A last minute request came the other day from a coworker for "a really big cake for John? He's leaving tomorrow." accompanied by the visual of arms spread out shoulder-width.
To which I replied, "No. But I can make a half-sheet cake and that should be more than enough for 25 people."
I then asked Short-timer John what his favorite flavor was and he said "Nutella!"
And I said: "Well, what did you think of that pound of gianduja candy (code for: expensive imported stuff) I brought in a few months ago? Because it's the limo version of Nutella."
And John said: "Oh ya. (long pause) It was good."
And I thought: Oh bloody hell, there's no way I'm buying gianduja for this cake. He's getting Nutella.
Here's what I used (cause it's what I had):
Box of Pillsbury Vanilla Pudding cake
Box of Duncan Hines Vanilla Cake.
Made according to the box, but then I also added 2 TBL of Neiman-Massey vanilla. After the batter was in the pan, I swirled about 1/3 of this mutant-size jar of Nutella (close to 32 oz!) through the batter.
In retrospect, this was not a good idea. The Nutella is too dense and heavy and sunk to the bottom. However, one person eating the cake asked if I had spread "ganache?" on the base. I paused for the briefest of moments and said "Yes, I did."
And she smiled broadly because she had figured out the illusive ingredient.
I have a 12x18" half-sheet cake pan and put a foil-wrapped cardboard across the pan at the 9" mid-point. That way the batter cooks up evenly in the middle and I don't end up with a high middle and low edges.
I also should have wrapped the pan perimeter with wet wraps because then it bakes really "flat" but I was too lazy. So I still had to torte the slight bump in each middle.
When the cake was still a little warm, I split and spread the inside with pastry cream (Sarabeth Levine's version).
Then I put the top back on, peeled off the moist crust down to the cake crumb and smeared the entire surface with another 1/3 of the Nutella. (Note to future self: this would have gone much smoother and easier if I had frozen the cake first. It was too soft and too warm and the Nutella kept pulling up. But, in defense of myself, I thought putting the Nutella on a warm cake would cause it to melt slightly into the cake. It didn't.)
Then I whipped up a quart of heavy cream, 6 TBL of melted butter and 2 TBL powdered sugar in my food processor. When that was slightly stiff, I took 1/4 of the cream and folded the remaining Nutella in to thin it out and then folded in the rest of the whipped cream. This was the only disappointment. The Nutella wouldn't dissolve into the cream and so there were little flects of chocolate. You'd think that would look good, but it doesn't. Trust me.
Piped that over the entire cake and leveled it with a large off-set spatula.
Finished with 3" lettering made from melted chocolate confectionary disks and piped onto acetate. Chilled to harden and lifted the lettering onto the cake with an off-set.
Certainly not very pretty, but my goodness, it was tasty. Ethereal would be a good word because the pastry cream dissolved (you couldn't even see it) into the cake moistening the typically dry cake crumb and the whipped topping was lightness itself.
I chilled it overnight and had no problem with the hour-drive into work.
Bring it out at least 1/2 hour before eating. If it's too cold, the flavors aren't as mellow.
To which I replied, "No. But I can make a half-sheet cake and that should be more than enough for 25 people."
I then asked Short-timer John what his favorite flavor was and he said "Nutella!"
And I said: "Well, what did you think of that pound of gianduja candy (code for: expensive imported stuff) I brought in a few months ago? Because it's the limo version of Nutella."
And John said: "Oh ya. (long pause) It was good."
And I thought: Oh bloody hell, there's no way I'm buying gianduja for this cake. He's getting Nutella.
Here's what I used (cause it's what I had):
Box of Pillsbury Vanilla Pudding cake
Box of Duncan Hines Vanilla Cake.
Made according to the box, but then I also added 2 TBL of Neiman-Massey vanilla. After the batter was in the pan, I swirled about 1/3 of this mutant-size jar of Nutella (close to 32 oz!) through the batter.
In retrospect, this was not a good idea. The Nutella is too dense and heavy and sunk to the bottom. However, one person eating the cake asked if I had spread "ganache?" on the base. I paused for the briefest of moments and said "Yes, I did."
And she smiled broadly because she had figured out the illusive ingredient.
I have a 12x18" half-sheet cake pan and put a foil-wrapped cardboard across the pan at the 9" mid-point. That way the batter cooks up evenly in the middle and I don't end up with a high middle and low edges.
I also should have wrapped the pan perimeter with wet wraps because then it bakes really "flat" but I was too lazy. So I still had to torte the slight bump in each middle.
When the cake was still a little warm, I split and spread the inside with pastry cream (Sarabeth Levine's version).
Then I put the top back on, peeled off the moist crust down to the cake crumb and smeared the entire surface with another 1/3 of the Nutella. (Note to future self: this would have gone much smoother and easier if I had frozen the cake first. It was too soft and too warm and the Nutella kept pulling up. But, in defense of myself, I thought putting the Nutella on a warm cake would cause it to melt slightly into the cake. It didn't.)
Then I whipped up a quart of heavy cream, 6 TBL of melted butter and 2 TBL powdered sugar in my food processor. When that was slightly stiff, I took 1/4 of the cream and folded the remaining Nutella in to thin it out and then folded in the rest of the whipped cream. This was the only disappointment. The Nutella wouldn't dissolve into the cream and so there were little flects of chocolate. You'd think that would look good, but it doesn't. Trust me.
Piped that over the entire cake and leveled it with a large off-set spatula.
Finished with 3" lettering made from melted chocolate confectionary disks and piped onto acetate. Chilled to harden and lifted the lettering onto the cake with an off-set.
Certainly not very pretty, but my goodness, it was tasty. Ethereal would be a good word because the pastry cream dissolved (you couldn't even see it) into the cake moistening the typically dry cake crumb and the whipped topping was lightness itself.
I chilled it overnight and had no problem with the hour-drive into work.
Bring it out at least 1/2 hour before eating. If it's too cold, the flavors aren't as mellow.