The Chef Within

Today I was making a birthday cake for my granddaughter, Ellie, and I thought maybe some of this might be helpful to others.  First, a quick way to line the bottom of your pans, because the last thing we want is a round that refuses to release from the the pan. 

Take a strip of wax paper or a sheet of parchment at least the length of the pan.

Fold the paper in half…

and then half again,

and then using the center point as the middle fold the quarter into a triangle once and fold it again a second time.

You’ll end up with a fairly narrow triangle.

Take you paper and estimate the point at the middle of the pan and cut the paper at the sides. 

Unfold the paper and see if it fits in the bottom of the pan. 

This circle fits well but if for some reason you cut the triangle too wide refold it and trim more. 

The paper can  be a little smaller than the round and still work fine.  Grease the bottom and sides and you’re ready for the batter…

To get the batter evenly distributed in the pans you have two choices:

You can round up a kitchen scale…(this is where I make a plug for scales.  I use this for dozens of kitchen tasks: weighing bread dough, vegetables, portioning meats, portioning anything…  It’s a five pound scale.  It was purchased at the restaurant supply store for $60 and every time I use it I am so grateful to have it.  I cleaned it for the picture)…

Or if you have a digital bathroom scale those work well, too.  None pictured here because bathroom scales and I don’t get along very well.

Make your best estimate as you divide the batter and then check and adjust with the scale.  You should end up with perfectly proportioned rounds to continue to the next step.  Next time I will show you the checkerboard cake I made for my grandaughter.  This is will be the second time I’ve made the cake and I’m learning alot.  It gets prettier (and easier) each time.