDeleteI think it looks wonderful! You did a great job!!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi there, just a question, didn't the kitkat fall apart, I mean, were they secured enough to hold on to the heart shape cake without tying a ribbon? I want to make one for this coming valentines, I hope you can give me tip on... thanks in advance...
ReplyDeleteBest,
Rich
Rich, I've never made this, but hopefully someone who has will see your comment and be able to respond. Here's my thinking though: if you have some extra frosting and gently coat the backs of the kitkats with some frosting, they should stick to the cake pretty well. Use the frosting kinda like glue to keep the kitkats stuck to the cake.
DeleteThe kit kats easily stick to the frosting on the outside of the cake. I had no trouble just frosting the cake and sticking them on!
DeleteMy father in law is a candy junkie so when I saw this cake I knew I had to make it. Generally I never make anything new because I don't want to end up with a flop, but this one ended up coming out really well. I made two cakes and cut them in half using the bottoms of the cake so that they were lower than the kit Kat bars. In the interest of tme I used premade icing. I made sure everything was cool and then iced the cake then added the Kit Kat bars. They stuck beautifully. I didn't add the peanut m&m's until just I got to the party. The cake was great, super sweet, but looked fantastic and stayed together beautifully. Here's my version: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.381486560494.364125.573135494&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=10152196564095495&set=a.381486560494.364125.573135494&type=3&theater
ReplyDeleteOMG--the Pinstrosity is better than the original!
ReplyDelete