Treasure Map Cake for Finn's 5th Birthday!

When my friend Kim asked if I could make a treasure map cake for her son Finn's 5th birthday party, I was excited. I don't know what it is about oceans, islands, treasures, and a child's imagination (and my own!) but the whole concept makes me happy! I've made a treasure chest cake for my grandson Henry, and a pirate ship cake for his brother Pete, so it's kind of a theme with me for little kids. It was a joy to bake Finn's cake. In the interest of full disclosure, I searched the Web for photos, and found this cake I loved from Tina's Sugar Shack, and used it as my inspiration. Here's a step-by-step of the process, in photos:

"Black and White" marble cake

Butter Cream

A blank canvas

Desert island and the sea!

Having fun creating the scene!

Sailing Ship and Pirate Point

Skull and Crossbones 

That's one big fish!

Dead Man's Rock

Cooper's Cave
(Cooper is Finn's little brother!)

X marks the spot!

Happy, Happy 5th Birthday, Finn!!!

Yellow Cake with Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting

The cake I made for Katie's birthday yesterday just might be the very best tasting cake I've ever made.  It was a classic yellow birthday cake, festively frosted in chocolate and decorated with colorful sprinkles.  The candles around the edge just invited "Happy Birthday" which Henry started singing before everyone was ready (he's four) and he blew out the candles before his mom, aka the birthday girl, or little brother Pete ever had a chance!  We re-lit one candle for Pete, since he'd been practicing blowing out candles all day, even at pictures of birthday cakes on my phone (he's two). 

So, the 2-layer yellow cake, in 8-inch rounds, was just sitting there and I was wondering just exactly what frosting would go best.  You can go in so many directions with a yellow cake.  I searched some trusted sites on the computer to find a sour-cream chocolate frosting recipe, and I found a few and adapted them to come up with my own.  First of all, a standard frosting recipe for an 8-inch round cake does NOT make enough for my needs.  I'm all into deep swirls and abundant garnishes, and so almost always double a frosting recipe in order to have more than enough (never a problem to have too much frosting, is it?). 

Katie's birthday!

Here's my recipe, inspired by many but enough my own to claim it:

YELLOW PARTY CAKE
oven - 350 degrees F
Spray and line 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.  Spray parchment paper.

1 cup soft, unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs plus 2 extra egg yolks, also at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract. 
1 cup buttermilk (or regular milk "soured" with 1 tbsp. vinegar. let sit 5 minutes)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
few drops yellow food coloring (if desired)

Cream butter until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and cream for a long time, about 5 minutes.  Scrape bowl a few times.  Add eggs and then egg yolks, one at a time, and beat well after each addition.  Add vanilla and a few drops of yellow food coloring (optional).

In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add alternately with the buttermilk.  Mix well until all dry particles are incorporated.

Divide batter between prepared pans but don't fill beyond 3/4 full.  If you have extra batter, make a few cupcakes after the layers come out of the oven (20 minutes for cupcakes).

Bake layers for 30-35 minutes OR (important) until cake tests done when toothpick is inserted or it bounces back when lightly pressed in the center.

Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Turn out of pans and continue to cool completely on wire rack.  Cool cake for a good few hours or overnight to be sure it's settled and ready to frost.  (If you frost a cake too soon after baking, it's too tender and may break.)

Peel parchment paper off layers before frosting.

SOUR CREAM CHOCOLATE FROSTING
inspired by a recipe from allrecipes.com

6 oz. chocolate chips (semi/dark/milk - whatever you prefer) melted with 1/2 cup butter and 6 tablespoons cocoa (I used Ghiradelli). 
Cool until it reaches room temperature but don't let it solidify.  Transfer chocolate mixture to large mixing bowl.
To this, add 1 cup sour cream, 2 tsps. vanilla extract, and a dash of salt.  Combine thoroughly.  Slowly beat in enough confectioners sugar until it looks just right.  I used 5-6 cups.  I didn't sift it, but that wouldn't hurt.  Mine incorporated just fine, no lumps.

Makes more frosting than you'll need.  :)

Happy Birthday Unc Joe!

Irresistible!

When I got home from work today,  Henry came upstairs to help me finish his Uncle Joe's birthday cake, and to bring him a birthday card that he and Pete had scribbled on signed.  Adorable.  Henry was very, very helpful when it came to making the Hershey chocolate frosting.  He poured in the vanilla and then the milk as we mixed up a batch of beautiful fudge-like frosting.  He was happy to get the somewhat loaded beater and to watch as I frosted the cake, Joe's favorite, the Hershey chocolate cake recipe on the back of the cocoa tin, always my old reliable.  I baked it last night and had intended to get up early to frost it, but that didn't happen!  (Seems I value sleep so much more in the morning than I expect to when I make that running list of errands to do upon waking up.)

Henry  must have said "Happy Birthday Unc Joe" forty-seven times in a half-hour, each time with more sincerity and enthusiasm than the last.  When we were done frosting and decorating with sprinkles, Unc Joe said, "Let's cut it."  We hadn't even had dinner, so dinner tonight was birthday cake and milk!  Pete joined in the fun, and when Henry walked away from his cake, baby brother managed to harness both plates and was working two servings at a time.

Henry and Peter love their Uncle Joe, and I know the feeling is mutual. It's a special thing...

Everyone loves a birthday cake (especially Pete!)...

April Birthdays and Cake!

My kitchen is going to be cake city over the next few days.  Just out of the oven is a marble cake for my friend Joanne's father, who's celebrating his 90th birthday this weekend with his family and friends.  Joanne provided a photo of her dad and his dog and had it duplicated in sugar.  It will be the central decoration on the top of the cake, with some embellishment and a message to complete this gift to her father.  What a milestone -  90 years! - so many of us never have the opportunity to share that special birthday with our parents.  I know my siblings and I didn't get to, so I very much appreciate the significance of this celebration. 

As that cake came out of the oven, in went two layers of the Hershey's chocolate cake recipe that will be my son Joe's birthday cake.  It's hard to believe that he's 36.  It seems like yesterday when he was born, on what was one of the happiest days of my then very young life.  I had just turned 22, and was more than ready to embrace motherhood and all that goes with it.  I just didn't know then the still-to-unfold "all that goes with it" and it's been an education for me and for all of my children along the way.  In many ways, we grew up together, and I only hope that my learning curve wasn't too much of an impediment to my kids realizing their own hopes and dreams.  The one thing I can guarantee to all my children is that I couldn't love them more, no matter what courses their lives take, or what happens along the way.  I think every mom, perhaps every parent, knows what I'm talking about.

After Joe's cake comes out of the oven, I'll clean up my kitchen and get ready for THE big cake of the weekend:  Henry's 4th birthday cake!  He wants a Star Wars cake, and I have exciting ideas for how that will come together.  He's having a kids party with his nursery school classmates this Saturday morning (just a small little shindig) and then Sunday evening the grandparents will have dinner together and celebrate.  His actual birthday is Monday.  Henry's had different ideas along the way about what he wanted for this birthday - months back it was a "Cars" cake, then a Dinosaur Train cake, and now he's firmly set on Star Wars (though he doesn't want to watch the movies, says they're too scary).  I'll bake Henry's cake tomorrow night and decorate it Saturday morning, just in time for his little friends to appear. 

April is an exceptionally busy birthday month in my family.  We just (last night) celebrated my sister Patsy's birthday with our usual sibling dinner at Red Lobster in Glens Falls. It was so much fun, and I loved every minute.  Earlier this month we celebrated my daughter Tricia's 30th birthday (she's named for her Aunt Patsy).  Today is my nephew Ben's birthday, tomorrow is Joe's, and Monday, Henry's.  My own grandfather, Valerian O'Farrell, was also born on this day, April 26, 1876.  He died long before his grandchildren were born, and I am sad that I never got to meet him.  Part of me feels as if I know him.  He was a very good writer (as was my Dad) and I like to think that my passion for writing is a direct connection to him. 

So, no more time for writing.  I have a kitchen to clean up so I can mess it up again!

Happy April birthday to all my family (and friends) who are celebrating this month.  I love you all!

Two Cakes, Two Celebrations

Thought I'd share the two cakes I made the last couple of days.  The first is a carrot cake I made for my boss, Mary Lou.  We had a small celebration in the office and found a little bit of time between two of her many meetings to sing "Happy Birthday" and wish Mary Lou well and a great year ahead.  She was very appreciative.  My co-worker Dean was Mary Lou's party planner, and came to me early on to see if I'd bake her a special cake, which I was happy to do.  Our office is great that way. Everyone is designated party planner for someone else, so no one person's birthday goes unacknowledged.  It's a special thing.

Here's Mary Lou's cake, which was a carrot spice cake with raisins and pineapple, and cream cheese frosting:

Mary Lou's Birthday Cake

The second cake I made was for my friend Anne's granddaughter, Breanna.  She's celebrating her 13th birthday with a slumber party and six of her close friends.  Anne sent me a photo of an "inspiration" cake that  Breanna liked, and I used it as just that, inspiration.  I always try to make someone else's design unique by incorporating my own touches, and I think it was successful.  This was a white/vanilla cake with butter cream frosting and cut-out fondant decorations.

Here's Breanna's cake:

Breanna's Birthday Cake

And, since I rarely give my oven a rest, right now I'm baking crumb cake muffins.  They've just come out of the oven, and they are pretty.

Today's crumb cake muffins -
hot out of the oven with a little sugar on top!

Photos:  my own

Yoshi Birthday Cake for Breanna

Last night I made a cake for my friend Anne's granddaughter, Breanna, who's celebrating her twelfth birthday by having a party tonight for seven of her friends.  Breanna had requested a Yoshi cake.  First, I had to learn just who or what Yoshi is.  Yoshi, it seems, is a cute little dinosaur from the Super Mario video game.  I checked him out and thought, "I can do this."  My son Jeff was visiting so I asked, "Want to help me get creative with fondant?" and, as usual, he cheerfully agreed.

The night before, I had baked two 8-inch rounds, which were ready for frosting.  Using my standard decorating buttercream, I tinted 3/4 of the batch a sky blue and left the rest white.  I evened the layers with a serrated knife, filled them with white frosting, and covered the cake in sky blue.



With the fondant, Jeff and I crafted clouds, stars, flowers, shrubs, a mushroom, a potted tulip, and, of course, Yoshi.  If you've never worked with fondant before, don't be intimidated.  Wilton makes a ready-to-use fondant, in white and also a variety of colors, that rolls out beautifully. (You can also make your own, if you are so inclined!).  Fondant can be formed like edible clay to craft all kinds of cute little figures.  We opted for Wilton's basic white fondant and colored it ourselves with gel food colorings (which can be a messy process and I suggest vinyl gloves), rolled it into clouds, shrubs, stars, and flowers, shaped with cookie cutters.  Then we shaped the fondant into a potted plant, a mushroom, and finally, the star of the show, Yoshi. 

This is Yoshi

Jeff and I had a lot of fun playing - I mean creating - last night.  I hope Breanna and her friends have as much fun deconstructing Yoshi as we did putting him together!