Dessert takes on three dimensions

March 12, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

CHICAGO — Carole Kaempf of Westmont, Ill., was planning ahead when she wrote to us requesting a recipe for a chocolate poundcake baked in a lamb mold — a set of two cake pans that creates a three-dimensional dessert.

We found more than the recipe, which appeared in Good Eating in 2000. We also found the 6-cup, two-piece cast-iron lamb mold that was used to bake it, hiding in the back of a test kitchen cupboard.

We also found several of these super-sturdy pans on eBay, but you don’t have to get into a bidding war to find one for Easter.

Gretchen Homan, test kitchen manager at Wilton Industries, said that the company’s 6-cup, two-piece aluminum Stand-Up Lamb Pan mold is available for $13 online at wilton.com.

CHOCOLATE EASTER LAMB CAKE

We used prepared frosting to decorate the cake; you also can make a batch of a favorite buttercream frosting. Because we had difficulty removing the cake from the two cast-iron molds we used, we rubbed oil in the interior of each before greasing and flouring — a strategy that did the trick. This recipe was developed in the Tribune test kitchen.

11‚Ñ4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1‚Ñ2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons plus 1 1‚Ñ2 teaspoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa

3 tablespoons each: boiling water, milk

1 1‚Ñ2 sticks ( 3‚Ñ4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1‚Ñ4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla buttercream frosting, sweetened flaked coconut, jelly beans

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Whisk together cocoa, boiling water and milk; set aside.

Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition until mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Beat in the reserved cocoa-milk mixture and vanilla. Lower the mixer to low speed; add the flour mixture gradually, mixing just until combined.

Coat the interior of each half of the lamb mold with vegetable oil; let sit 5 minutes. Remove excess oil with a paper towel; grease and flour both interiors. Place the front half of the lamb mold face-down on a baking sheet. Pour batter to within 1‚Ñ4 inch of rim. Place back half of mold on top. Bake 40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven; turn the mold face side up. Return to the oven; bake until a tester tests clean, about 20 minutes.

Cool on wire rack 5 minutes; remove the front half of mold. Cool 10 minutes. Turn out the cake, supporting it with your hand and turning it face-side-up onto a wire rack. Cool completely before icing with frosting, using the frosting to cover any flaws in the cake.

Yield: 12 servings

Nutrition information per serving: 247 calories, 46 percent of calories from fat, 13 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 83 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, 148 mg sodium, 1 g fiber