Mother Hen Cake Food

MOTHER-HEN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an ovenproof 10-inch-diameter 5-quart bowl. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.
• Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add eggs, 2 cups warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Beat mixture on low speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer batter to prepared bowl. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool in bowl 45 minutes. Unmold onto rack. Let cool completely.
• Place cake, broad side up, on a cutting board. Using a long serrated knife, cut a crescent-shaped piece off both sides to create a football-shaped body; reserve scraps. Cut 1 of the scraps crosswise at an angle to create a tail that follows the upward slope of the bowl; set aside. Cut the other scrap crosswise at an angle to create a neck that is longer than the tail, and that curves up, following the upward slope of the bowl.
• Attach tail and neck with white buttercream. Cut a small round piece from the remaining cake scraps to create the back of the head. Trim 1 side to be flat; attach flat side to back of neck. Refrigerate assembled cake until buttercream is firm, at least 20 minutes. Spread a thin layer of buttercream over cake. Refrigerate until firm, at least 20 minutes.
• Transfer remaining white buttercream in batches to a pastry bag fitted with a small ridged tip. Pipe feathers, beginning at base of cake and working up, overlapping: Hold tip flat against side of cake (ridges facing out). Pipe enough for 1 feather (1/2 to 1 inch long), then abruptly release pressure on the bag to let buttercream come almost to a point. Cover body, including head. Using the #46 tip and the red-orange buttercream, pipe feathers in center of tail and on sides of body for wings.
• Switch to an open-prong tip. Pipe 2 drooping U shapes side by side under where the beak should be, creating a teardrop-shaped wattle. Pipe overlapping shell curls on top of the head for the scalloped comb: Start at front of head and pipe forward a short line, then pipe up and back over it; start next line in middle of the one before. Transfer yellow-orange buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with just a coupler; pipe a beak. Using kitchen tweezers, place 2 licorice pieces above beak for eyes.
• Refrigerate cake until buttercream is firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

RAVEN'S-NEST CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans; dust with cocoa. Whisk together cocoa, flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; beat on low speed until just combined. Increase speed to medium and add eggs, buttermilk, water, oil, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes, then turn out from pans and transfer to wire racks. Let cool completely.
• Buttercream: Meanwhile, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition. (After every two additions, increase speed to high and beat 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium again.) Add vanilla and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.
• Nest: Pour vodka into an 8-inch cake pan. Freeze until very cold, at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (but not in) a pot of boiling water. Let cool slightly, then transfer to a piping bag; snip off a very small piece of end. Drizzle chocolate into cold vodka in a circular motion, stopping after a few rings form. Remove chocolate rings with two forks to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining chocolate, layering rings to build a nest shape. Refrigerate until nest is firm enough to lift and condensation has evaporated, about 30 minutes.
• Spread 2 cups frosting onto top of 1 cooled layer. Top with remaining layer; frost top and sides with remaining 2 cups frosting. (Unfrosted cake layers can be stored, wrapped in plastic, at room temperature or refrigerated overnight. Frosted cake can be refrigerated overnight.) Place nest atop cake, and nestle in candies and bird.

SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM FOR MOTHER-HEN CAKE

Steps:

• Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Transfer to another bowl.
• Whisk together sugar and egg whites in a heatproof mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk gently until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer sugar mixture to the clean bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy and cooled, about 10 minutes. Raise speed to high; beat until stiff peaks form. Reduce speed to medium- low; add butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time. Mix in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; beat 3 minutes more.
• Tint 2 cups buttercream burnt-red-orange using red, orange, and brown food coloring. Tint 1/2 cup buttercream yellow-orange using yellow and orange. Leave remaining buttercream white.