Stacey's Chocolate Double Layer Cake

Submitted by Stacey Hutchings 

When I tell people I use store bought mixes and frosting to make my Chocolate Double Layer Cake, some come back later and ask why their cake didn't turn out like mine.  Well, I have no idea.  But when my daughter came back with the same question, I tried to figure out what I might be doing differently.  So here are my tips for a great Chocolate Double Layer Cake:

- Use Betty Crocker Butter Recipe Chocolate Cake Mix* made according to package directions.
- Use real butter.
- Use extra large eggs, lightly beaten.
- Butter and flour the pans.
- Mix the batter by hand.  Do not over mix.
- Bang and spin the pans.**
- Cool baked cakes in pans on a cooling rack for exactly 10 minutes, then turn pans upside down onto rack to remove the cakes from the pans and let them cool completely.
- Frost with 2 entire cans of Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Classic Chocolate Frosting.
- Put about a teaspoon of frosting on the serving platter to act as glue.
- Place the first layer of cake on the serving platter right side up.
- Put a thick layer of frosting on the top of the cake, not quite to the edge.  Put the cake in the fridge for awhile to let the frosting set.  This makes it so the frosting won't ooze out when you put the second layer on top.
- Put the second layer of cake on upside down (the curved top down and the flat bottom on top).
- Put a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake, making sure to fill in any space between the two layers.  Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
- Use the remaining frosting to cover the cake.
- and most importantly ...  SERVE COLD!  Store the cake in the refrigerator until serving  (at least one hour).

*Sometimes I can't find this cake mix, so I just use any chocolate cake mix, but substitute the vegetable oil for fresh, extra-light olive oil.

**Lift the pans about an inch off the counter and drop.  You will see bubbles rise and pop.  Do this several times.  Spinning creates a hollow in the center of the cake.  These techniques give the cake a nicely rounded, rather than humped and sometimes cracked, top.

I also found Pilsbury's Secrets to Successful Cakes.  If you are still having troubles with your cakes, try browsing their ideas.