Baking 101

Hi. Inspired by Semi-cooking expert,Sandra Lee, and after many YouTube videos, my son and I have made an attempt to make a cake like professionals make. I am not an expert in baking but I can surely say that I am very pleased with the results. We used. Betty Crocker's Supermoist yellow cake mix, which called for 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and one cup of water. Once done, we used Hershey's milk chocolate icing.
     The purpose of making this cake was for a friend's birthday. So, working from scratch was not ideal since I wanted her to actually eat the cake. Besides, the fancy mixers and creams professionals use on tv was absent. The other reason was that it was a learning experience my son and myself. I was curious on how bakers made their cakes completely round. My cakes tend to come out bevel or lopsided. The mystery behind it was that they used a turning cake pedestal and I didn't. I did not have one and was well into the cake making process to stop then run out to go buy one.
     It became a challenge. So, I wondered what I could use in place of a cake turning pedestal. A plate? No. I took the lid off of the popcorn tin from Christmas. I cleaned it and wrapped it with aluminum foil. It turned into a nice, shiny and smooth surface. I didn't want to just put it in a plate because the chocolate would smear the edges of the plate. However, my next idea was to give it a little height. So the popcorn tin lid covered with aluminum was placed upside down onto a separate storage decorative boxes similar to ones carried in Michaels or Joann's Fabric stores. Now, I know what you're thinking. That cake is gonna fly away while I apply the icing. And you are semi-correct. Hehe. Yep, I though of it to so it was not perfect. I had to gently use one hand to hold and spin. Is baking really this hard? Needless to say I survived. I presented the cake with added edible adornments.
     When Sandra Lee makes her presentation, they are incredibly visual. I added a topping of sliced apples with a sprinkle of cinnamon, white chocolate shavings, and chocolate kisses. Plus, a red flower was placed on the side.
     This was a December birthday cake. It was a proud evening.