I brought a bunch of these intensely chocolate little cakes to work, with the disclaimer that “I don’t believe in Valentine’s Day”. It’s a mostly made-up holiday and I don’t buy into the idea that you should treat your sweetheart extra special one day a year. Treat him or her special every day of the year instead.
I’m also a complete Grinch at Christmas.
Anyway, I went ahead and made the cakes heart-shaped, and the frosting extra red. Two of the cakes that went to work were Netflix-related, of course, since I work at Netflix. “Netflix and Chill?” (I’m often inappropriate at work), and “Binge Responsibly” (looked like a mess).
Once the cakes had been destroyed it looked like a cake murder scene. Black crumbs and red frosting smeared everywhere. They were popular, but I think the Cake Scraps™ I brought along were even more popular. Personally, I liked the cake without the frosting. Super chocolate-y, not too sweet, very moist. It would make a great cupcake.
The cake was a pain in the ass to work with – very crumbly and even chilled and with a decent crumb coat I had a hard time keeping crumbs out of the frosting. My white chocolate seized up, so I had to melt in some cream cheese to get it to writeable consistency. My cakes weren’t very pretty.
For the recipe and to see how the other Baked Sunday Mornings bakers fared, head over to Baked Sunday Mornings.
- Conversation Heart Cakes (Baked Occasions, p. 50)
I ate a lot of cake scraps myself — perhaps the best part of making this cake! I like the idea of a black and red cake murder scene being left behind… maybe appropriate for a Valentine’s Day skeptic? :)
Yes! I’m a fan of cake murder.
I find it’s always hard to crumb coat with cream cheese frosting – it’s so soft, there are crumbs everywhere, and it doesn’t get super hard in the fridge like buttercream does. I’m sure everyone at work love your Netflix & Chill cake!!
Oh, thanks. I’m glad I’m not the only one that finds it difficult. Although yours are SO CUTE, Robyn! We totally Netflix and Chilled. I mean, not in the dirty way. Literally. :)
I liked the cake better without the frosting too, although I thought maybe it was just my frustration with all the teeny black crumbs marring my frosting job. I’m also glad it wasn’t just me – although it’s impossible to tell with your adorable cakes!
Hopefully your co-workers know how lucky they were to get your cake scraps :) I hoarded mine for myself…
I was surprised to learn through this recipe that several of us in BSM are not Valentine’s fans– so funny. It’s not my favorite either, although GEEEEZ I love the pretty heart-shaped things! Anyway, your cakes are still adorable and I love your snarky messages… not that I would expect anything less. ;-)