I hate wasting food. Especially sweets full of expensive ingredients like butter and (very) nice cocoa. So when the chocolate frosting I'd prepared for these cupcakes -- a buttercream I've made and adored a dozen times before -- looked gritty (?!) after refrigeration, this gal weren't happy.
All stops were pulled to smooth things out. The poor frosting was heated up and cooled down, more than once. Then my poor faithful mixer was pushed to its breaking point trying to whip it into shape. And I cajoled it with some gentle hand mixing too, not underestimating the power of some personal tender lovin' care.
But days of failed attempts later, I just wanted to pull out my hair and dump the whole thing. Happily, inspiration struck. I realized that this buttercream made simply out of butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream was practically a chocolate cake waiting to happen. Gently, I stirred in 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of flour, and pinches of salt and baking powder. Twenty to twenty-five minutes in the oven at 350 degrees F made the magic happen.
So now I offer you my Upcycled Chocolate Cake, and ask what creative ways have you come up with to prevent good food from going to waste?
31 comments so far. What are your thoughts?
That's a good solution! Here's my disaster recovery story:
http://www.herbivoracious.com/2007/08/disaster-recove.html
Wow! How creative! I once made the most delicious Bundt cake out of waffles-batter! Click here to see --> http://parispastry.blogspot.com/2009/07/belgian-waffles-vanilla-bundt-cake.html
What a great idea - I think the only thing I have upcycled was some deformed cupcakes which I turned into trifle.
Thanks, Michael, Danielle, & Alicia! All your ideas are great. I just start a separate recipe file just for this category.
That is seriously inventive on your part. Way not not let anything go to waste! And what a delicious idea for chocolate cake...
You're so creative! I 've never thought making a cake out of frosting...cool!
Necessity is the mother of invention!
If it's about preventing savoury stuff from being wasted - it all goes into fried rice!
Sweet dishes are a little trickier I think.
A beautiful cake - you can see that it taste great :-0
Yes, I hate wasting too - thank goodness the buttercream didn't go to waste at all - in fact, this might look better than the original plan!
Wow! A clever use of poor chocolate that seized up. Kudos to you for finding a great way to make something spectacular from a mishap.
My favorite "upcycled" dish is bread pudding. Take your stale half baguette, cut into chunks, whip up an egg or two with milk or heavy cream, add a bit of sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, (and dried fruit if you have it) and mix it all up and bake until browned. Really, you could not find a more delicious dessert.
You are a genius! My hero!
What a wonderful idea - loved it!
That cake looks so good.
I love this story! I also hate hate hate to waste food. In my freezer I currently have a sheet of brownies I deemed too thin to use, but I just can't throw them away.
Maybe a chance to make cake truffles? I any case, your solution was something I never would've thought of =) And I'll probably need to use it one day, haha!
Hello!!
First off, so so happy to have found your blog!! Thank you for stopping by!
Second, the wood for my table.....it was just whatever home depot sells.....I'm assuming pine?? I am seriously a wood dummy! I tested out the stain on the ends of the boards (we cut them a bit shorter) to try out different strengths and see what I liked best.
The longer you soak the steel wool, the redder the stain will be (because it will rust). And our table was actually very grey....until we put the sealant on it......but we had to seal it. Still happy with the color though.
Best of luck!
I admire your creativity in coming up with a way to avoid waste, which I hate, hate, hate! I'm a regular lurker on a cooking forum and it kills me to read what a lot of them throw out just because it didn't come out perfect aesthetically but perfectly edible otherwise. Kudos to you and your cake looks yummy!
You're brilliant. I would have never thought of that, nor would I have persisted for days to figure it out. : ) Kudos to you!
Joanne - Thanks!
CarinE - You're too sweet :).
Jojo - I love fried rice and there's also a Chinese "dish" called heated rice that's basically a porridge of leftover rice and stirfries that I oddly adore.
Cooking Rookie - Aw thx!
Trissa - I'm not a huge buttercream fan, so I think cake is better too 8)
Carolyn Jung - Thank you!
Anonymous - I agree, bread pudding is a wonderful invention that is both scrumptious and great for using up stale bread.
Patricia - Hehe you are too sweet.
limelicious - mm brownies. cake truffles sound good, or maybe chopped up in some ice cream or even added to cheesecake batter.
Sheena - Thanks for answering so quickly! And that makes 2 wood dummies including the both of us hehe. I will definitely try your method.
Anonymous - I appreciate the compliment. When I was a waitress in college, I constantly cringed at how much food was needlessly wasted.
oneordinaryday - You're too kind :).
For me, chocolate cake anytime!
So creative!! Good for you!
These are immensely beautiful. So creative.
You are a genius to turn a frosting into a beautiful chocolate cake! Love it!
Lovely! The cake did come out very good!
Tigerfish - me too 8D
Koko - thanks, hun!
Soma - that's very sweet of you to say.
Ellie - aw thx. i just hopped over & saw your crack pie. ZOMG amazing!
Angie - xie xie, it was delicious.
You saved the day. Congrats on your successful conversion to cake!
what a great way to upcycle. this looks even yummier than normal cake :)
Some of the best recipes were from accidents!
El, noobcook, and Melissa - thanks!
Wow I am so very impressed with how you saved the chocolate icing!! I unfortunately am not so creative.
Brilliant! I might have to try this with some butter pecan crunch frosting I have sitting in the back of my fridge.
What an ingenious idea!
For the powered sugar, do you use a brand name or store bought? Powdered sugar made from sugar beets behaves differently than cane sugar, and if you are not buying a specifically cane sugar brand, you might be getting a mixture. Or, store brands can alternate, so what might work for several months will all of a sudden feel gritty when they switch from cane to beet.
Thanks for the tips, Amanda! I was using Domino powdered sugar, I believe. I think my cream might have gone sour.
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