Turn cake fails into tasty treats

As any baker knows, sometimes things do not go to plan. There are myriad ways that cake baking can go sideways: parts of them stick in the pan, they bake unevenly, the center collapses, and so on. But just because things go awry that is no reason to toss the results in the bin. As Americas Test Kitchen explains, you can salvage most ruined cakes and repurpose them into a delicious product.

First, if your cake comes apart in the pan, you can take the remains and make a trifle. Sure, neat overlapping squares are prettier, but jagged pieces will taste just as good. Another use for stuck cakes or those that are overbaked is to make cake pops. Since you are adding liquid you won’t notice if they stayed in the oven a few minutes too long.

You can also take cake scraps and crumble them over or into ice cream to add flavor and texture. One way I turn lemons into lemonade when it comes to cake failures is a tip I picked up from Jacques Pépin’s Sweet Simplicity. Pop leftover cake or cake scraps into a food processor, add a bit of butter, and make a crumble topping. (You can also use stale croissants or muffins, but you’ll need to add a bit of sugar.) Place a single layer of frozen berries (or other fruit) into a shallow baking dish, top with the crumbles, and bake until the berries are bubbling and the top is browned for a super-easy fruit crisp. Top with a dollop of whipped cream or sour cream and you have a back pocket dessert you can pull out for unexpected guests or those times when you want something sweet but don’t want to spend a lot of time baking. If I am making a layer cake and need to trim off any domes, I throw the trimmings into a freezer-safe container just for this use.