#CAMOUFLAGE CAKE CRACK#

You could buy cute hunter/deer cake toppers.

(I’ll bet you have a reindeer cookie cutter in your holiday stash.) Or you could print a silhouette of a deer, put a piece of waxed paper over it, put melted chocolate in a pastry bag and follow the lines, filling in as you go. So, you could bake and decorate deer-shaped cookies. Honestly? I don’t even know how you’d get the fondant to come out of this delicate shape. The mold is made for fondant, not chocolate. If you want to get one, they’re on eBay and Amazon, but I’ve got to warn you, just count on getting a deer torso and head. I used a cheap little silicone mold I just bought, and it was not a good application for chocolate. Apparently, you can get deer heads or Bambi. I was really surprised by the lack of chocolate molds available in the shape of deer. There are no smooth, perfect lines – this is a rustic cake for a man who’s into hunting. Or you can decorate it however you choose. You can wrap it snugly and hide it in the pantry where you’ll have sneaky little rendezvous with it for days (it just gets better and better as it ages) while you pretend to be looking for a can of mushrooms. You can let it cool and serve it just like this, or drizzle it with glaze or ganache. Spread over cake and decorate as desired. Stir over medium heat until hot but not bubbling.

FUDGY COATING: In a small pot, combine water, corn syrup, and powdered sugar.

Cool the pan on a baking rack for 10 minutes before lifting the cake out.

I just use a serrated blade to trim them if necessary. It takes a long time to cook a pound cake in a loaf pan, and the edges may get a little dark before it's done. If the skewer has batter or a lot of sticky crumbs on it, give the cake more time.

#CAMOUFLAGE CAKE CRACK#

Ovens vary, so check the cake at 1 hour by inserting a skewer into the center next to the crack (which is perfectly normal for a pound cake, by the way). The colors will smear together on top, but that's fine. Tap the bottom of the pan on a hard surface and gently smooth the top. The second layer: repeat, taking care to fill in any low places.Fill in some low places, climb the side of the pan - just don't use too much of it in one spot. Place dark batter in a piping bag or sturdy food storage bag with the tip cut off and add long, skinny shapes here and there. The first layer: using a small spoon, drop dollops of green, light brown, and cream batter in a random pattern in the prepared loaf pan.You will have dark brown, light brown, green, and cream/tan. Add 2 teaspoons regular cocoa to one bowl, add green food coloring to one bowl (add a touch of cocoa or orange color if you want to make a khaki color) and leave the last bowl as it is. Divide the remaining batter between 3 small bowls.Remove 1 cup of the batter and place in a small bowl.Alternately add flour and liquids, beginning with ⅓ of the flour, stirring well, then add ⅓ of the liquid.In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.Combine buttermilk, coffee, and vanilla.Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds with each addition.In a large bowl beat butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, scraping the side of the bowl often.Make a few cupcakes if you have leftover batter. If your pan is smaller, don't fill more than ⅔ full. This recipe was made with a 10'x5' loaf pan. Spray any uncovered surface with baking spray (or grease and flour the exposed area). Let it sit on the counter, stirring occasionally until it’s the consistency you want.

Heat the cream to a simmer and pour it over the chocolate. Chop the chocolate into tiny pieces and put in a bowl. (Double this if you plan to spread it on the whole cake.). For a drizzle, 4 ounces of chocolate and 1/2 cup of cream should do it. It’s easy and you can use it right away as a glaze or let it sit and thicken for a few hours, then spread it like soft frosting. To make the ganache, use equal amounts of a good dark chocolate and heavy cream.

If you prefer a traditional drizzle, I recommend making a ganache. I used thick, fudge-like icing on my cake. Still, if it looks like a pound cake, and tastes like a pound cake, well. I used leavening (just a little) and my egg, sugar, flour, and butter ratio isn’t exactly the same. I’d like to call this a pound cake, but technically it isn’t. (If he’s not the outdoors type, use his favorite team colors instead.) I covered my cake with a fudgy coating topped with crushed chocolate cookies, chocolate deer, and candy trees. If you want a little bang for your buck this Father’s Day, make the man in your life a camouflage cake.

Camouflage cake