My kitchen is home to a lot of crafting…. crafty crafting, that is. Culinary crafting, not so much. But every so often the baking fairy nudges me to play with pots and pans, or in today’s case, one itty bitty mixing bowl and a four inch cake pan. Yes, today I baked the most delicious, Thumbelina-size chocolate cake ever, and full credit for the recipe goes to The Cake Merchant.
I know, I know, you’re looking at it and thinking how unimpressive my little creation looks. That’s okay, and I would totally agree. The point is, I simply wanted chocolate cake. Delicious cake, without the gooey decadence, and this recipe delivers that. It’s moist, has great texture and just the right amount of chocolatey deliciousness. Another bonus, it’s(can be) vegan.
Another credit to The Cake Merchant – explaining the importance of using cake strips. Hmm… what are cake strips? I had to look that one up. Cake strips are placed snuggly around the cake pan just before baking, and prevent the top of your cake from forming a dome shape. Using cake strips is especially important for artisanal cake decorating, as you would want the top of your cake to be nice and level. I further investigated on how to make my own.
I grabbed some cotton ticking fabric and stitched it up on my sewing machine in a matter of minutes. They really work! Of course you can purchase cake strips, but if you have a sewing machine and some 100% cotton fabric on hand, making them is the way to go. Fabric cake strips must be dampened right before slipping them onto the pans.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go eat cake.