I tend not to buy things I’ll use just once every year or two so even though I’ve wanted to make a dreidel cake, the special pan stopped me. Then I heard about a clever way to cut a standard 9″x13″ layer. It’s not difficult, although I assembled a slide show of the steps I took; you’ll do better than I did and I’d do better if I had time to make another, because there were two problems that stymied me.
One was what to put it on. When finished, it’s 17″ long and my only plate that large is a turkey platter which, of course, is not flat. I ended up covering heavy cardboard with aluminum foil, using a cutting board beneath to move it. The other was how to add a Hebrew dreidel letter. I am 100% illiterate in Hebrew, so writing it was not an option, not if I wanted it to be recognizable. Eventually I found patterns in a usable size in pdf format at Wilton. I made a parchment stencil which did not give me a clean letter with sprinkles so I sprinkled more on the rest of the cake and used cookie paint to highlight the letter.
Yes, I should have cut the stencil from poster board or stencil plastic, but traveling to a crafts store in a snowstorm was not an option. So I did what we all do at times and improvised. My first inclination, still the best now that I’ve made this cake, was to cut the letter from fondant and cover the cake with fondant too. Not everyone is comfortable with fondant, though, so I opted for frosting.
This is how to construct the cake and the slideshow should make up for any shortcomings in clarity. Bake a 9″x13″ layer, using whichever recipe you choose. Let cool completely. Transfer to a cutting board and measure up 4″ from one of the short ends. Place the ruler or a long knife across the cake as a placeholder for the 4″ mark.
Stick a toothpick in the center of that short end and then cut horizontally from the toothpick up to the placeholder. Repeat on the other side so you have two triangles of cake and a pointy end. Move the cake to your serving platter. Form a “handle” for the dreidel by putting the cut ends of the triangles together and placing it on top.
Slide strips of wax paper beneath all the edges of the cake and apply a crumb coat, a very thin layer of frosting, making sure to cover all of the cut edges. Chill for 30 minutes or until the crumb coat is set. You might be tempted to skip the crumb coat but your finished cake will look better if you apply one.
Decorate as desired, remove the wax paper and enjoy. Happy Hanukkah!
The slideshow follows after the jump. Hover beneath the photos to bring up the controls.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Cool! That’s the snazziest, tastiest looking dreidel I’ve ever seen, although you did mention that the icing is not edible. Well, it LOOKS good!
Love your site!
Happy Chanukah
xoxoxox Sunny xoxoxoxooxx
Thank you so much {{{Sunny}}} my friend. I do wish the piping and letter were better — at least it’s not backwards — and it’s so frustrating not to have time to make another because I never meant for this to be the final one. That’s why I opted for the economy of greaseball frosting. I had a graf about that in the post, but cut it for flow. So if anyone else needs a practice frosting, here’s what I wrote:
And here’s the rub. Since this was always intended to be a practice cake and never eaten, I went for economy and made a frosting I use when I want to refresh my piping skills, such as they are. It’’s not harmful but really not edible and here’s the recipe: Beat 10 ounces of Crisco until it’s smooth, add 1 pound of powdered sugar bit by bit, beat in 3 TB of water (more or less, depending on the consistency you want) and store airtight at room temperature for up to six months.
So it’s a fun centerpiece! Now I know for next time.
Happy Chanukah to you and all the Sunny family. Your kugel recipe is a popular post here this weekend. Ess!
Bravo! I like the sprinkles ~ do not be verklempt
Oy to the world! (groaner, I know; blame it on a T Shirt lol )
You can also put a text character into Word, enlarge it to the size you need with the pt option, print it centered on your paper, then cut out the parts with an exacto to make a stencil. I’ve done this with letters and the graphics in different dingbat fonts.
Happy Hanukkah!
Thanks, sage! Nah, I remained calm. I remembered that even Julia messed up from time to time and just dealt with it. She’d always say, “Nobody will ever know,” but of course I blab about my foulups.
The problem with the alphabet was finding an appropriate letter that was not part of a photograph, usually small and almost always a .jpg which gets jaggy when englarged. But as the Poet said, “All’s well that ends well.”
I am so totally stealing Oy to the World! Love it! Hee!