How To Turn Broken Cake Pieces Into A Fun Snack, According To A Baker

Making the perfect homemade cake is no easy feat and it's not hard to mess up along the way and end up with a broken cake. There are a few common cake mistakes that can, unfortunately, lead to a failed effort, such as not greasing the pan well enough, which then makes it difficult to get the cake out in one piece. Or, if the oven temperature is hotter than it should be, that may affect the cake's structure. Even not mixing the batter well enough can lead to pockets in the mixture that ultimately become weak spots in the finished cake. 

Whatever the case, there's no need to panic if this happens because you can pivot and use the cake in a different way — in fact, even professional bakers do this. Anna Gordon, the founder and co-owner of a Brooklyn bakery called The Good Batch, told Tasting Table that she simply turns any cake that breaks into a fun snack. She says, "In the bakery, any leftover bits of vanilla or chocolate sponge cake immediately becomes a snack for the team, garnished with a side of warm ganache for dipping or buttercream for schmearing."

This trick works with any type of cake, not just sponge cake. You can cut the broken cake into small squares, then stick toothpicks in them to serve, accompanied by delicious dip options. The cake bites will look so good that no one will even suspect that they came from a broken cake.

Once you've decided to use the cake pieces for a fun snack, you get to decide which dip you'd like to pair it with — and there are countless delicious cake and dip combos. For example, as Anna Gordon mentioned, ganache (such as Tasting Table recipe developer Jennine Rye's muscovado chocolate ganache) makes for a delicious dip. You can pair this with a chocolate cake, of course, for a double chocolate dream, but it also works with classic pound cake or white cake, both of which are simple enough in taste to really let the ganache shine.

You can also use frosting as a dip for your cake pieces. Classic flavors such as vanilla buttercream and rich chocolate frosting work well, as do more unique flavors like peanut butter frosting. Some fun combinations with these frostings include red velvet cake dipped in vanilla buttercream, raspberry coconut cake dipped in chocolate frosting, and chocolate cake dipped in peanut butter frosting. 

And if you don't want to make the frosting, you can use ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen for dips, such as Nutella or even peanut butter on its own, both of which are great pairings for classic cake flavors. Another delicious option for a dip is your favorite type of jam, either store-bought or homemade. For example, you can pair vanilla blackberry jam with vanilla cake or pair strawberry hibiscus jam with chocolate cake.