The One Hack You Need to Bake Extra-Light Cakes
Every year, my brother asks for the same thing: vanilla confetti with vanilla frosting. You’d think that after making the same cake for at least 10 consecutive years, I would have it down pat. But I don’t. I’m a decent baker, but it has been difficult for me to make a vanilla cake that is light, moist, and flavorful. Since I couldn’t convince him to change his request from chocolate to vanilla, I tried different methods until I found one that worked.
Over the years, I have tried countless recipes and experimented with different ratios. I also invested in more expensive ingredients. But none of these things made a big difference. This year, I kept things simple and accepted that if the recipe didn’t turn out, then I wasn’t up to making an amazing vanilla-flavoured cake. The Best Vanilla Cake recipe from Food Network Kitchen was a goldmine. This recipe was the easiest to follow and produced the most flavorful and tender cake I have ever made. I did not even need special ingredients!
What is the most important tip? To avoid buying a whole box of cake flour, add two tablespoons of cornstarch to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose. This prevents the gluten from forming in the flour and produces a lighter cake. This made a big difference. The cake was not at all dense. This recipe calls for butter and vegetable oils, which keep the cake moist and rich. This recipe also called for a full tablespoon of vanilla instead of just a couple of teaspoons. I thought that my vanilla extract from the grocery store was not flavorful enough, but I wasn’t using it enough.
After mixing the rest of my cake batter, I added about half a teaspoon of rainbow sprinkles and then baked the cake according to the recipe. It was obvious that I had more batter than needed. But that’s okay because I can make a few extra cupcakes. The cake was a hit with my family, who all agreed it was the best vanilla I had ever made. It’s light and flavorful. This was the closest thing I’ve ever made to a bakery cake, and I preferred it over any cake I bought. My brother has already asked for the same cake next year.
A 77-year-old slice of Queen Elizabeth’s wedding cake sells for $2 845
The auction house warns that you probably wouldn’t want to eat the item.
Amy has been contributing to the Food Network since 2014, focusing on food and pop-culture news, trends and other topics. She is a freelance writer and editor based in New York who has been writing about health, fitness, and lifestyle for over 15 years.
According to British folklore, sleeping with a piece of traditional wedding cake under your pillow can bring you good luck and even your dream partner. If you sleep on the slice of the cake that belongs to the bride and groom for long enough, your heirs can get some money.
This week, a piece of the 1947 wedding cake between Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip sold at auction for PS2,200 (about $2,845). According to BBC, the extremely rare fruitcake piece, which was from the original four-tiered, nine-foot-tall, royal cake of the late couple, was found hidden in a suitcase underneath the bed of Marion Polson. She had worked at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh from 1931 until 1969.
The Queen, a princess at the moment, had given the cake to Polson as a thank-you for her wedding present. Polson stored the cake under her bed in its original box with a few items until she died in the 1980s. She also kept a thank-you letter from the Queen dated November 1947, which was included with the cake.
The note, neatly written on Buckingham Palace stationery and signed “Elizabeth,“ read in part: “My wife and I are deeply moved to know that you and your husband shared in our joy by giving us a wonderful wedding gift. The dessert service is beautiful. I’m sure that everyone will be impressed by the flowers and colours. We will use this gift constantly and remember the kindness of those who gave it to us.
Polson’s family in Scotland contacted Reeman Dansie at the beginning of this year to ask for assistance in selling the historically important cake slice. The relic was expected to sell for only PS500, or just under $650, but it ended up being sold over the phone to a Chinese bidder.
James Grinter is Reeman Dansie’s royal expert. He called the cake piece “a real find, a time capsule of glorious cakes.“ It was the first cake to be sold in its entirety.
Grinter, speaking to BBC Essex, said that the original cake was “magnificent“ and “enormous”, adding that it had been produced during a time of rationing. Grinter noted that the original cake had been “magnificent”, “enormous”, and created during a period of rationing.
Grinter, however, did make one cautionary statement about the cake slice. He told the BBC: “I’m not sure I would want to eat that, I have to admit.”
You can now buy those viral Victorian cakes at Walmart for just $25
You can now get a vintage centrepiece that was once reserved for home bakers and small bakeries at a much more affordable price.
Casey Clark is a freelance writer and commerce editor for Food Network, where she reports on the latest food news. She also tests subscription meal kits, investigates kitchen gadgets, and researches new products. She is an expert in finding the best products for every level of kitchen skill.
Nothing is more visually pleasing than a vintage-style heart-shaped birthday cake, with its vibrant colours and various piping styles. Walmart has jumped on board to offer vintage-style cakes for any occasion, whether it’s a holiday, birthday, graduation, or anniversary.
Until recently, only small bakeries and businesses were producing these cakes. The ornate Victorian piping style, also known as Lambeth piping or Victorian icing, dates back to Europe and the 19th century. Watch Carla Hall explain the technique.
Now, Walmart customers can buy Lambeth Cakes made to order for only $25.
Walmart’s versions are less customized and less elaborate than the cakes sold by private bakers, which makes them a great option for those shoppers who want a cheaper alternative.
You can now order cakes online or in select Walmart bakeries. Cakes are 10 inches in diameter and designed for 24 servings. You can customize the cakes online by selecting the flavor, adding an optional filling—strawberry or Bavarian creme (for $3 more), choosing a frosting type (buttercream), and writing a message up to 50 letters in the icing.
Users have posted videos expressing their appreciation for these affordable cakes, saying that they have “no complaints.“ Walmart cake decorators also posted photos of themselves in the kitchen making these heart-shaped cakes, with comments like “My Walmart baker slayed my cake I ordered,“ and “Walmart cake decorators/bakers are artists. No one can change my opinion.”
What exactly are those Burn Away Cakes?
People are lighting up the tops of cakes all over to reveal hidden messages and images. What are they burning, exactly?
These cakes are a great way to play with fire. The “burn away cake“ trend is the latest food trend to go viral. People around the world are obsessed with this trend, where an image is burned off of a cake to reveal a new one. Bakeries and content creators have jumped on this global phenomenon, creating iterations inspired by Mean Girls, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Who started this trend? Denise Steward created the burn-away cake on her blog. She has since posted a tutorial on how to make one on her blog. She was inspired by the viral cake and gained popularity for her versions. One of them is a double-layered Pokemon cake.
Like the millions of viewers before me, I was also fascinated by them. What’s the secret?
I asked our own Food Network Test Kitchen for any insights. Amanda Neal, a recipe developer, says: “I’m not sure if I know much about it except that they’re made with wafer paper. In many bakeries, wafer paper is made of potato starch and oil with water. “It’s very malleable after being steamed, and I have never seen it burn.”
I spoke with Chef Nerwan Khaliif, the owner of Cakes by Nerwan, a family-run business in Astoria, Queens. She, her mother and sister run the bakery, which specializes in custom cakes. They have an impressive list of celebrity clients, including Anna Wintour and Blacchyna.
Norway has seen an increase in orders, particularly for Valentine’s Day. In March, she’s planning a divorce cake. “I think it’s because it can be customized to whatever you want. It’s really cool. It’s almost like a trick.
Newman was introduced to this trend by her mother. “It’s funny. “My mom found it on TikTok one late night and was trying to explain it the next day.“ She was initially confused, as the video she showed her was not in English. Newman was inspired to recreate the video after watching a few more. She tried frosting sheets first, but they disintegrated. Then she switched to wafer papers and realized that it was the right thing. I did it the following morning. We posted it on Instagram, and then we got phone calls from influencers. Everyone wanted it.
How does it work then? It is important to layer the cake and pipe the frosting around the edges.
Newman explains: “So, we bake the cakes, fill them, frost their outside, and then put the image we want at the bottom of the cake that will be visible. We then pipe a line of buttercream all around the image and add another layer on top. It’s basically two layers of buttercream. We then put the wafer papers on top and decorate them with buttercream, leaving a space between the images. There are only two layers, three layers total, with one image at the bottom, and another image on top. Then you burn the image on top, which exposes the second.”
The cake is edible in every part. Food colouring is used to print the images directly on the wafer papers. The paper is edible but has no taste. It’s basically rice and potato starch. “The paper at the bottom, which is the frosting sheet, tastes like sugar”, she says.
Newman offers some tips for getting the best image and burn. We discovered that putting the image in the freezer for 30 minutes is the best way to get the best burn and reveal. This creates a bigger flame.
It is best to burn it in the middle. I’ve told every client who picks up the item that it’s best to light it in the middle so it drips out. Hold the lighter for about two or three seconds, and it will turn on. It’s a lot like a normal birthday candle, but super-sized.”
Newman says that if you are worried about burning down your home, the frosting around the edges acts as a natural fire extinguisher. It will put out the flame after the wafer paper has finished burning.
We all know that trends change, so I was curious to see what she thought the next trend would be. “We went from buttercream-frosted simple cakes to naked cakes to more intricate designs like purse and sneaker cakes, which you could pick up. We’re now moving on to vintage cakes. I think everyone likes interactive. “I think the next thing will be interactive. I don’t yet know what.”