Flatten your...cake layers?

Sprinkle cake, a la Raspberri Cupcakes

This is usually the time of year when folks start thinking about losing weight, eating better, and generally being more healthy in the new year than they were in the last. While the rest of the world is daydreaming about finally getting those abs flat, I'm hung up on trying to get my cake layers flat. I mean, layered cakes are a big enough hassle without having to wrestle 1/4-inch off the top of each cake with an abnormally long serrated knife, amiright? I mean, someone could lose a finger, and that would not be a great way to start the new year. (As a side note, if you are looking to cut calories, check out this post for a tasty way to prepare boxed cake mix in a calorie-friendly way!)

I made a sprinkle cake on Saturday. The Dr. had been craving wedding cake for a week, and we were hosting our preacher and his wife for dessert so I figured, why not? I would've loved to do an ombre cake like Steph's, but the Dr. can be picky about details and I didn't think purple wedding cake would go over well. Word to the wise, though: covering a cake with sprinkles is WAY HARDER THAN IT LOOKS. I think I'll be finding sprinkles in the nooks and crannies of my kitchen until the day we move. I have absolutely no suggestions on how to prevent them from going everywhere, either; Steph suggests putting your cake into a giant container of some sort, but I was frosting on a cake pedestal so that was a no-go for me. I can only say if you're going to try this at home, have the vacuum handy.

Anyway, on with the point. I figured out an easy, no-muss, no-fuss, no-cutting, no-waste way of getting those cake layers perfectly flat, every time. And here's how I did it:

Step 1: Remove the springform section of the pan from your cake as soon as it comes out of the oven (leave the cake on the round metal bit underneath); place it on a wire rack to cool.

Step 2: Cover warm cake with a flexible silicon cutting mat.

Step 3: Put a large, flat cookie pan on top of the cutting mat.

Step 4: Plop a 2-pound bag of sugar (or other light weight) on top of the whole stack.

Step 5: When cool, remove all items from the top of the cake. Note that the just the very moist top coat of cake is going to stick to your silicon mat; this is your delicious, taste-testing treat! Scrape that goodness off with a fork and eat it. (Hey, you gotta make sure your cake is guest-worthy without cutting into it somehow, right?)

Voila! Perfectly flat cake layers with no cutting, no fuss, and no waste.

I didn't add any additional steps to this process - promise! No cutting, no weird frosting-some-parts-more-than-others, nada. Just stacked 'em right up and slapped some frosting on! And look how pretty and even it came out!

I think this technique could also work with sheet cakes; instead of a silicon mat, you'd want to use parchment paper, and instead of a cookie sheet and weight, use a light book or two.

....Yeah, I'm totally doing this any time I make cake layers from now on. WIN.

I'm no Grinch...

I'll leave that in the very capable hands of one Mr. Jim Carrey.

Since it's Christmastime, and I'm not a Grinch, I've decided that Muffalette will be free through the end of December! So go snag your copy while you can, and remember...if you finish one by December 31, you could win a kit to make another!

In the meantime, here's my video tutorial for making & inserting thrums:



Thrum, they told me, thrum-thra-thrum-thrum...

Watch while you can, because the video will go back into hiding at the end of December! :)

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Stacey's EASIER Magic Ring for crochet!

Looky, you guys! Stacey Trock from Fresh Stitches has made the Magic Ring for crochet easier! Didn't think that was possible, but apparently it was. Give it a watch, or see her original blog post and photo tutorial on the subject here.




Thanks, Stacey!

Yarnside Chats - Judy's Magic Cast On Tutorial

So awhile back, I did a tutorial on the awesome Judy's Magic Cast On. It appeared in Yarnside Chats, my regular featured over on Knitcircus. (This was Episode 2, for anyone who's counting.)

I wanted to do a feature on Judy's Magic Cast On because not only is this a great cast on for toe-up socks, it's also just about the most genius provisional cast on ever. You can even use it to cast on for something you want joined on two sides, like a hoodie or a zippered pouch. Want to learn how to apply Judy's Magic to these techniques? Sure you do. Watch on, below:


See the original article on Judy's Magic at Knitty.com

Huge thanks goes to Judy Becker for sharing this cast on with the world at large, and to Knitcircus, for encouraging me to film my ideas on how the technique can be applied outside of the sock world.