Chef Chat: ‘Erin Bakes Cake.’
Erin Gardner has baked more cakes than she can count, and still she loves nothing more than baking and decorating her newest creation. She owned her own bakery and won accolades on Food Network’s “Sweet Genius.” When she became a mom, she shifted gears to teaching.
Since 2013, she’s blogged at erinbakes.
com, and now she shares recipes and techniques for baking and decorating customized cake creations in her new cookbook, “Erin Bakes Cake” (Rodale, $27.50), in stores this month. Breaking lessons into smaller elements to create success, Gardner channels both her inner MacGyver and Martha Stewart to help you make memorable cakes at home.
Gardner, who lives in New Hampshire with her husband and their children, ages 2 and 6, also teaches online classes at craftsy.com.
Q. How did you get started baking?
A. Growing up I loved to bake. I went to college for business management and marketing, and I was working for a little newspaper in Hartford, Conn. I was selling ads to a restaurant, and selling wasn’t for me. I thought, why not give baking a try?
They were looking for a person at night to plate desserts. I went to the chef and said why don’t you let me? He said great, what’s your experience? I don’t have any. He said sure, give it three nights. If I don’t like you, you’ll have to leave. I did OK and he let me stay.
Q. What are some good resources for people to learn about cakes and decorating?
A. One of the blogs I write for is
theCakeblog.com, and that’s a great resource.
Craftsy, I teach there and write. The blog that I write for has a ton of free information. Classes are paid. The thing I like about Craftsy, we film the class ahead of time. When you buy the class, you watch at home at your own speed, then you can go in whenever you have time and ask questions.
I go in every week and answer. You have direct access to the inventors and masters of techniques and you can be in your pajamas at 2 a.m. and ask about pie dough.
Q. How do you address failure?
A. Failure is part of the game. I actually just had one. I was doing an Erin Bakes Cake livestream summer school series on my Facebook page. The very first livestream my buttercream got too soft. As an educator I have to own up to the mistakes. It is summertime and I’m showing people buttercream. This is going to happen to someone else. I blabbered on too long, the buttercream got too soft. What I will do is scrape it off and put it in the fridge, try it again and re-blog. People appreciate that because they want the real deal and they want to know how they can fix things.
Q. What is a good starting point for someone who might be intimidated by decorating?
A. Candy, actually. In the book I have three chapters on decorating. I broke it into techniques with candy, cookies and chocolate.
Using things that are already made and changing them a bit to make them fun and customized is a really easy way to feel accomplished. Then you can say, maybe I’ll make the candy next time.
Q. What’s the most necessary equipment in your kitchen?
A. If you want to make layer cakes, specifically like the ones pictured in the book, there are three tools that are super basic but that everyone should have.
First is an icing spatula. It has a handle and a long metal blade that is flat so you can smoothe the icing to the sides and tops of the cake. It makes spreading so much easier than any other tool you have in the kitchen already, like a spatula or butter knife.
The second thing is a bench scraper. It is the magic behind getting a smooth finish to a butter cream cake. That is a No. 1 question I get: “How do I get my buttercream nice and smooth?”
The secret is the bench scraper, just a metal or plastic rectangle that allows you to cover the whole surface of the cake in big swipes.
The third thing is a turntable. Decorator turntables make it easier to get at and see the top and side of your cake. Having the ability to spin your cake is another bit of cake magic.
Q. If you could only make one recipe, which would it be?
A. That is such a hard question. My go-to is my classic vanilla birthday cake, because you don’t need a mixer.
Q. What have you learned about working with chocolate?
A. Working with chocolate is really scary if you haven’t done it. Once you do, you realize it is not scary at all. It is really about paying attention to temperature and keeping moisture away from the chocolate. Keep an eye on those two things and it becomes fun to work with.
My biggest tip is to start with coating chocolate or candy melts, the melting wafers you can find at the craft store. They come in a bunch of pre-mixed colors. That will give you the feel of how chocolate works. You can do that without having to add in learning how to temper.
Q. What do you want people to take from this book?
A. I want to make celebrating with cake easy, fun and accessible to everyone. Making cakes for people is more than making someone food. You’re giving them a gift and sharing feelings and celebrating life with them.
I give people scratch recipes and ways to tweak mixes you can buy at the store.
Q. Best piece of advice you’ve been given when it comes to cakes and baking?
A. Have fun. Cake and desserts, this is not sustenance. This is the good stuff, the bonus.
This is Erin Gardner’s go-to cake for family occasions, and she offers her “funfetti” variation in the cookbook. Use your favorite frosting, if desired.
The boxed equivalent to this recipe would be a yellow cake or vanilla cake mix. For a denser cake that more closely resembles homemade, add 1 large egg yolk and one 3.5-ounce box of instant vanilla pudding mix to the ingredients called for on the box.
Vanilla Birthday Cake Makes two 8-inch round cakes or three 6-inch round cakes
5 cups cake flour (plus more cake or all-purpose flour for the pans) 2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda 1 1⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt 12 large egg yolks 3 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar (divided) 10 ounces (2 12⁄ sticks; 1 1 ⁄4 cups) unsalted butter, melted 6 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk 6 large egg whites
Position a rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-inch or three 6-inch round cake pans.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 2 1⁄2 cups of the sugar, the melted butter, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Whisk in the buttermilk once the other ingredients have been combined so that it doesn’t cause the melted butter to clump.
In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl — not plastic — using an electric hand mixer or an old-fashioned hand whisk), beat egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn mixer speed to low and slowly add remaining 1 cup sugar. Return mixer to high speed and whip egg white mixture until stiff peaks form, another 2 to 3 minutes.
Pour buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold egg whites into cake batter in three batches. Stir the first batch into the batter to loosen it up, but fold more delicately with the second and third batches. Take care not to deflate the egg whites or overmix the batter.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake, rotating pans’ positions halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted into center of a cake comes out clean or with a few crumbs clinging to it — 45 to 50 minutes for 8-inch round pans or 30 to 35 minutes for 6-inch pans.
Transfer cakes to a rack to cool in pans about 30 minutes. Turn cakes out onto a flat surface, such as plates or a clean countertop. Let cakes cool completely before frosting, filling or storing.
Variation: To make this a “Funfetti” birthday cake, stir in 1 cup rainbow confetti quins or sprinkles into batter just before folding in the egg whites.
Note: Powdered buttermilk is a busy baker’s best friend. Find it in the supermarket’s baking aisle and store in the fridge after opening for up to 3 years — no joke. Mix the quantity you need when you need it.