Lunch Box Cakes

Instructions

Chocolate Cake Layers

1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Grease and line two, six-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray or homemade cake release. If you want to use an 8-inch round cake pan, make one cake layer.
2. Sift or whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, dark cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt) into a large bowl.
3. Pour in the hot water, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla into a separate bowl and whisk together until fully incorporated.
4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until they're incorporated into the batter.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for about 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Bake time can vary quite a bit based on your oven, so keep an eye on the cake once it's been in the oven for 25 minutes.
6. Remove the cake layers from the oven and let them cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then flip them onto wire racks to finish cooling.
7. Once cooled, use a serrated knife to cut the cake layers horizontally, creating a total of four thin cake layers. This recipe makes 2, 6-inch cakes. If you want to make one taller 6-inch cake, you don't need to torte your cake layers. If you're making these in advance, wrap and freeze them at this point.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1. This recipe makes a sweet American buttercream frosting. If you don't like sweet frosting, I recommend making a half batch of my Swiss meringue buttercream or using a half batch of my Russian buttercream.
2. Beat the butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment until smooth. 
3. Add in the vanilla extract and salt. Mix on low until the ingredients are fully incorporated.
4. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar. Half way through, add in the heavy cream to make the frosting easier to mix.
5. Mix on a low speed until the ingredients are fully incorporated and the desired consistency is reached.
6. Cover the frosting with plastic wrap to prevent crusting and set aside.

Assembling these Lunch Box Cakes

1. Stack and frost the cake layers on a square sheet of parchment paper that is 1 inch larger than your box (i.e. 9 inch parchment square for an 8-inch box). I also like to tape the parchment paper to a cake board to make the cake easier to move in and out of the freezer and keep the sheet in place.
2. Spread an even layer of vanilla buttercream on top of the cake layer with an offset spatula.
3. Stack the next cake layer on top and cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Smooth the frosting using a bench scraper and/or small offset spatula.
4. Chill the cake again in the fridge (20 minutes) or in the freezer (10 minutes) until the frosting is firm to the touch.
5. Cover the cake with a thicker layer of vanilla buttercream and smooth using a bench scraper and/or small offset spatula. Chill the cake again in the fridge (20 minutes) or in the freezer (10 minutes) until the frosting is firm to the touch. This will make it much easier to place in its box.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 with the second set of cake layers.
7. Carefully lift both cakes off the cake boards using the parchment paper and place them inside the containers. Color the remaining buttercream using gel food coloring in whatever color scheme you'd like and place in small piping bags.
8. Use a toothpick or scribe to sketch out your message on top of the cake. This helps ensure your letters are centered and evenly spaced. Then use buttercream to pipe the cute message on top of the cake and decorate the border with the remaining buttercream and enjoy!