Can I broil a box cake in the oven? HELP!

Question

My oven has recently broken, it turns on but does not heat. On the other hand, my broiler works just fine and I've been able to cook peach cobbler and peach bread, though that calls for a different recipe. Of course. it's a pandemic and I'm unable to get the oven fixed right now, I will be making a 4 tier chocolate box cake for my friends birthday in a square 8x8" pan and I really don't want to mess it up, is there any possible way to figure out how long to bake a cake in the oven on the low broiler setting, should i just check it every 15 minutes?
Thank you in advance

chacha21 · Answer

That was before i put the top layer of chocolate cake on!

chacha21 · Answer

Hey, it actually came out great. Took a bit longer to cook even but i set the oven to low broil, covered the top rack with foil and poked holes in the foil so the heat doesnt touch it directly, periodically I rotated the cake pan and the cake was very good

Alli3arl · Answer

Just wanted to know how you cooked peach cobbler in the broiler? Thank you

chacha21 · Answer

Thanks, I'm for sure side eyeing the microwave only because i do need the cake to be firm. But, I have thought about using the bottom rack but thanks for the tip on covering the middle rack, it seems im gonna have to try a test cast first.

chacha21 · Answer

Thank you, I actually haven't thought about that method at all. I will look into it and see if the options are good for me!!

Nancy · Answer

Chacazi - first it's wonderful you're marking your friends birthday in this pandemic.
BakerBren has given some suggestions for how to broil a cake.
But I (still) fear the results because of the top down broiler heating.
There is an established & tested method of baking a cake using a stovetop.
It's really a steaming method, and needs a lidded frypan or saucepan.
Many recipes out there....see if they correspond to your box mix, or need a little adjustment.
Good luck.

BakerBren · Answer

Broilers cook via radiation, so the key to avoid burning your cake is to place a heat shield between the broiler element and the cake. This assumes your oven has a broiler element in the top--not a separate broiler drawer (that won't work). Place the cake on a lower rack far away from the broiler and another rack halfway between the cake and broiler. On that empty rack, place a heat shield such as an aluminum sheet pan (not non-stick coated or it could burn!). A simple sheet of aluminum foil could work as well. To work, the heat shield only needs to be large enough to cast a shadow over the cake from the broiler.
Alternately, you can microwave cake batter just fine. I wouldn't recommend doing it all in one 8x8 pan at once, but rather splitting it into 2-3 smaller round ramekins, mugs, or bowls. If you have a microwaveable square container you can use that. Look for time recommendations in a Google search, but 2-3minutes usually does it per cake for me. Layering and frosting hide the imperfections. Good luck!

Can I broil a box cake in the oven? HELP!

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