Topping it off

Three tips to wonderful cake.

1. If you are baking a cake mix, add 1/2-3/4 cup of pudding. The flavor could be any you choose. Here are a few combos I like:

1. White cake mix/white chocolate pudding
2. German chocolate cake mix/chocolate pudding
3. Dark chocolate cake mix/cheesecake pudding
4. Fudge chocolate with chocolate chip cake mix/vanilla pudding (this is the combo I used in the cake pictured)

2. Use a cake syrup to keep your cake moist longer or to add another layer of flavoring

1. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup water. Warm over medium heat until the sugar dissolves - do not boil. 
2. Add 1 tsp flavoring (I used coconut in the dark chocolate cake - so good). 
3. Brush over cooled cake before frosting. 
4. The taste of the syrup is more pronounced the second day. I like to make my cakes 24 hours in advance so the flavors have time to mellow together.

3. Presentation. Presentation. Presentation

1. If you are going to go to all the work to make a cake taste good - you should take the extra steps to make it look good too. 
2. Cut off the tops of your layers. This evens out the cake and helps to keep it level when you stack.
3. Use the parts you cut off to decorate the sides. Crumble the tops to small pieces, frost the sides of the cake. While frosting is still moist, press the crumbs into the sides. It looks so professional and it's soooooo easy.

4. I like to do swirls or some other decoration on the top of the cake. But if you want to do random peaks that works as well. The important thing is to not skimp on the frosting. It's always better to have too much than too little.

Hope this helps in your decorating! Now, I'm going to go eat cake.