One of my favorite types of recipes is the kind where people look at what you made and immediately ask, “How did you do that?”
That was the case with this week’s recipe, which I baked for a St. Patrick’s Day-themed get together we had. I made a variety of Irish dishes (which I will be sharing with you over the next few weeks), but this simple cake, which featured bright green shamrocks in the middle of each slice, ended up being quite the conversation piece as people tried to figure out how I implanted the image into the cake.
The good news is, it was really easy, and while I created my version for St. Patty’s, you can do the exact same thing for any holiday or get-together. All you need is some food coloring and the right size of cookie cutter to make it happen.
This recipe originally appeared in “Taste of Home,” contributed by Angela Lively. You can find it on their website at https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/shamrock-cutout-pound-cake. I refined the directions and added extra extract in my version. I also left out adding a glaze to the cake.
Surprise Cutout Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2, 16- ounce packages of pound cake mix
- all ingredients called for on the pound cake mix box
- food coloring whatever shade you want
- 2 teaspoons peppermint, vanilla, almond, or etc. extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to whatever temperature the pound cake package calls for.
- Grease a nine-by-five-inch loaf pan (regardless of what size your final cake will be).
- Follow the package directions on one of the boxes of pound cake mix to prepare the batter. Beat in food coloring until you get to your desired shade, along with two teaspoons of flavor extract. (I used peppermint to go with my shamrock design. You can also just skip it.)
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake according to the package instructions.
- Once the cake is done, let it cool completely and remove it from the pan.
- Choose a cookie cutter that is just barely shorter when standing on its edge than the pan you want to use for your finished cake. For example, I baked my final cakes in a mini loaf pan, so I ended up using a small, one-inch cutter. If you wanted to use a nine-by-13-inch loaf pan, you’d probably use a two- to three-inch tall cookie cutter.
- Slice the pound cake into about one-inch slices. Using your cookie cutter, carefully cut out one or multiple shapes from each slice, putting any scraps to the side for another use (or just snacking; I’m not judging you).
- Preheat the oven to whatever temperature the pound cake package calls for.
- Prep your baking pan by greasing it. Prepare the second pound cake mix according to the package directions, and pour just a bit into the bottom of your prepared pan. Place the cutout shapes, back to back to back, in a line down the center of your prepared pan.
- Finish off the cake by carefully pouring the rest of the batter around the shapes, being sure to coat them to hide them from view.
- Bake according to package directions.
- Once the cake is cooled, remove it from the pan and slice it to reveal your surprise shapes. Store in an airtight container.
You could make this in any of the many baking vessels listed on the back of your pound cake mix—from a loaf pan to a bundt cake to mini loaves. The mini loaves were nice for our snack spread so that I could keep everything on the table as finger foods.
Also, the pop of peppermint was really nice in this cake. I could see vanilla, almond or even orange or cherry extracts being really yummy, too.
Baking for holidays and special events is always a fun way to try out new recipes like this that give a cool visual for guests. But now that I revealed this particular secret, I guess I’ll have to find a new one for next time.
This piece first appeared in print on March 30, 2023.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
