Just Because Cake
Some days deserve cake - make these Just Because cakes! Using cans you can create a multi-layer mini cake that celebrate any (and every) occasion.
Hooray! Celebrate! I'm so excited. Happy Cakentine's Day!!
Wait, what? You may need to Google this one. You've never heard of Cakentine's Day?
That's likely because we made it up.
Cakentine's Day began when Melissa of Lulu the Baker wished me a happy Valentine's day, and Instagram autocorrected to Cakentine's. Melissa is all kinds of talented so I figured she had the inside scoop on a new holiday, and I began Googling. PJ (A Girl Named PJ) quickly noticed the new word, and ridiculous banter back and forth followed until we decided that we would go ahead and celebrate Cakentine's Day.
Melissa created a gorgeous Everyday Citrus Cake (which means we can eat it everyday, right?), and PJ has an amazing tutorial on how to frost a cake like a pro.
The taste of spring and summer come together in this scrumptious Everyday Citrus Cake by Lulu the Baker.
Step by step instruction on how to frost a cake like a pro with A Girl Named PJ.
I'm home today with my daughter, sick with strep, so we created these Just Because cakes. I think we'll BOTH be needing them by day's end . . . just because. They are perfect for any and every occasion or no occasion at all.
Every since I saw Jordan's post on mini cakes back in 2012, I've wondered what baking in cans would look like. I love the idea of a cake just for you so I thought we'd give it a try. Turns out it's really easy. Like silly easy.
For our Just Because cakes, we used our favorite boxed mix and frosting. If I'm going to whip up a cake just because, it needs to be easy and fun to no original recipes on this one.
One box can make three mini cakes.
1. Rinse and clean three cans well. I used cans that once held our beloved mandarin oranges.
2. Create cake mix according to recipe. Be sure to grease/flour. Ladel batter into cans until they are slight more than halfway full.
3. Place in oven and bake. Our recipe called for 40 minutes at 325. I wasn't sure how to time the final baking so I began checking the cakes at 30 minutes. As you can see in the photo above, they bubbled over a bit.
4. Using a wet knife (a great tip from Jordan that I never knew), carefully loosen the cake from the can all the way around the perimeter. Go ahead and make the circle around the can a few times to ensure that the cake lifts off the can easily. Shimmy, shake, and encourage that cake out of the can. This may take a bit of patience.
Use a can to shape a unique and fun way to serve cake! Super simple.
5. Once removed, cut the rounded top off of the cake. And then cut in half and then half again for four round slices/layers of cake.
6. Carefully frost each layer. I recommend piping it on and then using the wet knife to spread. No need to be fancy here, I used a Ziploc bag with the corner end snipped off as my pastry bag.
Happy toppers on these Just Because cake let you know you're loved. Use a skewer to poke all the way through the layers and add stability.
7. Add a happy flag on a skewer, poked through the layers, will add stability and smiles.
Happy baking and caking on this first annual Cakenstine's Day!! Enjoy a laugh with friends on us.