Torting Cake Layers, Rich Chocolate Buttercream
Question 1 was "How do you get your layers cut evenly across, and get them filled and back on straight?"
First, I'll start with the cake going into the oven. USE QUALITY PANS. Others don't tend to bake evenly. The old method of shortening and flour to help the cake coming out is my old standby. Cake Release works great, too. I like to fill my pans 2/3 full, not halfway. Pans filled halfway tend to shrink into themselves more, leaving a beveled look. So your cake might rise above the pan slightly and you have to trim more off and throw some away. Big deal. Regardless if you are using a box mix or from scratch, if you compare to the portion that you are actually using, you might have thrown away 18 cents worth of cake. Too much for you? Make a trifle cake or cake balls, feed it to the kids. Really. $.18; not enough to fret over. I would much rather have a nice, proud, tall cake. So you bake, then the cake comes out of the oven. I let it rest a few minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut across the top of the pan (see where it rose above the top of the pan now works FOR you). I take a piece of aluminum foil and place it across the top, then a cookie sheet upside down on top of that. Flip the WHOLE THING over. You now have a cookie sheet with foil under your cake, cut side down. PERFECTLY LEVEL. I cool mine in the fridge - traps the moisture well. Some people cover it at this stage to trap even more moisture, but I fear this might lead to some bit of sogginess.
So once cool, you can put your cake board on top of the cake layer (this would be the crust part that was touching the bottom of the pan); you can use a little buttercream to attach it to the board, then flip over. You will now have your cut, leveled part facing up. Again, I use my serrated knife here.
I place the knife halfway down the cake (duh). Here's my trick to getting it level: instead of "sawing" with the knife, which can often leave a trail like a drunk driver, I leave the knife locked into place (picture it as an extension of your arm, wrist and elbow locked into place), and TURN THE CAKE INTO THE KNIFE (turntable is an obvious plus here). Alternatively, you can use one of the Wilton cake levelers. I'm just telling you what works for me.
Next, I use a flat edged cookie sheet (meaning no sides, please) and slide it between the cake layers as seen above. Lift that layer off, as seen below.
It might not have dawned on you yet, but my cake is still cold. Not cooled off, but COLD. It helps you to move the cake around; it makes it more durable. Plus, it stays fresh longer. Now, fill your cake with butttercream, then use the same cookie sheet (I never moved it off the cookie sheet) to place the cake layer back on.
You wanted a nice raspberry filling in there instead, but you're afraid because it always leaks out? Use your piping bag with JUST a coupler in it to pipe a dam of buttercream around the edge of the cake. THEN fill with your filling, as seen below.
So going back to the layered cake, I always bake TWO 2" high layers so I can end up with a nice, 4" tall cake. That means I repeat all the steps above and place torted (meaning split horizontally across the middle) layers #3 and #4 on top of what I started with (layer #3 going on to the left). Just make sure you line up the far edge with the edge that is already there. Because it's cold, if you miss, you can move it. :)
Next question was "I keep having air bubbles that seep out after I ice my cake. What am I doing wrong?"
I don't mean to state the obvious, but that means you trapped air in the cake layers. Cake is not as delicate as you think it is (at least it shouldn't be). After I get all my cake layers (again, which are cold), I smoosh it a little. That's a technical term used mainly in American baking. The French haven't discovered this technique yet. Light pressure, but firm enough to do what you are trying to do. Help gravity and physics along the way. The second picture below shows all 4 layers, after smooshing, coated with a CRUMB COAT of buttercream.
The crumb coat is thin, and combines with the loose crumbs to make an ugly, crumby looking cake. Some people call this "dirty icing" a cake (Cake Boss). Here, I put it back into the fridge to firm up even more so the next layer of icing goes on even better. Want to see a nice, ugly version of a crumb coat on a chocolate cake?
There you go! Now you don't feel so bad, do you? Don't worry; that will CHILL, then will get another layer of buttercream, and for me, fondant. Finished version below. Love the gumpaste topper? I'll blog about that next; this one is AGAIN getting long!
Last question for today: "Can I add just cocoa in to my buttercream to make chocolate icing? It doesn't ever seem to get rich and dark enough."
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