In my cake post earlier this week, I forgot to address another moment of culinary near-failure. I was about to begin the Magnolia Bakery recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting when I realized, “Oh crap, you have nothing even close to a double boiler.” The recipe calls for 9 oz of chocolate melted in a double boiler and then cooled before being mixed in with the butter, sugar, etc.
I own only one metal bowl, so I filled my smallest saucepan with water, placed the bowl in it, and poured in the chocolate. I used an oven mitt to hold the bowl when I stirred, protecting me from hot metal and boiling water.
Next kitchen investment: a set of glass bowls.
I don’t have a double boiler either, but I usually use a small sauce pan and a pyrex glass bowl. It works well. Suffice it to say, you can usually melt chocolate in the micro too…blasphemy i know, but its true. Although, i find it overcooks and turns into a blob if i use the micro. that is a mega bummer about your cake btw. I made a ridiculous cake for dietl family octoberfest…it was a blackforest cake. the layers did not bake up much, so it was a very very short 4 layer cake. All in all it had roughly a 1/2 cup of cherry brandy in its component parts–either soaked into the layers, or in the cherry filling. the under-21s were not allowed to eat it, and mr. dietl gave it out as shots later in the evening. I also had a ridiculously stupid mix up where i mixed the frosting w/ the makings for the whipped cream topping because i can’t read directions. You are not alone in your cake baking struggles!