Happy Birthday, Avengers style

There's a group of us '84 babies in our circle of friends. What can I say... it was the best year.

Friday, we celebrated another two '84 bday babies with a trip to Olive Garden. And I  made a cake that doesn't suck! Maybe I'm getting better after all.

Andrew is a big fan of The Avengers, so when I saw this guy on Pinterest I knew I had to give it a try.

I made DIY marshmallow fondant because I didn't want to drive all the way up north for the good stuff just to mess it up. It's a plain vanilla cake, but filled with oreo buttercream. But look! I actually covered it without too much frustration {pats self on back}

Ummm.... why have I never put oreos in my buttercream before? It was ah-mazing. I just made my favorite buttercream recipe and started chucking whole oreos into the stand mixer while it was a-whirlin'. I'm not sure I'll ever make normal buttercream again.

He looked a lot better before I moved him to the carrying case (that was a bad idea...should have built him on the carrying case, not on a cake stand. Live and learn...)

It was sinking in a bit (that top layer was heavy!) Hulk.... SMASHED.

And, of course, the handsome birthday boys, Andrew and David. Thanks for being older than me :)

Less-guilt chocolate cake

I love this cake. I am IN love with this cake. Seriously. Love it. It takes 5 minutes to prepare and 30 to bake. No frosting necessary. Oh, and did I mention that it's 100 calories a slice? That's right. Whole wheat flour, sub applesauce for oil and butter, and why not throw in some zucchini. And dark chocolate chips. Yup, it's glorious.

The recipe comes from Yammie's Noshery. Here's what you need:
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup applesauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased bundt pan and bake for 30 minutes. Yup, that's it. It's that easy. We topped ours with ice cream, but you could also do frosting (if you wanted) or a good dollop of nutella.

Smores birthday cake

Did you know Monday was Hans' birthday? Hope you called him. I think we can officially call him "late 20s" now, though he's still arguing "mid to late."

After spending far too many hours last year making his iPhone birthday cake, I decided I just wanted something tasty this year and didn't care too much how it looked.

Mission accomplished. Taste? Amazing. Incredible. Mouthwatering. Look? Eh. Who cares. It tastes good. Mostly the frosting. I'm not usually all about frosting - gimme the cake. But I wanted to stick my face in this marshmallow frosting.

For the crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 stick butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of salt

Combine all the ingredients until the crumbs aren't dry anymore. Press the mixture into two buttered cake pans (8" or 9")

For the cake:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk (I used skim and that worked)
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup melted butter
4 tablespoons sour cream

Beat together eggs and sugar. Add in vanilla, milk, cream and butter. Beat well. Add in the sour cream. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add all at once to the wet ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Split evenly between the two cake pans (on top of the graham mixture).

Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

Fill with marshmallow frosting and more graham cracker crumbs.

(Both of the above loosely adapted from How Sweet it Is)

For the glorious frosting:
8 egg whites
2 cups sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Get a mixing bowl. Set it on top of a small pot with water in it, and put both on the stove. With the water in the pot simmering, stir the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar together. Heat until the combination is warm and the sugar dissolved. Transfer the mixing bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium for 5-7 minutes or until stiff peaks start to form. Stir in the vanilla. Use immediately.

More cake pics! (and WASC recipe)

Because I forgot to take some of the inside and my co-host graciously supplied these.

Pretty, no?

The recipe is called WASC (white almond sour cream cake) and I've seen it all over these cake boards I frequent, so I had to give it a try. It's good and sturdy for stacking and holding up fondant, but yet still moist. And it bakes lovely - not very crumbly, very even. Taste is pretty basic, maybe a touch on the sweet side. Hans says I used too much almond. Could be. I filled with a basic buttercream but I think it would have tasted even better with raspberry or lemon curd filling.

What you need:
2 boxes white cake mix (I think I used Betty Crocker, but I've heard Duncan Hines is good)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 whole eggs
2 2/3 cups water
4 T. vegetable oil
2 cups sour cream
1 T. vanilla flavor
1 T. almond extract

In a stand mixer (or large bowl if you're hand mixing), combine the eggs, water, oil, sour cream, vanilla and almond. In a separate bowl, mix together the cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two additions, blending well in between. Beat on medium speed for two minutes.

Decide how many layers you want. I wanted five. I ended up scrapping one of the layers cuz it was just too tall. So let's say four. Divide the batter evenly between four bowls. Add the same color food coloring to each of the bowls, but increase the amount for the bowls. I left one undyed, used one drop, two and four (I think - it was late!).

In buttered and floured (or parchment-lined) pans, bake at 300 for about 20 minutes, then rotate once and increase temp. to 325 for another 20 minutes (based on 6" pans). Try not to open the oven too soon or the middle will cave in.

This recipe made a LOT of cake for me - nine 6" layers (that were really thick!) I've heard that it makes four 8" rounds or two 9"x13", but I haven't tested those amounts. I think it was about 14-15 cups of batter.

This recipe also keeps really well when wrapped in the freezer (two layers of plastic, one of foil). I made the cake more than a week before the shower. I used four layers for a test cake and froze the other four for a week before thawing and frosting as normal. I couldn't taste a difference :) But make sure you thaw completely so you don't encounter any cold cake issues...

Cake with dots

I'm trying to practice decorating cakes. Only way to get better, right?

I got a bigger frosting spatula. That certainly helped. And I think I'm finally getting the hang of big beads.

But this cake was so lop-sided! I think the actual cake recipe I used was too soft for stacking. I had a hard time even leveling it.

But it sure was tasty. I found the recipe via pinterest - it's for cupcakes, but I made three 8" rounds. And put lemon curd in between. Tasty.

Slow-cooker cheesecake

Did you know you can make cheesecake in a Crock Pot? I sure didn't. But now it's my secret weapon! I've never been able to make a decent cheesecake before. It always came out too dry, crumbly, cracked, etc - even with a water bath.

I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest, originally from Food and Wine. It requires a six-inch springform, so it's kind of a small cheesecake. But it's plenty, believe me! And you can find the Springform at Michaels.

What you need:
3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar

In a small bowl, mix together the graham crackers, butter, cinnamon and sugar. Press into the bottom and a little up the sides of the springform.

Notice I was lazy and didn't melt the butter first? Oh, well!

And then you need:
12 ounces cream cheese (I used the low-fat kind)
1 tablespoon flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup sour cream

At medium - medium/high speed, beat together the cream cheese, flour, sugar and eggs. It should take about two minutes until it's smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the almond extract and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Finally, beat in that sour cream until the whole mixture looks deliciously silky and creamy. Yum!

Pour into the prepared springform.

In the bottom of your slow cooker, add 1/2-1 inch of water. You're going to want the cheesecake to not touch the water. How you accomplish this is your call. I just use the little rack that came with it. I've seen some blogs where people make a ring out of aluminum foil and use that - that seems complicated, but to each their own.

Once you've added the water and the cheesecake is sitting above the water, add three layers of paper towels across the top BEFORE you put the lid on. Cook on high for two hours - it's absolutely important that you don't peak! It needs to stay sealed the whole time.

After two hours, turn off the slow cooker (still not peaking!) and allow it to sit for another hour. Then, pull out the cheesecake (which looks glorious at this point) and allow it to cool to room temperature, 30 min to an hour. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge for several hours. I think it's best to do this overnight so it has plenty of time.

And that's it! Serve and enjoy! Ours was supposed to have a blackberry sauce, but that didn't turn out so pretty. Tasty, but not pretty, so it's not pictured. Seriously, I think this is the most idiot-proof cheesecake ever.

Mexican Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream

This is not the cake I intended to make this weekend.

I wanted to just make any old cake, so I could practice decorating. I wanted to try an icing comb (never done that before) and work on making beaded borders.

a). I am not a huge fan of this icing comb. I think it's too angular and maybe I'd like a rounded one better. Still, I liked that it was an easy way to quickly dress up plain buttercream.

b). I bought a Wilton #12 tip on Saturday, but it mysteriously disappeared by the time I went to use it on Sunday. No beads for me. So I had fun making the top all spikey with my star tip.

I also intended to make the icing a fun color, but since my decorating plans were already kinda hosed, I left it as-is. And I kind of like it.

So while none of my decorating plans panned out, I did discover that this is my new favorite cake. Seriously. I love it. So. Much. It has some weird, weird ingredients in it (Olive oil? Balsamic Vinegar?) but it's incredibly moist, has a great crumb, and has just enough spice to make it interesting.

Oh, and adding cinnamon to a so-so buttercream made it out of this world. Further proof that cinnamon makes almost everything better.

Mexican chocolate cake (Recipe from BakedBree)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla

Add all dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk together to fully mixed.

In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Add all together to dry ingredients. Beat on medium-high, 1-2 minutes or until well combined.

Pour into buttered and floured pans. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes (or that's what worked for my three 6-inch pans). Remove and allow to cool thoroughly.

Cinnamon butter cream
2 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
~4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cream the butter and shortening. Add vanilla and cinnamon and combine well. Add the powdered sugar slowly, beating thoroughly between each addition.

Coca Cola Cake

June was a big month for birthdays in our house. Which means lots of cake.

Parker's now the old man of the house, having turned 27 on Saturday. He refused to tell me what flavor cake he wanted, so I picked this one. I vaguely remember having something similar at the sorority house in college. And I was really excited that it didn't seem too involved.

Wow. This was so much better than I expected. It's incredibly dense and moist but the hints of cinnamon shine through and make my tummy happy. And it's quick and easy to make! Even icing is easy - you just pour it on.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup coke
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, cocoa, coke and buttermilk. Stir pretty regularly and you bring to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately add to flour mixture - stir until combined. Add in eggs and vanilla, stir until incorporated. As much as I love my stand mixer, it's nice that I don't have to haul it out for this one!

Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup coke
4 cups powdered sugar

Again in a saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, cocoa power and coke and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and sift in the powdered sugar gradually, stirring almost continuously (or as much as possible... not counting the times you stick your fingers in it). You could skip the sifting (I did) but you could end up with some powdered sugar chunks. Just sayin'. When it reaches your desires consistency (could be more or less than 4 cups p.s.), pour the warm glaze straight onto the cake. Seriously, just pick the saucepan up and hold it upside down over the cake pan. Awesome.

Allow the frosting a few minutes to cool and set and then serve it up. Enjoy!

Adapted oh-so-barely from the original by Confessions of a Chocoholic.

MMMmmm... Banana birthday cake

Monday night I'm heading upstairs and I notice a passport sitting on the bottom steps. I pick it up to see who it belongs to - Oh, it's Paul's. And... his birthday is June 15?? What?? Why didn't he tell anyone?!

Birthdays need cake. It's a rule, I think. When Paul said he wanted a banana cake, I remember this delicious little lovely I had tried back in December.

It's very easy to make. I used three small rounds this time for a higher, but smaller cake. And I forget ears - Oops! But he's still cute (the monkey, not Paul ;)), so it's ok.

It tastes a lot like banana bread, but cakey! It might be nice with some walnuts in it or something (Paul just didn't want any). I love how evenly this cake bakes. It's moist without feeling too mushy, and definitely the perfect density for stacking. I love how pretty it looks every inside.

Not a *huge* fan of the icing. It's too sweet. And it was too runny (but adding more powdered sugar would have overpowered the taste, so that was out). I think I'll use a different buttercream next time.

Happy Birthday, Paul! We are so glad to have you living with us.

Lemonade Cake

What's summer, without lemonade?

That's why this is a great little summer cake. The flavor of it is amazing, especially the lemonade-cream cheese frosting.

The crumb, however, was a little weird. Unlike the picture on the recipe's site, this cake is not light and fluffy. It's very, very dense. And spongey. It's not a texture that I care for. So I'll try this one again, but make some alterations to aim for a lighter cake. It's still very, very yummy.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon zested lemon rind
3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour cake pans (I used 3 small pans).

Beat first five ingredients at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Beginning with the flour mixture, alternate adding flour and buttermilk to the sugar, beating well after each addition.

Bake for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

Icing:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons zested lemon rind
2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

With mixer on high speed, beat together butter, lemon rind, lemonade concentrate, vanilla and softened cream cheese. Beat until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and slowly add in powdered sugar. Beat just until blended, but do not overbeat.

What happens when you work with all women

There aren't a lot of men in the non-profit world.

Which is why when you're the one guy working at an all-female office, you get a bachelorette party when you get married, instead of a bachelor party.

Ah, so much pink.

But at least he got a relatively non-girly cake!

And do yourself a favor - make this cake. It was amazing.

Recipe from I Am Baker. I subbed hot chocolate for the coffee and it was taaasty.
Icing also from I am Baker (scroll down past the cake). Add a teaspoon of almond extract. Seriously. You won't regret it. Doooo it.

It got better

I love this cake.

Curse you, Martha Stewart. You make everything look easier than it really is.

This is my second attempt at this decoration. The first one was far, far too ugly to share with the world. I used the meringue recipe she features on her site. Something went horribly wrong and it separately, oozing this clear, melted butter looking substance all down the cake and onto the counter. No wonder no one wanted to eat it.

This time, I used the cream cheese frosting recipe that came with this Apple a Day red velvet cake recipe (which, by the way, is the absolute best red velvet recipe I've ever made. So moist. So tangy. My mouth is water as I write this).

You use a #12 decorating tip. Point the tip at the plate/stand, not at the cake. This is a mistake I made the first time. Basically, you're making a little pile of frosting that leans up against the cake. That was an easier way for me to think about it. Here's a little tutorial if you're having a hard time picturing it. It sure helped me.



What you're seeing here are the best possible views of this cake. It's really hard to make the columns the same width and use the same amount of pressure. And, of course, I did not have enough icing. I never have enough icing.

I think with two or three more tries this will actually be a fun, pretty little cake.

You asked for it

All Hans can think about right now is getting a new iphone. For his birthday, he got an iphone.... cake.

About the cake:

1. The inside is chocolate. The recipe is from Milk and Cookies. It's good. Not great, but good. If you're looking for a basic chocolate cake recipe, this'll do you just fine. I thought it was a little drier and a bit crumblier than I'd like, but tasty. The whipped cream filling was a big hit.

2. The Milk and Cookies recipe called for chocolate buttercream icing with malted milk powder. I did not have this and for some inexplicable reason, could not locate it at our HEB. So I made different butter cream. It has four sticks of butter (!!), a bunch of powdered sugar, some vanilla, and about six ounces of melted chocolate chips. It was also just ok. Maybe too much butter.

3. Fondant. Oh, the fondant. I made three batches (which was one too many). That's three bags of mini marshmallows and three bags of powdered sugar. And a big mess on my kitchen counter. Hobby Lobby was having a sale on Wilton baking supplies a few weeks ago, so I stocked up on black, red, blue, and yellow dyes. I did some mixing to get the other colors.

4. Putting it together. It took six hours. And I didn't photograph any of it, because it was a grand old mess all over me, the counter, my hands, every where. And I certainly didn't photograph any of the many, many imperfections. Like how the black fondant kept tearing and chocolate buttercream would come peaking through. Most of the app buttons were pretty easy, but cutting letters was hard. I'm sure there's an easier way to do that. The angry birds app is my fav.

This was fun, but took sooooo loooooong. I don't know how people do this on a regular basis! Maybe it gets easier with time? And oh, I STILL have dye on my hands. Four days later. I look diseased. Hot.