Birthday Weekend!

My little boy turned 1 this weekend, so, we had a small family party for him!  I, of course, baked my heart out the day prior, and here are the results:

The Smash Cake - Vanilla butter cake, covered in marshmallow fondant, with strawberry buttercream and fresh strawberry filling.  The 1 is made of a gumpaste/fondant mix and the decorations are marshmallow fondant.



Football Cupcakes! Vanilla butter cake with chocolate buttercream, and fondant footballs with royal icing accents.

The smash cake was so much fun to make! My son's favorite food right now is strawberries, so I made him a strawberry cake. I used my vanilla butter cake recipe, found here, in an earlier post.  The strawberry buttercream was a basic buttercream recipe with about 1/2 cup fresh, pureed strawberries added in.
 

Smash cake torted and filled with fresh strawberries and strawberry buttercream

Smash cake covered in a crumb coat of strawberry buttercream.

The football cupcakes are the same vanilla butter cake as the smash cake.  The chocolate buttercream is a basic buttercream recipe with approximately 1/4 cocoa powder (to taste) added. 

I think he liked it!

Everything all together for his birthday table!

This weekend was also my friend from work's mom's birthday, so she asked me to make a few things for her.  I was originally going to make red velvet petit fours ... I attempted these and the results were delicious, but hideously ugly =(  SO, her petit fours turned into red velvet cake balls (bon bons) covered in chocolate.  I will never attempt petit fours again, until I am much more experienced! They were a horrible experience; so bad, I am not even going to post the pictures. In addition to the cake balls, I sent my friend with a mini red velvet cake and some strawberry cupcakes:

The cupcakes are the same vanilla butter cake and strawberry buttercream I used for the smash cake.  The flowers are some I made in my decorating class and have been saving to use for something "pretty".

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Strawberry cupcake - vanilla buttercake with strawberry buttercream.  The purple and yellow flowers are gumpaste/fondant, the pink flowers are royal icing.



Some of my "left overs".  Chocolate covered red velvet bon bons, strawberry cupcakes, and a mini vanilla buttercake covered in chocolate buttercream.

 For the red velvet bon bons, I used my red velvet cake recipe, found in an earlier post, here.  I mushed up the cake and mixed it with some cream cheese buttercream frosting.  I then formed the mixture into ball shapes. I melted down some dark chocolate and white chocolate, and drizzled over the balls to achieve the look I was after.  I allowed the cake to show on the bottom, because I wanted to show the red velvet.  The ones pictured here are not the best ones, as I did not get a picture of the pretty ones I sent with my friend.  I have got to do better about keeping my camera handy!

I had so much fun this weekend!  I'm exhausted from being so busy, so I probably won't be baking again for a while, well, for at least a couple days.

Happy Baking!

Tuxedo Cake for Dad's 50th!

I believe that every special occasion deserves something fancy - so, what better than a Tuxedo Cake to celebrate my Daddy's 50th birthday!  This cake was very ambitious, and did not turn out "perfect", but it was scrumptious and had a personality of its own.

4 layers of dark chocolate cake, whipped cream frosting, chocolate ganache and buttercreram decorations ... whew!

All lit up and ready for the party!

I found the recipe for this cake here at The Baking Pan.  Because of the complexity of this cake, the only variation I made from this recipe was that I used two 8x3 round pans to make 4 layers instead of the 3 9x2 pans the recipe calls for.  Next time, I may go for the shorter cake, just for convenience. 

Tuxedo Cake


Ingredients:
Batter:
4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 cups water
4 large eggs

Whipped Cream Filling and Frosting:
4 cups chilled whipping (heavy) cream
1¼ cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar

Chocolate Glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
½ cup whipping (heavy) cream
¼ cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup ** I could not find any of this syrup in my local Publix.  I subbed 3 parts light Karo Syrup and 1 part Molasses.
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350o degrees F. Prepare three 9-inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.
Batter:
2.In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
3.In a small bowl, combine buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.
4.In a medium heavy saucepan combine butter, oil, and water. Heat over low heat until the butter is melted, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
5.Pour the butter mixture into the sugar mixture. Using an electric mixer on low speed, or a wire whisk, stir or whisk until combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly
6.Crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the eggs, and then add the eggs to the batter, stirring until thoroughly combined. Add the buttermilk mixture, stir until combined.
Bake:
7.Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Filling and Frosting:
8.In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream until soft mounds form; gradually add the powdered sugar, continue beating until thick and stiff. Tip: the cream will whip easier if the mixing bowl and beaters are first chilled; place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to whip the cream.
9.Place one cake layer on a cake plate. Using an offset spatula thickly spread some of the whipped cream over the top. Top with the remaining cake layers, coating the top of each with the whipped cream, and then covering the sides of the cake. Spread the cream as smooth as possible over the top and sides.
10.Refrigerate the cake at least one hour to stabilize the whipped cream before glazing.

Chocolate Glaze:
11.Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Set aside.
12.In a small heavy saucepan over medium low heat, heat the cream until it is hot and just beginning to steam. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is completely melted. Add Lyle’s Golden Syrup and vanilla, stirring until completely mixed.
13.Pour the chocolate mixture into a pitcher, or liquid measuring cup with a pouring spout and let chocolate glaze cool for 10 minutes. Do not let the glaze sit longer than 10 minutes because it will thicken and become difficult to pour over the cake.
14.Slowly pour the glaze over the cake. Cover the top of the cake entirely, letting some of the glaze drizzle down the sides, and allowing some of the whipped cream show through the drizzles around the side of the cake.
15.Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set and the whipped cream frosting is firm, at least one hour. Refrigerate Leftovers.
16.To serve, slice the cake with a long serrated knife, cleaning the knife between each slice.

The inside

I think Daddy liked it!

This was, by far, the hardest cake I have ever baked, but definitely the tastiest. I am so proud that it turned out well!  A smaller version of this cake is coming soon - it is the perfect balance of chocolate and light whipped cream.

Happy Baking!