Since it was Lucas' 4th birthday I felt that we needed to have a special birthday cake. The theme was (of course) Lightning McQueen, so we had the plates and napkins, even the gift bags were personlized with an individual car for each kid and their symbol was on their cup so that they didn't get them mixed up. But that part was easy, what kind of cake???After doing some googling I decided that carving and decorating a cake to look like Lightning McQueen would be getting me in way over my head. So I made a white cake and filled it with chocolate butter cream. The grass, and road are marzipan fondant and the car is marzipan.The kids were giving edible modeling clay to make their own vehicles for their piece of cake. The cake seemed to make quite an impression, even if barely any of the kids actually ate any of it.
So after this adventure I decided that this year I am going to master making cakes that not only look cool, but hopefully will also get eaten :)
My first attempt was today, as I baked 46 cupcakes! I tweeked the cake recipe and it tasted a lot better although it was still very crumbly (is this normal for white cake, I haven't had it in years). My buttercream icing was okay, although way too sweet. Is there such a thing as a less sweet frosting?
So look forward to reading about my cake baking and decorating adventures this year. Lea's birthday theme is going to be a circus, so an animal cake is probably going to be on the menu! If you have any tips and tricks I look forward to hearing from you!
Mandy try this recipe...not sweet at all!
ReplyDeleteSwiss Meringue Buttercream
Makes about 5 cups
* 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
* 5 large egg whites, room temperature
* Pinch of salt
* 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into pieces
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions
1. Place sugar, whites, and salt in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of
simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a
candy thermometer.
2. Attach bowl to mixer. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes.
Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes.
Reduce speed to medium, and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking well after each
addition. Whisk in vanilla. Use immediately, or cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
(Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)