If you didn't already know, Betty Crocker does gluten-free cake, cookie, and brownie mixes now. Actually, these have been around for a while, but I'm honestly not a fan of Betty Crocker. Or cake mixes in general for that matter. But if I have to use a cake mix, I'm more than likely not going to eat it, so I usually go for Duncan Hines if it's on sale or Pillsbury, whichever is cheaper.
A few days ago I realized that February is half over and I hadn't posted anything since January, so I decided to try out the box of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food cake mix that had been sitting in my pantry for many weeks. I bought it on sale to use for something, I forget what, that I obviously never used it for. I was also in the mood for something chocolate. And easy. Cupcakes made from a mix are quick and easy.
This is a standard-size box of cake mix, yet it only makes a single cake layer or 12 cupcakes. So, not only is it twice the price of regular cake mix because it's gluten free, but it only yields half as much. That's really more like it being 4 times the price, when you think of it. Those of us on a gluten-free diet who want the occasional treat must pay dearly for it--either out of pocket for the gluten-free version or in misery if we indulge in the real thing.
Other than the smaller yield and the use of butter instead of oil, the method is the same as regular cake mix. Add 3 eggs, a cup of water, and a stick of softened butter.
Make sure the butter is really soft, or maybe even think about melting it. I say this because despite my stick of butter sitting out on the counter all morning, it still wasn't soft enough to properly blend into the mix. The super cool thing about cake mixes, though, is that they're really hard to mess up. So, these cupcakes came out fine except for little holes on the surface of some of the cupcakes. But icing covers stuff like that up anyway.
The batter easily filled my all 12 cavities in my cupcake pan, and I had batter left over. I didn't want to over fill the cupcakes, so I spooned the extra into my mini-muffin pan. I ended up with 12 cupcakes and 16 mini cupcakes. The little ones turned out to be the perfect size for taste testing, and most of them were gone before I managed to get any icing made.
The cupcakes overall came out really dark, and the centers mounded up while the edges didn't rise much. When I bake cupcakes from a regular box of cake mix the tops usually come out flatter. I will say that the texture is pretty good. It's spongy rather than crumbly, and these cupcakes are more dense and dry than the light, moist texture you get with regular cake mix. Still, for gluten-free baked goods, they have a nice texture, and it's not at all grainy.
Unfortunately, they don't taste that great. They're super sweet and not very chocolaty. These cupcakes really just smell more like chocolate cake than taste like it. If you notice from the picture showing the box side, the first ingredient in this cake mix is sugar. Gluten is bad, especially for those of us with intolerances, but sugar is evil. And these cupcakes have more sugar in them than anything else.
To compensate for the lack of chocolate flavor, and since I didn't want to add any more sweet in the way of a sugary frosting, I decided to make some ganache for icing. I went for a vegan version (I used almond milk), because my body doesn't like for me to consume a lot of dairy.
I dipped a few cupcakes in the warm ganache to give them a smooth, shiny top. I loved the look of them, but I quickly abandoned that method because it involved removing the paper baking cup, which leaves the sides and bottoms of the cupcakes exposed and likely to dry out. So, we ate those first.
Once the ganache had cooled, I beat it with a whisk to make it more fluffy and frosting-like so I could use it to ice the rest of the cupcakes. On some I piped the icing with a #1M tip. For the others I used tip #12 and then smoothed the ganache with a spatula. I uploaded videos to my YouTube page if you'd like to see how I did it.
Last year around this time I participated in an "Art Sparks" event at our local rec center to promote my cake decorating classes. I had only just started teaching there, and it was a great way to get the word out.
This year, since I now offer classes at two different locations, there are two Art Sparks events for me to do. Only, I can't attend the first one, which is this Saturday. Since I won't be there in person, I'm making display samples that are (hopefully) representative of what students can expect to learn in my classes.
Wanna see?
The decorated cake boards from last year were looking faded, and nearly all had bits missing or cracks in the fondant. I wanted to do something similar, yet slightly different for the ones I really liked, such as the fish and daisies. Plus, I have more fun tools now, like cutters, molds, and texture mats that I wanted to play with use.
Unfortunately, what I thought was a safe spot to let my display samples dry turned out to not be a good place once the dog realized they were there. He managed to get to the fake cupcakes (which is why they're not pictured--I'll have to do those again) and my daisy cake board (pictured above under construction) before I realized what he was up to.
I made the sign using that My Memories digital scrapbooking software--that I'm currently hosting a giveaway for--and while I'm not entirely happy with it, I'm not sure what I need to do to make it better. I'm open to any and all suggestions, but I need to have it finished and ready to go by tomorrow afternoon. Yes, I tend to procrastinate.
Also, I just received a new batch of cake dummies, and those will need to get decorated as well at some point, but I don't know if I'll have time to get them done for this weekend's event. Especially now that I have to redo some stuff.
Anyway, if you're a local and find yourself at a loose end this Saturday, check out Art Sparks at the Longview Rec Center in Spring Hill. There will be door prizes, family-friendly activities, an art show, and the opportunity to speak with other instructors about the classes they offer.
Here's something new and exciting! Well, actually the My Memories digital scrapbooking software has been around for a while, but I only just recently found out about it, so it's new to me. Years ago I tried to get into the scrapbook craze, but that was back when I had a lot of photographs. When we got a digital camera, I no longer had actual prints to work with because my photos were either on a memory card or my computer. I'm super lazy (and cheap) so spending the money to have prints made and then taking the time to compile everything in a keepsake album was not a task that appealed to me.
With digital cameras being so affordable and readily available on most cell phones, hardly anybody takes pictures with actual film nowadays. My Memories allows you to create scrapbook pages with your digital pictures on your computer, and then when you're done, you order the printed scrapbook album.
You can actually do a lot more with My Memories than just make scrapbook pages, but to be honest, I haven't had the chance to explore all the other options like cards and videos yet. I've been far too busy just playing around with making album pages using pictures of my cakes and other creations. I'll post some of the screen shots here, but you can view them all on Photobucket, either as an album or slideshow.
Basically, there are ready-made templates you can use which are very customizable, or you can start from scratch (I haven't had the courage to do that yet). Adding photos to the pages is super simple: just drag and drop. There are plenty of background choices, including different colors, papers, textures, and even the option to use your own pictures as a custom background. The journalling areas are preset on the template pages I've worked with, but you can change their size, shape, and even add more or remove them altogether. You can also get as creative as you like with the text options, and there's a cool feature called Word Art that's super fun to play around with.
But that's not all! There are many add-on kits you can get from the online design shop, some are even free, so I seriously doubt anyone would ever run out of options. If scrapbooking is a hobby you enjoy, why not take My Memories for a test drive and see for yourself? You can download a free trial on the website, and if you do, please let me know what you think. Alternative, you could play around with the Online Photobook Creator. Trust me, you don't have to be tech-savvy or a graphic design guru, as the software is very intuitive, and there are plenty of resources to help you out, including online tutorials, YouTube videos, and a blog which features weekly challenges to give you even more ideas and inspiration.
As if that's not enough, the really cool thing is that I'm hosting a giveaway for the My Memories digital scrapbooking software. Yes, one lucky person will win My Memories Suite Version 3! Entering is easy, thanks to the wonderful widget known as Rafflecopter. For those who can't wait for the giveaway to end and must have My Memories right now, you can save $10 on your purchase with coupon code STMMMS90048.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If the Rafflecopter widget isn't loading, try refreshing the page. If it's still not showing up, please let me know either via email (cakedarla at gmail dot com) or Twitter (@cakedarla). Thanks!
