Cakewalk
Today's main event was the baking and decorating of Julie's birthday cake. While I have no problem with baking a cake*, and I love the idea of decorating one in theory, the reality of decorating a cake is a little scary in our house.
I need enough cake to serve about 30 people** so I made a double-layer 9X13. Here is Julie licking the batter from the spatula while the first layer was in the oven.
Don't worry, everything was washed in between the mixing of the first cake and the second, so nobody's going to get Julie-cooties in their cake tomorrow. Also, our cakes don't contain eggs, so eating the batter raw is perfectly safe. Like I said, the baking was the easy part. While the second cake was cooling off and the frosting was warming back up to room temperature, I practiced my lettering skills with the aerosol-can-icing that I bought as a shortcut. Here's the results of my first attempt:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. The end result turned out much better, although Joe and I agreed that it looks a bit like a kindergarten art project gone wrong. I was only able to do the frosting part of the decorating tonight, since the box I bought to put the cake in isn't tall enough to cover the whole thing with the toys on top too. I'll have to wait till we get it to the park in the morning and quick do it then. I'll take a picture before it's served, though.
I am SO much better at knitting than I am at decorating cakes.
*Yes, even from scratch! Baking from scratch is nowhere near as hard as most people seem to think it is, and yields very satisfying results. My favorite chocolate cake recipe is the one on the Hershey's cocoa powder tin. mmm-MMM! Plus, when multiple food allergies are involved, baking your own is pretty much required.
**How did a birthday party for a 3-year-old end up with this many guests? I do not know. I do know that I was calling around all day today trying to get RSVPs, and more than half the people who are coming didn't bother to call and tell me. I feel lucky that I had enough goodie bags (barely) planned, and I'm still worried that there won't be enough cake. It will all be okay - we have lots of other snacks planned too.
I need enough cake to serve about 30 people** so I made a double-layer 9X13. Here is Julie licking the batter from the spatula while the first layer was in the oven.
Don't worry, everything was washed in between the mixing of the first cake and the second, so nobody's going to get Julie-cooties in their cake tomorrow. Also, our cakes don't contain eggs, so eating the batter raw is perfectly safe. Like I said, the baking was the easy part. While the second cake was cooling off and the frosting was warming back up to room temperature, I practiced my lettering skills with the aerosol-can-icing that I bought as a shortcut. Here's the results of my first attempt:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. The end result turned out much better, although Joe and I agreed that it looks a bit like a kindergarten art project gone wrong. I was only able to do the frosting part of the decorating tonight, since the box I bought to put the cake in isn't tall enough to cover the whole thing with the toys on top too. I'll have to wait till we get it to the park in the morning and quick do it then. I'll take a picture before it's served, though.
I am SO much better at knitting than I am at decorating cakes.
*Yes, even from scratch! Baking from scratch is nowhere near as hard as most people seem to think it is, and yields very satisfying results. My favorite chocolate cake recipe is the one on the Hershey's cocoa powder tin. mmm-MMM! Plus, when multiple food allergies are involved, baking your own is pretty much required.
**How did a birthday party for a 3-year-old end up with this many guests? I do not know. I do know that I was calling around all day today trying to get RSVPs, and more than half the people who are coming didn't bother to call and tell me. I feel lucky that I had enough goodie bags (barely) planned, and I'm still worried that there won't be enough cake. It will all be okay - we have lots of other snacks planned too.
posted by Shelly Kang at 11:25 PM
3 Comments:
What kind of flour do you use that is non-wheat and still makes a good cake?
I'm sure it will be tasty regardless of the decorations! Happy birthday Julie!!!
i'm only 27 and i don't believe in making cakes from mixes. kudos to you!
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