Can I serve this cake?

[wineapotamus]

I offered to make my friends sons birthday cake for his 4th birthday party on Saturday. I have made the chocolate cake in question 3 times before with no problems. This time I took it out after two hours, as per recipe, and as top was very crusty indicating it had been in a bit too long! It dipped in the middle but I thought I'd just stick some extra buttercream in. Anyway, i cut the top off, and the middle bit seems not quite cooked, not raw but more like brownie insides. I've frozen it, but was going to buy a shop one to say sorry and ditch the homemade cake. Now I can't find any chocolate cakes with white icing on ready for her to decorate. Questions are: can I serve the homemade cake? Will I poison legions of 4 year olds? Where can I get a plain non fruit white iced cake? Aargh this is well stressful innit x

Try a bakery - or eat that one and make another. 2 hours is a long time in the oven though.

Good shout on the bakery but need to go out this evening and try and sort it. I'm guessing you're saying no to the already made cake. I didn't ever cut the tops off the other cakes so not sure if they were like this too in the middle? I really want to just ice this one, but am thinking its a no go? Waaaaah!

Can you not scoop out the uncooked bit and fill it with smarties or choc buttons/maltesers?

Another good idea. It won't cut into slices then though? Anyone think it would be OK to serve it? What would happen? X

Microwave it? Then ice it.

Disclaimer: I CANNOT bake.

The point is that when you cut it the sweets sort of tumble out like a surprise

X post!

I was going to suggest what Costa has - pinata cakes are all the rage right now, cut out the soft bit and serve it with ice cream and fill the gap with sweets.

If it's too fudgy and chocolatey chances are the 4 year olds won't like it and they can be outspoken little buggers.
Save it for you and buy a ready made one from the supermarket.

Ocado do a plain cake ready for decorating if that's any good

www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Decorate-Your-Own-Plain-Iced-Square-Cake-16-Servings-Waitrose/288025011?from=search&tags=%7C20000&param=plain+cake&parentContainer=SEARCHplain+cake_SHELFVIEW

I wouldn't serve yours to children, there's uncooked, frozen then defrosted eggs. Not sure if they are OK but I wouldn't risk it....

and keep in mind - most people eat raw cake batter at some point in their life. I know people that make it to eat without baking it. So it being a little soft shouldn't cause any harm though it would be difficult to ice.

Betty Crocker does a really good packet devil's food cake that's foolproof. There's ready-made vanilla buttercream icing which is nice although maybe you want to use fondant. I'm also not a baker though!

You're right, you're right, I know you're right. That ocado cake looks good but needs to be chocolate and to serve about twenty. I just want to throw money at it and have the problem disappear! I might try the smarties in the middle idea...it's a good one! X

Costco is your saviour if you have one local and are a member!

The supermarkets do plain white iced sponge&jam cakes.

Is your oven well? Sounds like ours when it was dying.

Microwaving might not be a good idea. I tried that with some undercooked Panettone, set on 2 mins, and filled the kitchen at work with smoke and set the smoke alarm off. It took a couple of weeks to get rid of the acrid smell of smoke from the surrounding rooms!

Did you have your oven on a defrost or slow cooker setting? Cakes take about 30 minutes... 2 hours is insane!

Please don't serve any part of the cake, it's one thing to eat cold batter but a totally different story eating lukewarm, partially cooked egg.

When are you to deliver it? I have made this chocolate cake twice now- just toss it all in the bowl together, mix it and bake it. It was very fast and my children enjoyed it. If you have no buttermilk just use milk with a dash of lemon juice and leave it to sit for a few minutes before you toss it in.

fast cake

Do you have time to make another cake? this one is unbelievably easy (no creaming or anything) and really nice. Just cover it in white icing rather than ganache if that's what you want to do. You can put buttercream in the middle instead of ganache too (but the ganache is much nicer ).

I wouldn't serve the existing cake; raw eggs and all that, can be a bit of a stomach-turner for kids. Not least because many kids have sensitivities they later grow out of, particularly to egg as cooked egg is often tolerable but raw eggs means VOMIT!

Those eggs can't be raw after a couple of hours in the oven, surely?

You could maybe try the cake if it was your own party, but as it's for a friend, I wouldn't. She'll be blamed if it makes everyone ill and it sounds like it's gone badly wrong if it was cooked for two hours and still isn't cooked. I presume the kids just wouldn't eat it, but you never know.

The bakery suggestion is a good one, or ordering the best that you can find from a supermarket. Or starting again with a better recipe? Not sure how much I'd trust your oven, though!

Second that cake StepAway I literally just made it in about an hour OP and it's delicious.

Id just start again and make another.

Make smaller cakes and layer them to avoid the issue recurring.