A Few Fries Short

Posts Tagged ‘baking’

One of the things that take up most of my cabinet space is my cookware. I am a huge Pyrex fan! It wouldn’t be at all exaggerated for me to say I have over 50 pieces.  Crazy, I know, but, I became so tired of plastic staining and getting mucked up in the microwave. My then mother- in- law, would buy it for Christmas every year and I always looked forward to it! When I think I already have too much, (as if) I see more awesome Pyrex pieces from them! I would love to be a Pyrex Mom or something like that lol Pyrex Ambassador? Hey, I am open to a name alteration! I came across these 4 very important tips for cooking with glass that I wanted to pass along.  Hope they help you in your cooking ventures!

Do you love Pyrex as much as I do? Valpak is currently running a giveaway on their Facebook page. You can win 1 or 5 Pyrex Prize packs or 1 or 4 $100 Gift Cards!

Pyrex prize pack that consists of: one (1) 3qt oblong, (1) 2qt casserole, (1) 1.3qt oval, (1) 9.5″ pie plate, (1) 8 inch square, (1) 2qt oblong,  (1) 2 cup measuring cup, (1) 4 cup measuring cup, (1) 8 cup measuring cup, (1) 2.5qt mixing bowl, (1) 4qt mixing bowl, (1) 7-cup round No-Leak Lids, (1) 3-cup rectangle No-Leak Lids, (1) 4-cup round No-Leak Lids, (1) 6-cup rectangle No-Leak Lids,  (1) 2-cup round No-Leak Lids, (1) leave in thermometer, (1) colander, one (1) can opener, (1) basting spoon, (1) turner, (1) digital timer, one (1) set measuring cups, (1) salad spinner, (1) set measuring spoons, (1) balloon whisk

In the past year I am trying to be more fun with things for the kids. I am not a very crafty person so I depend on the tricks and cheats to make things look like I really know what I am doing! I am a cook, not a baker so when I wanted to make something a little different, I turned to Wilton. I own so many Wilton specialty pans it is unreal. My mom buys me them for every holiday and occasion you can imagine.

I looked all over for this pan and I just couldn’t find it locally anywhere! I wrote the folks at Wilton and they made my day and sent me one. This is not a difficult pan to use but it definitely required a little bit of patience to use. For my first time using it, it came out “OK”. The cake is supposed to be 3 layers but to be honest, it uses a lot of cake and I ended up only having enough to make 2 levels.

I learned from Googling for pictures of other peoples cakes using this pan that getting this cake to line up perfectly is not going to be that easy.

I used 2 boxes of white cake mix and I just added some red food coloring to make it pink. I might suggest following Wiltons cake recipe for this one to ensure that you have the correct amount of cake mix for 2 layers. I found it a real pain using a boxed mix which was why I only did 2 layers. You can use any flavor or color of cake that you wish.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pans and ring lightly with Pam. Prepare your cake, whether it is a homemade or boxed cake.

Place Batter Dividing Ring into one prepared pan.

Place Batter Dividing Ring in the first prepared 9 x 11/2 in. pan. Pour darker colored batter in outer and center sections and lighter colored batter in the middle section. Fill sections halfway. ((for convenient filling, place batter in disposable decorating bag, I tried to pour it in at first and oh boy, what a mess.)

Remove ring from pan by carefully lifting straight up on handles. Rinse and completely dry ring.

Place ring in 2nd prepared pan and repeat steps 1 and 2. These will be the top and bottom layers of your checkerboard cake.

Place clean and dry ring in 3rd prepared pan. Pour lighter colored batter in outer and center sections and darker colored batter in the middle section. Fill sections halfway. This will be the middle layer of your checkerboard cake.

Remove ring from pan as before. When you remove the ring, do this slowly and it should slip out perfectly. I didn’t have any trouble with this step. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Depending on how many layers you want to do, simply stack your cakes on top of each other, placing a layer of icing between each cake. Be sure you alternate your cakes so you get the checkerboard look when you cut it. For my first attempt I don’t think it came out TO bad. I couldn’t seem to get a clean cut either so it’s probably not the best finished product pic!

ENTER TO WIN A WILTON CHECKERBOARD CAKE PAN

RULES: For Bonus Entries, if you do not leave the link to your Facebook profile so I can verify you “liked” I will not count your entry. Twitter entries must include a link to your Tweet. Tweets must be spaced no less than 60 mins apart. Tweets of recipes are only good PER giveaway. You can’t use the same tweet for multiple giveaways.

Mandatory Entry: Visit Wilton.com and tell me your FAVORITE Bakeware product! (other than the one mentioned above!) (1 entry)

Bonus Entries: A lot of additional ways to enter! Leave a separate comment for each one!

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Giveaway is open to US residents who are 18 years of age or older. I reserve the right to remove any entry from this giveaway. This giveaway is sponsored by Wilton. This giveaway ends 03/17/2011 at 11:59pm EST. If you are currently or have previously reviewed this product or participated in this campaign, you are ineligible to enter/win.