Puzzling Instructions

So here is a little tutorial on how to make the puzzle cake from yesterday's post. It would make much more sense if I had taken a picture at every stage throughout the process, but unfortunately I did not so I will just try my best in explaining it. It was actually difficult to find many easy tutorials on the internet for this type of cake. I will explain how to duplicate the cake I made, but of course the procedure will differ slightly if more cake layers or different colors are used.

1. Begin by baking two different flavors of cake, differing in color. You will need three layers of each, so either make three thin layers or slice one cake into three layers. Here I have made a vanilla and a chocolate angel food cake.
2. You will also need a frosting or icing. For this delicate cake, it is easiest to use a fluffy, whipped frosting instead of a stiff frosting which may tear the cake. You will also need quite a bit of icing for a good layer between each cake layer and coating the outside of the cake. I made three pounds of Italian buttercream.
   
3. Begin assembling the cake: one chocolate layer, buttercream, one vanilla layer, buttercream, second chocolate layer, buttercream, second vanilla layer, buttercream, and the third chocolate layer. Reserve the third vanilla layer.
4. Here comes the tricky and crucial step. Use a bowl, plate, or cut-out circle as a guide. Place it on top of the cake, you should have one to two inches of cake still showing around the entire diameter. Using a long, serrated knife, cut around the guide, holding the knife at a 45 degree angle. Cut all the way around the cake, you are essentially cutting a cone out of the cake. This step is much easier if you freeze the cake for 30-60 minutes before cutting for a cleaner cut.
5. Place a plate or cake board on top of the cake and flip it upside down. Very gently and carefully remove the outside of the cake, which will be a hollow circle of cake now. Place this hollowed-out cake, flip it back over, and set it on another plate. You should now have the cone, with the tip pointing upwards, on one plate; and the hollowed-out cake, with the smaller hole (from where the tip of the cone was cut) facing upwards.
6. Gently press the top chocolate cake layer in to fill the small hole. Frost the entire inside of this cake with frosting. Gently press the reserved vanilla cake layer into this, then frost again.
7. Carefully place the cone (tip pointing downwards) into this cake opening. You may find it doesn't fit exactly, well it's not really supposed to. Just press it in gently until the top of the cake is level.
   
8. Now comes the easy part - frost the outside of the cake and decorate as desired. Here I have made a chocolate collar for the outside with chocolate drizzle and filigree on top.
9. Chill the cake before serving so slicing will be cleaner. Use a hot, sharp knife. Watch the puzzled looks on your guest's faces when they receive their piece.
   

Don't despair if this doesn't work out perfectly the first time - you can tell from my photo that this isn't as perfect as some of the puzzle cake pictures in books and on the internet. But I know my next try will be even better, now that I know how this process works. Even if it doesn't work out, you should come out with some interesting layers or in the very least, a perfectly edible marble cake.