A mysterious title, eh? The cake is a followup to "Raspberry Con-fusion Cake".
I "deconfusioned" by using the amount of gelatin fluid I intended
originally—1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of milk into a bowl with a packet of
sugar-free raspberry gelatin. The newer cake tastes as good as the first
one, nice density and no crumbliness. The layers' heights don't seem
much different.
During the six days of consumption, the newer-version cake was consistently moist and without the frosting becoming more gooey.
If you try a similar gelatin with cake recipe, this one is improved.
If you happen to follow the gelatin's directions for gelatin instead of
halving the liquid, the result won't be a disaster. Consider consuming
the cake in less time before frosting gooeyness. I don't recall the rest
of the downsides of the first cake; I don't plan to repeat my mistake.
Calories and Sodium
Note: Using sugared Jello instead of sugar-free HCF adds about 320
extra calories (~27 C/svg) and 320 extra mg of sodium (~27 C/svg) to the
cake. Between the two sugar-free brands, the amount of calories is
negligible. The amount for sodium is more significant. The following
abbreviated table compares calories and sodium for HCF, Royal, and Jello
raspberry gelatins.
I wanted to Kool-Aid my cake using Raspberry Kool-Aid, but the
supermarket didn't carry that flavor. I thought about using Jello, maybe
make a poke cake.
Fortunately, I found info for helping integrate raspberry gelatin and
cake in a non-pokey way. The result was my raspberry con-fusion cake
(details farther down).
No Hokey Pokey Cake for Me, but Something Else
When I read elsewhere that a poke cake would deteriorate in a few
days, I abandoned the idea. Besides short life, the recipe looked like
more work than I wanted to do. I later thought about making something
with raspberry gelatin and cake. Did some poking around supermarket
prices and availability. Jello's small size cost nearly as much as the family size. I noticed that the store carries both Royal and Hill Country Fare raspberry sugar-free brands.
I found a few resources to use gelatin in cake besides making poke
cakes. Several commenters recommended merely following the cake box's
instructions and mixing in the gelatin powder. I've run across info
about enhancing cakes by adding an extra egg and using milk instead of
water, In my zeal to try a few different details, I put in too much
fluid.
My Con-fusion
My con-fusion with this cake resulted from using the amount of fluid
called for if making a small gelatin batch. For integration into a cake,
I needed to put in only half the fluid. Regular instructions for
small-package gelatin calls for 1 cup of boiling water and 1 cup of cold
water. Normal box cake recipes call for 1 cup of water total. Sooo, I put too much fluid. I decided to just carry on and see how the cake turned out.
To adjust for too much fluid, I baked the cakes for several minutes
longer, hoping evaporation would help. The cake layers baked; the
toothpick test came out well. However, they did not rise. The finished
cake cut cleanly with no crumbs. The mouth-feel texture was dense, like
pound cake. Within the six days of consumption, the cake became more
moist, even watery. The frosting seemed to almost liquefy to saucy
consistency.
If inclined, Google "what happens if you add too much fluid to cake
batter". The next time I retry the recipe, I'll remember to use only
half the amount of fluid.)
The calories and sodium differ on whether you use sugar-free or sugared Jello gelatin powders.
Note: Using sugared Jello instead of sugar-free HCF adds about 320 extra
calories (~27 C/svg) and 320 extra mg of sodium (~27 mg/svg) to the
cake. Between the two sugar-free brands, the amount of calories is
negligible. The amount for sodium is more significant. The following
abbreviated table compares calories and sodium for HCF, Royal, and Jello
raspberry gelatins.
During the planning and execution of my pineapple an coconut cake (article, video),
I thought of closer looks at some parts of processes. They pertain to
combo-flavor cakes using two kinds of cake mixes, preparing cake bans
before pouring in batter, and squeezing more out of can frosting.
Weighing and divvying up two cake mix flavors for combination flavor
To combine two flavors, the packages need weighing first. During the
pouring of each package separately into a bowl with strainer, the
strainer is handy for sifting. (One reason I wanted to perform this task
was to see if either of the powder included flavor bits, such as
dehydrated pineapple or coconut.) Nope.
Using parchment paper and spray oil to line cake pans before pouring the batter for baking
A very traditional method for prepping pans for baking is greasing
the pans, then sprinkling and tapping flour to coat it. The cake mix
boxes lately seem to advocate using spray oil, and ignoring the sides.
My method is using spray oil and parchment paper, spraying bare pan,
then pressing paper, then spraying again. The baked cakes come out
cleanly and leave nearly no residue on the pans. Makes for easy wipe and
clean.
Using mixer to increase canned frosting volume and spreadability
I'd used mostly can frosting (16 ounces) for a long time.
Occasionally, I do buttercream (powder sugar, butter, milk), which takes
a lot more effort. It seems that one pound is skimpy, and I need to
spread thinly. I thought about the "whipped" frosting that comes in a much taller can.
Taller can seems to mean more frosting, right? Also, I have run across
comments on the web that it's very spreadable. I'll take the leap
someday. Not too wild about the weight being actually only 14 ounces.
I also ran across info that you can whip can frosting and get more
volume. I tried it once before, but didn't think to do volume
measurement before and after, but did notice difference. This time, I
did before and after comparison, noting the frosting ended about 3/8"
from the rim. After whipping, I refilled the can. The frosting reached
the rim, for ~12% increase. This session might have been more fun and
yielded more if I had not refrigerated the can for a few hours before
the whipping. In any case, I noticed improved spreadability.
I'd deviated from various cake mix instructions now and then. This
time, I decided to try making a hybrid cake of two flavors—pineapple and
coconut. (Duncan Hines makes both flavors.) Get info for ingredients,
equipment, and procedures for all the stages to make this delish pina-colada-ish cake. View also "Pt 2 Pineapple Coconut Cake, Closer Cake Prep Looks", the supplemental video.
Boxes in hand, I found commonality for fluid and fat. With research
and thoughts of "Do no harm", I came up with a suitable list of
ingredients.
The pineapple mix box calls for 1 cup water, 3 eggs, and 1/2 cup oil.
The coconut mix box calls for 1 cup milk, 4 eggs, and 1/2 cup unsalted
melted butter. An anomalous ingredient for the coconut cake is two cups
of coconut on the finished cake, top and sides.
In making my hybrid cake, my final decision on instruction
ingredients was 1 cup milk, 4 eggs, and 1/2 cup oil. As for the coconut,
I thought the amount excessive, and cleanup troublesome. I decided to
fold 1/2 cup shredded coconut into the batter just before pouring it all
into the prepared baking pans.
Fluid thoughts
I had toyed with the idea of using all or half pineapple juice and
half milk. I used nonfat milk coz it's what we use. (Whatever convenient
fat-content milk should be fine.)
Egg quantity
I researched about using three or four eggs, and numerous sources
advocated the extra egg as helpful, certainly not harmful for results.
It helps prevent cake crumbliness. I'm guessing an extra egg also adds
richness and extra nutrition.
Fat type
I melt butter for popcorn, but seldom for any other reason. I decided
that using oil is slightly less hassle for cake making. Also, oil costs
about 1/3 as much as butter. Another fat type to consider could be
shortening, which I haven't used in many years. Out of sight, out of
mind. I gave a brief thought to applesauce subbing. Nah!
Calories and Sodium
This calorie and sodium section differs from similar table-form
sections that I've created in most other blog articles WRT baked items.
Notable are coconut and frosting, which list servings in grams instead
of ounces. Whole grams instead of decimal grams or fractional ounces
tend to result in rounded off ("squishy") numbers.
Calories info
Ref: both boxes 15.25 oz. Calories: pineapple mix only, 170/serving; coconut mix only, 170/serving
cake mix, 2 half boxes total -> 1700 C
4 eggs, 70 cal each -> 280 C
milk, nonfat, 80 C/cup -> 80 C
oil, 1984 C/cup -> 992 C
coconut, 1/2 C packed, aka 42g (70C/15g, thus 2.8 svgs) -> 196 C
frosting, 16 oz, aka 453g (140C/33g, thus 13.73 svgs) -> 1922 C
My recipe calls for following the instructions for boxed lemon cake mix and adding two tablespoons of poppy seeds. Box mixes usually omit information about mini-cupcakes, which are about 1/3 the volume of regular cupcakes (2 1/2 x 1 1/4). The mini-cupcake size is 1 3/4 x 1. This article includes also includes mini-cupcake baking times, yields, and paper liner vs. oil vs. oil/flour methods.
Regular cupcake vs. mini-cupcake
Cake mix boxes usually indicate the yield to be 24 cupcakes. I have encountered recipes that hedge and claim 24 to 30 cupcakes. I have seen recipes claim that a box cake mix should yield 60 mini-cupcakes. My yield was 77, using the recommendation of slightly rounded tablespoon of batter for each pan well. Suggested baking times for regular cupcakes had a range of 15 to 20 minutes for the low end, and 22 to 27 minutes for the high end. If baking mini-cupcakes, use the regular cupcake baking time, but reduce it by maybe 25%. My batches came out fine at 13 to 14 minutes. As for oven temperature, from gleaning various recipes, 350° seems to be common.
Note: For a serving size between regular cupcake and mini-cupcake, cut each cupcake in half. Hypothetical yields per box cake mix batch can be 24 (regular cupcakes), 48 (regular cupcakes cut in half), and 60 (mini-cupcakes).
Paper liner vs. spray-on oil vs. oil/flour spray
In past experiences of using paper liners, it seemed like the paper did not cleanly separate from baked cupcakes without maybe 10% of the cake sticking to the paper. I don't know if the detachment problems were because of the cupcakes being regular size, or because of the cake mix formulation being from pre-pudding eras.
I was pleased that the paper peeled away from the mini-cupcake neatly. The method that yielded the least satisfying results was using spray oil with flour in it. The dispensing was not as easy as with using spray oil. The oil and flour spray method left a thin layer of baked cake inside the wells, and more than with using spray oil.
My pixstrip shows four sections:
Implements
Ingredients
Paper liners, oil spray, oil/flour spray
Baked mini-cupcakes
Implements
mixer
medium-large mixing bowl
rubber spatula(s)
measuring spoon
measuring cup(s)
mini-muffin pans (Use different size pans if desired, following baking time suggestions on the cake mix box.)
cooling rack for done mini-cupcakes
paper liners, spray oil, or spray oil/flour (Using paper liners yielded the best results for me.) Note: Greasing the bottoms of the wells is another batter lining method.
Batter ingredients
1 box lemon cake mix (~18 oz.)
eggs, number as listed on cake mix box
oil, amount as listed on cake mix box
water, amount as listed on cake mix box
2 T poppy seeds
General instructions for all cake pan sizes (Have the cake mix box handy!)
Prepare the cake batter according to cake mix box instructions.
Fold in the poppy seeds.
Prepare baking pans by using paper liners, spray oil, or spray oil/flour.
Pour batter into the baking pan(s) of your choice.
Bake as recommended; however, if baking mini-muffins, reduce time by 25%. (Mine came out fine between 13 and 14 minutes.)
Test cake for doneness. If done, remove pan(s) from the oven.
Transfer cakes (or mini-muffins) onto cooling rack.
Calories and additional information
Total calories for the ingredients I used, the cake mix brand and flavor being the biggest variable, the calories totaled 2900, give or take a few. Dividing the number by my yield of 77 mini-cupcakes comes out to ~38 calories each. YMMV, depending on cake mix brand, egg sizes, and recipe that you use. Also, adding icing or frosting will increase the calories.
Note: The container of the poppy seeds that I bought recommended yellow cake mix and 1 tablespoon of lemon extract for another version of lemon poppyseed cake. I myself advocate minimal ingredients—lemon cake mix instead of yellow cake mix and lemon extract. If someone wants to try the alternate recipe, I would be interested in the contrast results.
Related: "Revisiting Lemon Poppyseed Mini-cupcakes" article | video
My profession had been technical writer/editor. Through TheWriteJob clublet (blog at http://thewritejob.blogspot.com), I have been exploring my inner creative writing, which includes mostly language enlightenment, entertainment, and a-muse-meant. Over time, I have become more active with images and my YouTube channel.
