CRAZY CANDY CANE CAKE

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Ready to make a cake that will have your friends and family racing back for more? Totally Instagram ready, the Crazy Candy Cane Cake from the HOLIDAY JUBILEE retro cookbook will have everyone smiling. And eating. 

GET THIS

3 boxes white cake mix, mixed according to box instructions

1 large bottle red food coloring

1 large bottle white food coloring

1 large bottle turquoise food coloring

Peppermint extract to taste

5 tubs white frosting

Small and large candy canes

Red, white, and green spice drops

Peppermint candies

GET BUSY

Divide batter into two bowls and stir in peppermint extract to taste. Generously add red food coloring to one and white food coloring to the other. (Using red velvet cake batter just won’t do, it’s simply not bright enough.) Fill plastic squeeze bottles with batter. Spray 3 cake pans with PAM. Line bottom of cake pans with no-stick baking paper. Flour sides of pans.

To create the candy cane effect, squeeze in the red and white batter, alternating in concentric circles until pan is about 3/4 full. Bake cakes according to box instructions.  

FROSTING and FILLING

Stir turquoise food coloring into frosting until color is consistent. Put several candy canes in a double-zip plastic bag and gently crack with a mallet until they are broken into small pieces and all your holiday aggressions are out. Sift to get rid of the teeny-tiny broken bits. Stack each layer with a generous spread of frosting sprinkled and topped with candy cane bits. Frost and refrigerate.

SHOWTIME

To increase the chances that your candy cane cake will collapse during the party, decorate with candy canes, peppermints, and spice drops just before your guests arrive. Let them oooh and aaah over it. Then let gravity do its thing—hopefully within an hour or so, much to their devilish delight, they’ll witness the cake crack, fail, and fall. Serve the collapsed cake right away with holiday cheer and watch it get gobbled up like it was the last cake on the planet! By the way, it’s totally fine if your crazy candy cane cake doesn’t collapse—it’ll still be the life of the party.  

RECIPE FROM HOLIDAY JUBILEE

BY CHARLES PHOENIX