Seriously, baking is beyond just mixing a batter and putting it in the oven.
I was bothered by a shared post in Facebook about a cancelled cake order. The baker got furious because of too much disrespect she got from a customer. The cake was very delicately made, it was actually beautifully decorated, yet the customer returned complaining it's not how they expected it to look like. I was like, seriously? She even lack sleep to finish that last minute orders following lots of their demands.
Earlier @Xzeon requested this Choco-Cherry Cake and I guess this is my chance to also share to you how complicated it is to make.
Some might say "ah, that's simple, you can just do it and this and that then that's it!" NO. It's never an easy peasy thing. Especially if there are a lot of elements on that cake.
Say for example this choco-cherry cake. You might find similar recipes from the Internet but seriously, guys, I didn't copy this from anywhere in the Web. My mind constructed it and a friend suggested me to do it for her son.
This cake has four different elements. The cake, whip frosting, cherry filling and the chocolate drip.
Beforehand, you have to plan a design. Drawing it in a piece of paper and writing labels on which ones to put where can actually help. This is what I always do every time customers would ask for something pretty complicated. This can give you a perspective of your cake.
List down the elements and their ingredients.
Now, we can start baking. 😋😋
This recipe is formulated by me. But if you're too lazy to mix ingredients, you can buy cake mixes in the supermarket. 😁
Choco-cherry cake:
Ingredients
🍰1 cup cherries (chopped)
🍰2 cups all purpose flour
🍰1 cup cocoa powder
🍰2 cups granulated sugar (you can always adjust to lessen the sweetness)
🍰2 tbsp baking powder
🍰 1/4 tsp baking soda
🍰2 pcs eggs
🍰1 cup milk
🍰1 cup vegetable oil
🍰1 cup very hot water
🍰2 tbsp cherry syrup
Procedure:
🍰Preheat oven at 150 C
🍰Sift all dry ingredients together and combine in a mixing bowl.
🍰Add the egg, vegetable oil, cherry syrup and milk. Mix until evenly combined.
🍰Pour hot water. This makes the chocolate cake moist so it is important that it's hot. Mix again until incorporated.
🍰Fold in chopped cherries.
🍰Transfer in a rectangular baking pan that measures about 8"x 12" or 10"x 14".
🍰Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Tip: The moment you place the cake in the oven, start working on the other elements to save your time.
Let's start with the cherry filling as it needs longer time to cool.
Ingredients:
🍒1 cup cherries (quartered)
🍒1/2 cup of its syrup
🍒1/4 cup granulated sugar
🍒1/4 cup corn starch
Procedure:
🍒Combine all ingredients in a saucepan
🍒Cook over low heat while constantly stirring mixture
🍒Continue stirring until color is translucent and thick (jam like) consistency is achieved
🍒Set aside to cool.
Chocolate Ganache Drip
🍫1 cup dark chocolate chips
🍫1/2 cup hot heavy cream or hot milk
🍩Pour hot cream/milk over chocolate and mix until combined and has a thick consistency. Add more chocolate if it's too runny. Allow to cool.
Whip Frosting
🧁1 cup Whip cream paste
🧁9 tbsp cold water
🥧Cream the paste for 3-5 minutes using your electric mixer.
🥧Add 3 tablespoons of cold water and continue beating on high until volume is doubled.
🥧Add 3 tablespoons of cold water every 3 minutes. The whipped cream will continue to double. You'll know it is done when it's stiff and doesn't fall off from your mixing bowl.
Tip : you can use any instant whipping cream for baking that doesn't need water. Do not use all purpose cream.
Assemble the cake 🎂
🎂Cut the cake in your desired shape. Remember that the cake must cool down before you start frosting them.
🎂I cut a shallow hole in the center of the cake but this is optional.
🎂Coat and neatly cover the cake with whipped cream frosting.
🎂Carefully and slowly pour chocolate ganache on top of the cake. Slightly push the ganache to the edges with small spatula or spoon to drip.
🎂Add cherry filling on the center top. The reason I cut a shallow hole is to make the filling form or follow the shape of the cake.
🎂Arrange whole cherries in the center.
🎂Follow the design on your drawing.
This is how a single cake can be time consuming. It needs time management and patience. There are many times that you will not exactly get the right consistency and so you have to do it all over again.
Some would say fondant decorated cakes, are so simple because you just need to mold it like clay yet it's too expensive. Truth is, it has the most exhausting procedure. You will have to prepare the fondant ahead of time. The kneading and molding is never as easy as molding a play doh.
So I hope people out there who thinks that cakes are simple. It is not. Skill and craftsmanship with full determination is the key to a good looking cake. Mine isn't even as presentable as the others. 😂😅
Hope you get the recipe @Xzeon 😉
And yes, it looks easy but they don't know you have to perfectly do the procedures carefully to come out with an excellent outcome. This is not baking a simple pancake. It requires a lot of patience, time and keen attention and even following the procedures without the passion will not result to the outcome you wanted it to be.
Yes. It needs full focus, the cake will come out a mess if you don't give attention to details.
Yep thats true.. I agree when you said about its consistency, you have to do it over again if you did it wrong.. 😥
I got it.. I even copypasted it and transfers to my notepad...thank you and I appreciate it well. hmm, this would take me a bit challenging. the shaping of the cake gave me an idea💡 of what to do next. is the milk condense or evaporated? and that chocolate, it can be a bar right?
Yeah. Not condensed it would come out too sweet. Use full cream or evaporated milk will do. You can use chocolate bars for the ganache
That is what i want to make sure😉. Ok copy... Thanks again.. Since i cant do the mango cake this moment i will try first this recipe. Im excited 💃to try it now but i need to accumulate the ingredients first. 😅 Maybe on friday🤔
Then maybe you could share the experience pagkatapos..hehe. Start with a small round cake.
I congratulate you on your cake, it looks good ... I have an aunt who makes the family cakes and loves to bake, she is very good at baking, I have seen her and it really is a very hard job, baking is not not easy at all.
That's right. You need to be passionate about it.
That's a pretty hard thing to do. I never tried baking even once but I'm very interested and eager to learn how to bake. When things gets better, I'm planning to enroll for some baking lessons. And those people who says that baking and decorating is as easy as pie are just ignorant people. They don't know the efforts a baker and a designer went through just to satisfy their request. I also saw a similar post on facebook and I was like 😑
I learned thru watching videos. Baking class, I just couldn't afford it. 😅 Masyadong mahal lalo na pag may work ka, hindi ka pwedeng kumuha ng free course sa tesda. For the non-working individuals and out of school youth they can get a free course with daily allowance.. For workers, you need to pay for it including all the book and ingredients that will be used in class. 😁
There's a school at the nearby city that offers free tesda courses and I think they also offer baking. It's just that, when I enrolled there, I chose CSS instead of baking. I hope that when this pandemic thing is over they still have the offer 😁 But I'll start watching youtube videos from now on. Thanks for the idea 👍
Try and be sure to read and understand the recipe para mas mapadali ang work. Hehe.. mas maganda pa din yung may certificate. Gusto ko nga din kaso nga sa tesda kapag working ka walang free course.. Kailangan mgbayad 😅😅
Wow, ang galing baking cake is also a talent. It needs a lot of patience especially during decorations 😊 Keep it up, I hope you will have more cake orders. I thinks I also saw that post on Facebook being canceled tsk.
Correct. The decoration needs to be neat. Kailangan mo maging maingat especially if you're mixing colors. It can be messy or worst a destruction. Mahirap tapos the costing of the cake. Hindi madali, walang bibili kapag halos nasa 800 na ang price kaya you have to lower the amount. Ang resulta nasa 100-150 na lang ang profit mo which is not worth the effort talaga.. Hahah!
Seriously? Yung mga cakes dito ang price nya is worth 1000 to 1600.
Yung design sayo na ganyan. Nasa 1200 yan dito pag inorder
My price for this cake is 700 lang.. Hehe.. pero hindi yan tinipid sa ingredients, promise.. 😊
Hershey's ba yung cocoa na ginagamit mo?
Hindi kasi Pag Hersheys masyadong mahal na ang price nun. It costs PHP 400+ ata ang 500 g tub ng Hersheys kung Di ako nagkakamali. 😁.. Use pure dutch cocoa or brands like "Bensdorp" and "Bakersfield" yan ang mga brands na madalas ginagamit ng commercial bakers kasi mura lang at maganda ang quality. Much better than Hersheys
Oo medyo mahal nga yun. Kalasa ng chocolate cake ni goldi
Cooking, baking it all takes time but if I order a pie I want it to be exactly as ordered. With us, you easily pay 40 euros for it. The bakery has pictures, some tell you to bring your picture and it's way easier for them to make that pie with all their baking mixes, equipment a great oven as it is for me. Still, I make my own pies because I can do it with better ingredients, without chemicals and complaining. The cake used can be made in advance and even be frozen for weeks. It's the same as what they do with wedding cakes. If you do not like to bake cakes you should not accept the order. I find it a lame excuse to say "it took time". So does plumbing, gardening, fixing a car, ironing.
That's why a customer should consider the time in making the cake. They ordered without prior notice to a homebaker and wanted it done early next morning and customer said the decoration is up to her. She even sent pictures of the cake while working on it. The customer started her demands on what color and what flowers to decorate. The baker succeeded. And the customer approved of it based on their conversations. When her mother delivered the cake they returned it complaining that its not what they wanted. So, I guess its the customer's fault, they should've just ordered in a cakeshop but for sure if they order on the last minute it will be declined.
A customer doesn't need to consider the time. The baker did it in the price of the cake. You do not accept a dress too big either and pay for it because it took time to sew it.
The instructions were clear "the decoration is up to you"... If it was me, well, ofcourse! Why not I can do any designs I want.. I'll do the same, send pictures to satisfy their eyes.. And the fact that the customer said "that's good, beautiful cake" I would also feel like she already approved of it! you'll never really know until you do it on your own. Cake is okay, you can bake and put it in fridge for how many days but the frosting you cannot do it ahead of time. The customer shouldn't have asked for the baker's help. Then it would be her problem to find another who will accommodate on the last minute!
The price of the cake was even marked down. She did it to help a neighbor who needs it because they did not order earlier for a customized cake and for sure if I was that Baker I would do the same as long as I know my capabilities.. Time is not the issue it's the attitude of a rude customer!
Nice article