Step by step homemade baking recipes
“Because sometimes a cake is just not enough.”
“Because sometimes, you want a side of candy to go with your cake.”
“Because sometimes, you just must.”
If you need any excuses as to why you are stuffing a cake full of candy, use one of the above statements.
Sometimes getting to be an old fashioned baker is just want I need to kick start myself again. I love making cake designs, but sometimes I miss the excitement of a new, flavourful recipe. Feeling the need to experiment with a new recipe, I went in search of a Fall way to spruce it up, after all, I can’t let down my followers on YouTube! They like exciting things!! So, with those requirements in mind, I came up with a Toffee Pecan cake INSIDE a pumpkin!
The toffee pecan cake itself is delicious. The flavour of the pecans and their crunch, combined with the crunch of the toffee bits makes for a delicious cake. You could put any kind of cake inside the pumpkin, but like I said before, I was really wanting to try out a new flavour combination.
Baking a cake inside a pumpkin takes a long time, and it can take an even longer time than “long” (haha,) depending on the size of the baking pumpkin. My pumpkins averaged between 5″-7″ and took between 1.5-3 hours to bake completely through. It will seem for the first hour or so like you didn’t put enough batter in, but the cake rises up through the top of the opening near the end. So, don’t fret like I did. I managed to refrain from adding more batter while the cake was in the oven though, and I’m glad I did. The cake ended up rising perfectly.
The cake stays incredibly moist, despite the amount of time it is in the oven. The pumpkin meat around the outside keeps the cake moist, and the foil wrapped around the outside helps with this as well. When taking the pumpkin out of the oven and off of the baking tray, be careful as it softens a bit while baking.
Finding baking pumpkins proved to be the most difficult task in this recipe. I had to travel to a nearby town, about a 30 minute drive from my home. It was to a market that specialized in local produce from nearby farms and orchards. The baking pumpkins are smaller, and therefore sweeter than a pumpkin used for a jack-o-lantern.
Has the lead up to this cake been dramatic enough? I’m so excited to finally be able to share it with you! I don’t know what it is about Peeps, but they are the cutest things ever! I don’t like eating them AT ALL, but they are so fun to create with. I caught myself on a couple of occasions playing with them . . . “Um, what am I doing?” You can check those photos out on my Instagram account! Or don’t, it’s kind of embarrassing.
This is my first official “surprise inside” cake. I’ve done a couple of cupcakes that have hidden gems inside, but I’ve never done a cake. What I love about a surprise inside is that from the outside, you have no idea that there is something hiding underneath all the cake and icing. You can also choose to make this cake without the surprise and have it all be cake, but then you wouldn’t find all those cute Peeps faces gazing out at you on that first slice!
If you choose not to hollow out the cakes, it will definitely feed more people, so if you are looking to serve a crowd, make sure that you take into account that a lot of the cake is removed after baking. You might want to have some back up cupcakes or another small cake on hand if you have a hungry crowd.
The marshmallow buttercream that we use is absolutely delicious! It has a ton of butter in it, which makes it taste amazing, and also makes it super easy to spread. I’ve found that the higher the butter level, the easier the spread-ability of the icing! I’m also a scientist on the side, can you tell?
If you’re going to be making this cake and prefer to use box mixes, I have to tell you that I’m not sure if the box mixes will hold up in the bowl after the carving. Box mixes tend to be lighter, and weaker than cakes from scratch. I would worry that when you’re carving out the centre of the bowl cake, that you might have some problems with the sides collapsing. But, hopefully you don’t! If you try it with a box mix, and it works out, make sure you leave a comment about what you did to help it be successful!
Hello world, it’s nice to see you again! I’ve been in the crawl space of our “basement” for the last two days, while we have been cutting cement, digging cement, carrying cement, and digging dirt out of two trenches so we can protect the house from water damage. Water has been coming in the basement every time the snow melts, which has been about 5851456 times this winter, and every time it rains. It’s looking like we have one more day to be down in the dungeon to lay gravel and pipes, and then we should be finished. For now. There are a couple more things to do, but my brain can’t handle the thought of crawling on my knees for much longer.
It is sunny and warm in LA!! We are in LA again for a week of filming and workshops at YouTube Space LA, and it has been so nice to escape the dreary winter weather we’d been having up in Canada. It feels like paradise right now . . . short sleeves, bare legs . . . American Target. Life is good! All I need now is a sprinkle covered cupcake and it would be complete. As I alluded to last post, it’s not all happiness right now, my friend on-screen and off, Beth from the YouTube channel CookingandCrafting, is going through some very challenging times with a sick family member. If you know Beth you will know how close she is with her family. They need your help. If you can donate any amount, please consider sending it to her brother Scott to help him on his road to recovery. The link to the medical fundraiser is here- http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-scott-get-better-/133503.
