“POP” Cake

“POP” Cake

Surprise Inside!

Makes 24 servings

Make your cake pop like comic-book art from the 1960s! The brightly colored melted-jelly design and the cubist-cake interior make this a real art statement!

  • 1 recipe Perfect Cake Mix batter (see recipe) made with French vanilla cake mix
  • Yellow, neon pink, neon blue, black, and red food coloring (McCormick)
  • 1 recipe Perfect Cake Mix batter (see recipe) made with devil’s food cake mix
  • 1 can (16 ounces) dark chocolate frosting
  • 1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
  • 2 cups apple jelly

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare three 8-inch round pans (see Please Release Me). Divide the French vanilla batter evenly among 3 bowls. Tint 1 bowl bright yellow, 1 bowl neon pink, and 1 bowl neon blue. Stir the batter in each bowl to mix the color well.

2 Spoon 1 color of batter into each of the 3 prepared pans. Spread the batter to the edges and smooth the tops. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

3 Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Invert, remove the pans, and cool completely. Transfer the cakes to the freezer to chill, about 30 minutes.

4 Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Trim each chilled cake into a square by removing the browned, curved edges (see photo, above). Cut the cakes into 1-inch cubes and transfer to the cookie sheet. Transfer the cake cubes to the freezer and chill until ready to use.

5 Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a 9-x-13-inch pan.

 
 

6 Spoon half of the devil’s food cake batter into the prepared pan. Spread the batter to the edges of the pan and smooth. Arrange the chilled cake cubes in alternating colors on top, pressing slightly into the batter (see photos, above). Spoon the remaining chocolate batter over the cubes to cover. Spread the batter to the edges and smooth the top.

7 Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Invert, remove the pan, and cool completely.

8 Trim the top of the cake level (see On the Level). Place the cake, trimmed side down, on a cardboard cut to fit (see Getting on Base). Spread a thin crumb coating of the dark chocolate frosting (see Got Crumbs?) on the sides of the cake and a thin crumb coating of vanilla frosting on top and smooth. Place the cake in the freezer until set, about 30 minutes.

9 Tint ¾ cup of the dark chocolate frosting black with the black food coloring. Spoon the black frosting into a freezer-weight ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Spread the remaining vanilla frosting on top of the chilled cake and make it as smooth as possible. Spread the remaining dark chocolate frosting around the sides of the cake and smooth. Transfer the cake to the freezer to chill, about 30 minutes.

10 Download the template from http://www.hmhbooks.com/cupcakes/templates/cmd/pop-cake.pdf and print at 200 percent. Place the chilled cake on a serving platter. Using a toothpick, score the template design in the frosting on top of the cake (see Jelly Painting).

11 Spoon ½ cup apple jelly into each of 3 microwavable bowls. Tint 1 red with the food coloring, 1 bright yellow, and 1 light neon blue. Divide the remaining ½ cup apple jelly between 2 microwavable bowls, leaving 1 bowl plain and tinting the other dark yellow.

12 Snip a small (⅛-inch) corner from the bag with the black frosting. Following the score marks, pipe the outline of the shapes on top of the cake (the details will be piped on later).

13 Working with one color of jelly at a time, microwave the jelly in its bowl, stirring every 5 seconds, until smooth, about 20 seconds. If the melted jelly still has lumps, press the jelly through a fine-mesh strainer to smooth. Spoon the melted jelly into a freezer-weight ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Snip a very small (1/16-inch) corner from the bag. Carefully squeeze some of the melted jelly inside the outlined areas to be filled (see the photos for color references), using a toothpick or a small craft brush to push the jelly into the small areas. Repeat the process with the remaining jellies. Refrigerate the cake to set the jelly, about 15 minutes.

14 Pipe the remaining details, dots, lines, and solid areas, including the exclamation point, with the black frosting.