Bobby Jack "Cake"

Noelle wanted a Bobby Jack cake, except she didn't want it to be a cake, she wanted it to be a brownie. So, I made brownies (from a box) in a round cake pan and just put them on top of one another. I put a layer of vanilla frosting down and decorated on top of that. I had all kind of ideas on how I was going to make the monkey, but the morning of her birthday - when I was decorating the cake - my internet died and I had to improvise. I got a shirt of hers that had him on it and did my best. I think he turned out pretty good! He is made from Tootsie Rolls and Caramels. I softened them in the microwave for 8 seconds which made them moldable. The guitar, the number 9 and his tongue are made of Starburst candies which I softened and molded the same way. His eyes are Wint-O-Green mints with Tootsie Rolls.

She exclaimed that it was her favorite cake EVER!

Without realizing it, I made him match her party tableware and decorations!

We served the brownie with vanilla ice cream and there was NOTHING left on the kids' plates at the end - which isn't usually the case with cake! Maybe Noelle is onto something with this whole brownie idea!

Flower Cake

Ashlyn wanted an ice cream cake this year. It's a good thing I went easy on the decorations because the cake took me about 7 hours to do!

The cake is a Betty Crocker chocolate and vanilla marble cake and has has vanilla Betty Crocker frosting. I used Blue Bunny chocolate ice cream inside.

I baked the cake according to the package directions. When it was cool, I leveled out the tops of all the layers. I let the ice cream soften and then stirred it so there weren't any 'drippy' parts. (You want it firm enough that it doesn't just smoosh out the sides of the cake when you put it together.)

I placed two long sheets of plastic wrap on the counter, one going side to side and the other one top going up and down. I put the bottom layer of the cake down in the center of the plastic wrap. I spread on the ice cream about 1 or 2 inches thick, and then put the top layer of cake on. I wrapped the cake in the plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for about 1 hour. I did the same thing with the smaller two layers of cake. Ideally, you would do this and put it in the freezer overnight and finish up the next day. I didn't have that much time!

When the cake and ice cream layers were frozen, I took them out of the freezer, took off the plastic wrap, put the larger layer on a cake plate, put a smudge of frosting on the top and centered the smaller cake layers on top. I then put a very light coating of frosting all around the cake. (A crumb coat.) Then I put it back in the fridge becausethe ice cream started to melt. Once the ice cream was set again, I frosted the entire cake, smoothing out the sides as much as I could.

I took flowers from the craft store and cut off the blooms, leaving about 3 inches of stem. I placed these in the top layer of the cake. I then wrapped a ribbon around each layer. I secured the ribbon to itself with double sided tape.

The ice cream melting was my biggest problem. I would be in the middle of doing something with it, and see ice cream starting to leak out the bottom and so I'd have to put it in the freezer for a half hour or so. Like I said before, if you can let the ice cream set overnight in the freezer, it would be much easier to work with!

If this had been a regular cake with just frosting in the middle, I would've been done in a flash! Oh well, it tasted DELICIOUS! It was worth all the time and effort.

Transformer Cake

Shaylor's Birthday Cake this year was a Transformer cake. I made the Too Much Chocolate Cake recipe I've already posted on this site. It was very yummy! The decorations are made of marshmallow fondant - however, it was not easy to use, and so I won't post the recipe here. I will post a good fondant recipe when I find one!

Front

Decepticon Face

Autobot Face

Back

He liked it!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

This is my absolute FAVORITE chocolate cake. It is very rich - it definitely lives up to it's name! I got the recipe from AllRecipes.com.




Too Much Chocolate Cake


1 (18.25 oz.) box Devil's Food Cake mix
1 (5.9 oz.) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips.


Preheat oven to 350.


In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and water. stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bunt pan. (For other pans, follow the time on the cake mix box. You may need to cook a bit longer, start checking it at the time specified on the box. A clean toothpick means it's ready - just don't hit a melted chocolate chip!)


Bake for 50-55 minutes until top is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in the pan for at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

Birthday Cakes

Here are a few of the birthday cakes I have decorated this past year. I thought I'd post photos just for fun! Let me know if you want to know how I made any of them.

Shaylor's Jungle Cake

Noelle's Candyland Cake

Ashlyn's Flip Flop Cake

Carrot Cake

This is a fantastic recipe from My Kitchen Cafe. I made it as part of our Easter feast and everyone gobbled it up! Don't let the lengthy instructions scare you away! This is well worth every step, and it really wasn't hard.

Carrot Cake

2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp table salt

1 lb. medium carrots (6 to 7 carrots), peeled

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 c. vegetable oil, safflower oil, or canola oil

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool

5 Tbsp unsalted butter softened, but still cool

1 Tbsp sour cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 by 9-inch baking pan (I used a bundt pan).

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

Shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside.In a large bowl beat granulated and brown sugars and eggs on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds.

Reduce speed to medium; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream, being careful to pour oil against inside of bowl (if oil begins to splatter, reduce speed to low until oil is incorporated, then resume adding oil). Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 seconds to 1 minute longer.

Turn off mixer and stir in carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.

Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours .

When cake is cool, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.

Frost and eat!