For my friend Rachel’s birthday party, the last one before she left town to move abroad, our f
For my friend Rachel’s birthday party, the last one before she left town to move abroad, our friend Kairu made her rainbow sprinkle cake. When she brought it out, it was met with oohs and aahs. I was impressed with its size and the way it combined whimsy and sophistication. I had to make it. I asked for her recipe the day after the party. That was almost a year ago, and I finally got around to baking it for Easter. I’m still learning a lot about baking, so I bought new pans after researching which are best for this kind of cake. I learned that I need to go with straight-edged aluminum pans instead of the nonstick, tapered pans I have. On baking day, I followed the directions to a T. When I pulled the cakes out of the oven I put a toothpick in the middle, as I’d always done. They came out clean. But as they cooled I noticed they looked wet in the middle. Reading the directions again, it instructed you to touch the cakes and make sure they spring back. I had used the wrong done-ness test! These cake layers weigh two pounds each, so it’s no surprise that baking them all the way through would prove to be more difficult. I put the cakes back in the oven, fretting that the cakes would become over-baked at the edges, as the center baked. On Easter, as our guests complimented how the cake looked, I explained my error, preparing them for dry crispy edges. When I sliced the cake open it looked almost perfect. My mother-in-law commented that this cake needed to become THE Easter cake, to be made every year. My father-in-law, who is not always the easiest to please, asked how I made it so moist. So I call this cake a success! I sure did enjoy baking it. -- source link
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