Best Roast Turkey Dinner Cake Recipes

A SIMPLY PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.
• Remove the turkey neck and giblets, rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cavity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the softened butter, and season with salt and pepper. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
• Place turkey in the oven, and pour 2 cups turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 4 hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter, and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

SIDEWAYS TURKEY CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8-by-2-inch round baking pan with flour-based baking spray.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the water, granulated sugar, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Mix on low until combined.
• Divide the batter among 3 bowls. Tint one bowl with the red food color, one bowl with the orange and one with the yellow. Pour half of each color of batter alternately in the prepared baking pan, then continue with the remaining batter, alternating colors. Swirl the colors together using a skewer or butter knife. Bake the cake until the center springs back when pressed in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Using a serrated knife or cake leveler, level the cake and reserve the scraps. Cut the leveled cake layer in half.
• For the buttercream frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix on low speed until just combined. Increase the mixer speed and add the vanilla and milk or cream one tablespoon at a time until the mixture thins to piping consistency.
• Spread about 1/4 cup of the frosting on one half of the cut cake layer and top with the second half. Set aside.
• Crumble the cake scraps in a bowl using your fingers. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of frosting to the scraps and mix well using your hands. Place about 5 tablespoons of the cake mixture on a parchment-lined baking sheet and form it into a small baton shape with one rounded end for the turkey's head and neck. Refrigerate to chill, about 15 minutes. (The leftover cake mixture can be used for cake pops.)
• Fit a piping bag with a plain 1/2-inch round decorator piping tip. Fit 2 piping bags with large open star decorator piping tips. Fit 2 piping bags with large closed star decorator piping tips.
• Divide the remaining frosting into 5 separate bowls. Tint one bowl with the red food color, another bowl with the orange and another bowl with the yellow. Combine another bowl of frosting with the cocoa powder to create a pale tan color and mix the melted chocolate with the last bowl to create chocolate frosting.
• Transfer the red bowl of frosting to the piping bag fitted with the plain 1/2-inch round tip. Transfer the yellow and orange frostings into each of the piping bags fitted with the large open star tips. Transfer the light tan and chocolate frostings into each of the piping bags fitted with the large closed star tips.
• For the assembly: Dip the chilled head and neck piece in the melted chocolate chips and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet using 2 forks. Chill until firm, about 15 minutes. Reserve the leftover melted chocolate for later use.
• Using the piping bag filled with the red frosting, pipe 1-inch dots of frosting around the top rounded edge of the cake. Place the bowl of a spoon in the center of each dot and pull the frosting down toward the bottom flat edge of the cake.
• Using the piping bag filled with the tan frosting, pipe shells in a downward motion that overlap the red frosting layer. Use a spoon to remove some of the bottom edge of the shell row to make room for the next layer.
• Using the piping bag filled with the chocolate frosting, pipe shells in a downward motion that overlap the tan shell layer. Use a spoon to remove some of the bottom edges of the shell row to make room for the next layer.
• Using the piping bag filled with the yellow frosting, pipe shells in a downward motion that overlap the chocolate frosting layer, but do not remove any of the frosting using a spoon as with the previous rows.
• Using the piping bag filled with the orange frosting, pipe a final layer of shells at the bottom center of the cake. Remove the chocolate-covered cake piece from the refrigerator and place it in the middle center of the cake. Turn the cake upright so that it sits on its flat cut edge. Using the piping bag filled with chocolate frosting, pipe a shell border on the top edge of the cake so that the shell tips point to the unfrosted side. Using the piping bag filled with the orange frosting, pipe a row of shells that overlaps the row of chocolate frosting shells. Using the piping bag filled with yellow frosting, pipe a row of shells that overlaps the orange frosting. Finish the back of the cake by piping rows of shells using the tan frosting.
• Reheat the reserved melted chocolate if necessary. Dip the candy bead into the chocolate and adhere to the turkey's head. Cut the lemon chew in half so that you have 2 triangles. Use the back of a small knife to score a line onto one of the triangles, from the pointed triangle end to the cut edge. Use a small brush to cover the cut edge of the candy with melted chocolate and press onto the rounded edge of the chocolate-covered cake piece to form a beak.
• Cut a large teardrop-shaped piece from the fruit tape using kitchen-dedicated shears and peel away the backing. Adhere it to the candy chew with chocolate so that it falls behind the beak. Cut a smaller teardrop-shaped piece from the fruit tape and adhere with chocolate, so that it falls in front of the beak. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes.
• Place the gingersnaps on a baking sheet. Dip the backs of the candy corn pieces into the melted chocolate and arrange 3 on one side of each gingersnap. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Insert each cookie upright into the top of the cake so that the candy corn pieces are showing to the front of the turkey.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY 101

Steps:

• Rinse turkey with cool water, and dry with paper towels. Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature.
• Place rack on lowest level in oven. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine melted butter and white wine in a bowl. Fold a large piece of cheesecloth into quarters and cut it into a 17-inch, 4-layer square. Immerse cheesecloth in the butter and wine; let soak.
• Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack in a heavy metal roasting pan. If the turkey comes with a pop-up timer, remove it; an instant-read thermometer is a much more accurate indication of doneness. Fold wing tips under turkey. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper inside turkey. Fill large cavity and neck cavity loosely with as much stuffing as they hold comfortably; do not pack tightly. (Cook remaining stuffing in a buttered baking dish for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.) Tie legs together loosely with kitchen string (a bow will be easy to untie later). Fold neck flap under, and secure with toothpicks. Rub turkey with the softened butter, and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper.
• Lift cheesecloth out of liquid, and squeeze it slightly, leaving it very damp. Spread it evenly over the breast and about halfway down the sides of the turkey; it can cover some of the leg area. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Using a pastry brush, baste cheesecloth and exposed parts of turkey with butter and wine. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to cook for 2 1/2 more hours, basting every 30 minutes and watching pan juices; if the pan gets too full, spoon out juices, reserving them for gravy.
• After this third hour of cooking, carefully remove and discard cheesecloth. Turn roasting pan so that the breast is facing the back of the oven. Baste turkey with pan juices. If there are not enough juices, continue to use butter and wine. The skin gets fragile as it browns, so baste carefully. Cook 1 more hour, basting after 30 minutes.
• After this fourth hour of cooking, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. Do not poke into a bone. The temperature should reach 180 degrees (stuffing should be between 140 degrees and 160 degrees) and the turkey should be golden brown. The breast does not need to be checked for temperature. If legs are not yet fully cooked, baste turkey, return to oven, and cook another 20 to 30 minutes.
• When fully cooked, transfer turkey to a serving platter, and let rest for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, make the gravy. Pour all the pan juices into a glass measuring cup. Let stand until grease rises to the surface, about 10 minutes, then skim it off. Meanwhile, place roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup dry red or white wine, or water, to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the pan until liquid boils and all the crisp bits are unstuck from pan. Add giblet stock to pan. Stir well, and bring back to a boil. Cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the defatted pan juices, and cook over medium-high heat 10 minutes more. You will have about 2 1/2 cups of gravy. Season to taste, strain into a warm gravy boat, and serve with turkey.