Mini Firecracker Cakes Food

FIRECRACKER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven according to cake mix directions. Generously grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan; set aside.
• Make cake batter as directed on box, using water, oil and egg whites. Pour 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl; stir in red food coloring until well mixed. Pour another cup of the batter into a separate bowl; stir in blue food color until well mixed.
• Pour red cake batter into bottom of pan. Carefully pour the white batter over red batter in pan. Carefully pour blue batter over white batter. (The blue batter does not need to cover the white batter completely). When you add the batter to the pan, do not mix with a spoon. Just pour it in so the colors don't mix but rather, just rest on top of each other in the pan.
• Bake as directed on box or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place cooling rack over cookie sheet. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack. Cool cake completely, about 30-45 minutes.
• When cake is cool, divide the frosting evenly into 3 microwavable bowls. Microwave 1 bowl of frosting uncovered on HIGH a few seconds until smooth enough to drizzle over cake. With spoon, drizzle all of the 1st bowl of microwaved frosting all over the cake, back and forth around the cake in a striping pattern. Repeat microwaving second bowl of frosting until smooth. Stir in a few drops of the blue food coloring until well blended. Drizzle over cake, scattering back and forth. Repeat with remaining frosting and red food coloring, making sure red, white and blue can be seen on the cake. Sprinkle with red, white and blue sprinkles, if desired. Let cake stand at room temperature until frosting is set before serving.
• Store loosely covered at room temperature.

FIRECRACKER BUNDT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and generously grease a 12-cup bundt pan.
• In a large bowl mix together cake mix, water, oil, eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract until combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
• Pour 1 cup of the batter into small bowl and stir in red food coloring until desired color is achieved (I use a lot because I like my color darker). Pour a second cup of the batter into separate bowl and stir in blue food coloring until desired color is achieved (again, I use a lot here).
• First, pour red batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Next, slowly pour white batter over red batter. Lastly, pour blue patter on top of white batter to make a ring of blue batter in the center of the white layer.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (a few crumbs are okay but no wet batter). Allow to cool on a cake rack until completely cooled, about 30 minutes. Turn cake pan upside down and gently remove cake from pan onto cooling rack or serving platter.

MINI FIRECRACKER CAKES

Steps:

• Prepare the cake mix as per package instructions. Separate evenly into three bowls of about 1 ½ cups batter each. Color one bowl red, and one blue. Gently stir color into batter. Pour into three loaf pans that are lightly greased and lined with a parchment sleeve. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake tests clean. The cakes should be fully cooked through. Allow to cool completely.
• Using a 1-inch biscuit cutter, cut 8-10 circles out of each of the cakes. Gently brush the outside of each of the cut-outs with simple syrup and then coat in sanding sugar. Let the cut-outs dry for 10 minutes before assembling.
• Dab a ¼-½ teaspoon of frosting on each of the red cakes, and then top with a white cake. Dab with another ¼-½ teaspoon of frosting and then top with the blue cakes. Using a straw, cut a hole through the center of the cakes, discard. Fill the cakes with popping candy and top with a 1-inch length of black licorice. Serve within an hour.
• TIP: Letting the sanding sugar dry is necessary to prevent the colors from bleeding.