The cake is, after all, the most important part of the whole shebang. Decorations are nice, and everybody loves food, but the cake is the real show-stopper. Or it should be.
I wouldn’t exactly call this particular birthday cake a “showstopper”. It’s cute and all, but it doesn’t scream, “LOOK AT ME!”. My previous decorated cake attempts were all a lot more spectacular (the rainbow fish cupcakes, the Thomas Aquaduct, and the race car) than this one, which was sort of a let-down.
But I couldn’t handle too much more than this, coming off of Christmas and all, and having very little time to prepare. Quick and Easy was my main concern, and Cheap was right behind it.
Healthy was also of concern – I wanted to finally make a cake with natural food coloring! I’ve been intending to for years, but never have actually done it. With this simple design, I figured it was the right time.
So, with all those things in mind, here is what we ended up with.
Of course, it’s patterned after an UNO card with the number 1. It was very easy. I used 2 batches of homemade dairy-free decorators frosting, tinting one of them yellow with saffron.
Let’s talk about saffron for a second. Saffron is one of – if not the most – expensive spice due to its labor-intensive and tedious method of harvesting. At a regular grocery store, you can spend as much as $20 for only a small amount. The small bottle I have (which has lasted me for quite some time since I rarely cook with saffron) was actually purchased at Trader Joe’s for a much lower price. I don’t remember exactly how much it was, but I can tell you it was less than $10. And it is still available there, as I have seen it on recent trips. I wouldn’t have used saffron as my coloring agent except that I happened to have it on hand. Another option for yellow coloring is turmeric, which is not quite as expensive.
To color the frosting, I replaced the 3 TBSP of water called for in the recipe with saffron-dyed water. To color the water, I placed some saffron in a small bowl and crumbled it in my fingers. Then I poured 3 TBSP of hot water over it, swished them all together and let it sit for a while until the color deepened. Don’t worry if it looks orange; that’s actually a good thing, and indicates a stronger yellow color. I probably didn’t put as much saffron in the water as I should have, hence my very pale yellow. I would recommend a good well-filled teaspoon worth of saffron for a stronger yellow. Mine was probably more of a half teaspoon.
To make the design, I first frosted a 9×13 single-layer cake with one thin layer of yellow frosting. I let it set for a little while to create a “crumb coat” so I could avoid picking up crumbs in the actual design. Once the crumb coat was set, I used a toothpick to trace out the slanted oval, stretching from a couple inches down from the top right corner all the way to a couple inches above the bottom left corner. Then I traced out a large UNO-style number one in the center of the oval.
Next was my big mistake. I really should have piped everything with the star tip, but I had most recently used my frosting decorator bag with meringue frosting, and I was concerned that there would be some egg protein left behind. Not good for my allergic little guys! So I just spread the yellow frosting on the background areas with a knife, smoothing it the best I could. (To get it really smooth, I could have dipped the knife in water between each stroke on the frosting, but I didn’t take the time to do that.) Then I just did the old ziploc-bag trick to pipe the outline for the “1″ in the center, and the oval. I finished up by frosting the oval plain white, and then piping in some small “1″s in the upper left and bottom right corners.
Of course, any UNO-themed color can be used to make this card (blue, green, or red), and any number can be used (up to 9 anyway!). Or you could do a Wild Card for someone whose age should remain a secret!
As for the cake itself, I used a new allergen-free recipe at Back to the Kitchen, and wasn’t 100% pleased with the result. It was probably my fault, though. I made my own GF flour blend, but didn’t have any potato starch, so just did without. I think that was probably a big mistake. Looking back, I think that my most successful cakes all had potato starch as part of the flour blend. Plus, I accidentally set the temperature on the oven a little too low, so the cake cooked up funny: it was kind of hard on the bottom. Not overcooked, just sort of… hard. It was weird.
Consequently, I had my DH whip up a batch of Rice Krispies treats (using Erewhon Cocoa Rice Crispy cereal, so it was at least a tiny bit healthier than you-know-the-usual-kind) for all the non-allergic guests to enjoy since the cake was kind of a bust, at least in terms of taste and texture. You know what? Next time, I just might decorate the Rice Krispies treats instead. That’s what the Cake Boss does! Then everybody will be happy. Not healthy, but happy.
Yesterday, I shared the most amazingly creative frosting recipe: frosting made from a pumpkin pie. You could, of course, use such a unique frosting on a plain old boring vanilla cupcake, but what would be the fun in that?
It wouldn’t be fun, that’s what. You need a cupcake that perfectly complements the flavors in the frosting, and I am happy to share that I have exactly the cupcake recipe you need! Moist, sweet and spicy, the perfect companion to pumpkin pie frosting.
This recipe is based on the famous wacky cake recipe, the only difference being that the cocoa has been replaced with seasonings befitting a pumpkin pie flavor. Wacky cake is so easy and dependable in spite of its unorthodox (for a cake, anyway) ingredient list, which is what I love most about it.
Recipe: Sugar and Spice Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup olive oil (or any oil)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vinegar
1 cup water
Instructions
Line a cupcake tin with paper liners, or silicone cupcake cups on a cookie sheet.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. In a separate bowl or 2-cup measuring cup, stir together liquid ingredients. Pour liquid ingredients into dry, stirring just until moistened.
Immediately spoon mixture into liners or cups. Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack completely before frosting.
Wacky cake is one of the QUICKest cakes I know of, which is why I rely on it so often. Making it with these traditional autumn spice flavors means it has even more possibilities and adaptations!
It’s so EASY, too, the only trick being not to overmix it, and to pour it into the pans and bake right away. Don’t over-stir, and don’t let the batter sit around for even an extra minute. Got that?
Because it doesn’t have expensive eggs, butter or milk, the wacky cake recipe is also CHEAPer than a more traditional cake recipe, and certainly cheaper than a box mix.
It’s no HEALTHYer than any other homemade cake, but it is significantly healthier than working from a box mix, which is traditionally loaded with chemical flavorings and colors, and hydrogenated oils, among other nutritional evils. And the whole wheat flour works perfectly with these spicy flavors while creating an even healthier cake option! (And no one will know the difference; I promise!)
Every year, the AWANA program at my church hosts a Cake Decorating contest, and all the parents kids get busy making delicious concoctions that are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the tummy. Since the youngest age in AWANA is 3, and my Certain Little Someone will not reach that milestone for a few months yet, I haven’t participated in the contest in the past except as an occasional judge. I do, however, enjoy tasting them in the cake-eating party that follows the judging.
Aquarium
This year, I did submit a cake (or rather cupcakes) to the contest (there’s an adult category), mostly so that my Certain Little Someone would not feel left out, and would have some allergen-free cake of his own to enjoy. I even let him help me decorate. !! Probably a mistake. I really have no words to express how I felt when blue frosting was smeared all across the carpet of my dining room floor. OK, that’s a lie. I did have words. Words they probably heard all the way in Africa, something along the lines of, “WHATINTHEWORLDAREYOUDOING?!?!?!?!? STOPSMEARINGTHEFROSTINGINTHECARPET!!! AAAGGGHHHH!!! {sob}”. (The sob was me, by the way. My Certain Little Someone was remarkably unaffected by the entire incident. Oh, to be 2 again!)
Since my Certain Little Someone is dairy-free and so am I, I didn’t even bother trying to make a healthy frosting. Most healthier frostings rely heavily on the qualities of milk and butter to achieve the right texture and taste, so I’ve given up for the moment on even attempting anything other than basic decorator’s frosting.
Baby Fish
One thing I really regret is using food coloring to make these cakes. Next time I decorate a cake, I’m going to try my hand at natural food dyes – either store-bought or made from highly pigmented foods like blueberries and the like.
Also, I didn’t have time to experiment, so I just used plain old jell-o to make the “sea” in my cake. I really wanted to try out this low-sugar all-natural jell-o recipe in the future, but I simply didn’t have time to experiment this past weekend when I was making these cupcakes.
Mommy Fish
“Was there anything healthy in these?,” I hear you asking incredulously. Well, yes. A little. I used palm shortening in the frosting, a step above run-of-the-mill shortening. And the cupcakes are made with mostly whole (non-wheat) grains, raw sugar, and coconut oil. And the fish faces and fins are made with all-natural fruit roll-ups without any coloring and all that junk.
Daddy Fish
In case you’re curious, here’s how to decorate these cupcakes (original idea from Good Housekeeping):
You will need:
1 batch cupcakes (half baked in regular size tin, half in mini-muffin tin)
1 batch decorator’s frosting (see recipe below), tinted blue
Line a cookie sheet with foil. Frost all the cupcakes smoothly with the blue frosting. Roll the edges in the blue sugar, and place the cupcakes in the pan in rows of 3. Cut rounded triangles from the fruit roll-up for the faces and fins, making jagged zigzag edges on the fins. Place them on the cupcakes, then fill in with Skittles or M&Ms (Hint: Start with the farthest edge of the cupcake, placing the candies upright on their edge, then placing the next row in front of the first, and so on, to achieve the scaled look). Use the tube of decorating gel to add an eye and mouth to each fish. Fill in the pan around the cupcakes with cubes of jello for the water.
Decorator’s Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar*
1/4 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup palm shortening
Combine all ingredients in mixer and whip until thoroughly blended. Add additional powdered sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency.
Colored Sugar
Place desired amount of sugar in a bowl; add food dye. Stir until evenly coated. If using a liquid dye, spread the sugar on a sheet of wax paper until dry. If using gel, mix it in thoroughly with the sugar using the back of a spoon or a fork.
Here are some more of the cakes that were submitted to the Cake Contest, if you want some inspiration for your next birthday cake:
Watermelon Cake
Noah’s Ark
Sunflower Cake
Veggie Tales: Bob and Larry
Carousel
Now, I know I said in the title of this post that these are not HEALTHY, and it’s true. However, making and decorating a cake at home is far HEALTHY-er (and CHEAP-er!) than purchasing it from a bakery. I don’t know if you’ve ever looked at the list of ingredients used at commercial bakeries, but it often seems worse than a box mix or packaged cake to me! Anything you make at home has got to be healthier than that!
There’s still time to enter the East Coast Eco Bakery giveaway! Win some yummy delicious treats for your own celebration… or just because! And no guilt, because they’re made with healthy ingredients.
Thanks to Kristina of Icing and Crumbs, we don’t have to find out. She is the honored guest at my party because she is bringing the cake! Well, at least the recipe. And what a cake! Chocolate Mud Cake. I’m definitely going to have to try this one because chocolate and I are like *this* (imagine my fingers twisted tight).
Friends, ice cream, cake, chocolate. My birthday is complete!
(Note: Before Kristina gets started, let me just say you really need to check out her blog. She starts each post with a quote from a children’s book, story, song or poem. Having been a kindergarten teacher in a past life, and currently mom to little munchkins, I have a soft spot in my heart for children’s books, especially good quality ones that employ beautiful language and ignite the imagination. Kristina’s blog feeds little tummies… and little minds!)
“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a freshtry, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewherebehind the morning…”
(Joseph Priestly)
A friend of mine posted some pictures of her birthday recently… a day spent outsidehiking on Black Mountain… the skies clear, the air crisp, surrounded by family andfriends… and a beautiful birthday cake. To me, this looked like the perfect birthday –recognising a special day by connecting with nature and feeling part of it’s freshness– a new start for another year.
It often amazes me how much energy my young daughter puts into planning her nextbirthday… for the last ten months she has been discussing her party – who is coming,what games they’ll play, how many candles she’ll have, and which cake she’d like.We have been playing “birthday parties” and making mud cakes in the yard; we havebeen singing Happy Birthday and creating pretend invitations… For kids, birthdayscreate extra excitement – a special day full of friends and presents… but I think as weget older, we realise that the real present is the gift of a new day – a fresh start… achance to grow from there.
But no matter how old we are, or how we choose to celebrate our birthday, there isalways cake… The recipe below is great to make with kids – they can help measurethe ingredients, sift the flour, and mix everything together… they will also offer to lickthe bowl!
(This recipe has been adapted from one found in a book several years ago.)
Chocolate Mud Cake
You need:
375g (13 1/2 ounces) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cups of plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
2/3 cup of cocoa powder, sifted
200g (7 ounces) of dark chocolate, melted
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of sour cream
You do:
Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees F). Grease and line the baseof a 22cm round springform tin. Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is lightand fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Mix in the chocolate. Gently fold in the flour,baking powder and cocoa powder. Stir in the milk and sour cream. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave thecake to cool in the tin.
This cake is lovely on its own, or it can be iced with a dark chocolate ganache, andthen served with cream or ice-cream.
And while the cake is baking, there is time for a story… A Birthday Cake forLittle Bear, by Max Velthuijs, is a humourous tale about a group of friendsworking together (sort of) to make a cake for Little Bear’s birthday… or Moira’sBirthday, by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko, about a young girl whose birthday party plans go a little bit too far…
Kristina blogs about sharing her love of cooking and reading with her children at Icing and Crumbs.
And as Mark Twain said, “In one way or another, all men are mad.” Mad, crazy, wacky, unstable, however you want to put it, we all suffer a bit from that malady. It shows up differently in different people, but no one is free from the condition!
Therefore, since we are all Wacky People, we are all qualified to enjoy Wacky Cupcakes.
Wacky cake was invented during the world wars, when butter, eggs, milk, and sugar were rationed due to shortages. Thanks to the inventive generations preceding us, we have a reliable and easy recipe to use during times when we have:
no money left in the grocery budget, and no eggs or milk in the fridge
intolerance or allergy to eggs or dairy
a desire to eliminate animal products from our diet.
One thing I find amazing about this recipe is its adaptability; I have used this basic framework to make spice cake or plain old vanilla cake, and even gluten-free cake. This time around, I turned it into a mocha cake with great success! It hasn’t failed on me yet. Some people say you have to mix the ingredients right in the pan, or make wells in the dry ingredients for each of the wet ingredients, but I never do those things and it always turns out.
And the above-referenced, ever-knowledgeable Cooks’ Country folks say you absolutely have to add the wet ingredients at the very last minute before baking in order for it to rise, which is why they recommend stirring it in the baking pan. That’s simply not an option, though, if you want to make cupcakes. It’s true, they may not rise as high as conventional cupcakes, but a simple remedy is to make a few less cupcakes (perhaps 9 instead of 12). I made the usual 12 cupcakes with my batch, and I was satisfied with both the height and texture of the finished cupcakes, so that call is up to you.
*Note: The sugar is reduced as much as it can be for a successful recipe.
Wacky Mocha Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 TBSP coconut oil
1 TBSP white vinegar (My husband used rice vinegar in his version, and they turned out great!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup strong coffee, cooled
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add liquid ingredients, stir just until blended, then pour batter into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs. Cool to room temperature before frosting.
I frosted these cupcakes with 1 1/2 batches of a slightly healthified frosting recipe. I wanted to try making my own powdered sugar from my raw sugar, but my food processor is just not strong enough. I need a VitaMix! So I had to resort to plain old powdered sugar, because I simply cannot find any edible dairy-free frosting recipes that are also powdered-sugar free. However, I did use some coconut milk, and some palm oil shortening instead of plain old vegetable Crisco.
Not-Very-Healthy Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar (If you have a powerful enough blender or food processor, you can make your own with 2 cups of raw sugar or sucanat, blended with 1/4 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp vanilla, optional
1/2 cup palm oil shortening
Combine all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl with the whip attachment. Whip until a creamy, spreadable consistency. Add additional powdered sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency, if necessary. Frosts 1 batch of cupcakes.
You can add 1 TBSP of cocoa to make chocolate frosting. I used 1 TBSP of Ghirardelli mocha powder (given to me by my Certain Little Someone for my birthday) to make a delicious mocha flavor (You could probably achieve something similar by using coffee instead of coconut milk, and adding the cocoa powder).
This recipe is as QUICK as any cake mix, I promise!
It is also just as EASY, if not easier.
It is most certainly CHEAPer than purchasing a mix, especially since you don’t even have to add eggs.
HEALTHY? No. Unfortunately, removing eggs and dairy also removes some nutritional value, leaving the cake even more nutritionally bankrupt than usual. Ah, well. At least my Baby Boy won’t have eczema after I eat it! That is HEALTHY for him.
I don’t know about you, but I love local mom and pops. My DH doesn’t understand, but I’d choose a local greasy spoon over the finest cleanest chain any day. If said local greasy spoon comes with some great ambience and a unique idea, well, then! Even better! I’ll tell all my friends, and even perfect strangers, to go check it out.
I’m all about the little guy. Those big chains won’t miss me and my business, but the little mom and pop will. That makes me feel needed and useful, even if all I’m doing is buying a cafe latte from the local roastery.
Or a cupcake from the local bakery.
To wrap up my mother- and sister-in-laws’ birthday celebration, I took them to a local bakery I had just discovered: Touche Touchet. Even though I had only recently discovered this gem, I learned that it is quite famous in its own right. The head cake decorator has won prestigious contests and awards for her cake decorating skills, and was recently featured in a local news article about successful area women chefs, cooks and bakers. The bakery boasts not only her amazing cakes, but cookies, pastries, sandwiches… and, of course, cupcakes!
We each got to pick which cupcake we wanted from their selection, which rotates regularly so you never really know what you will get before you go (but you know it will be delicious!).
I chose the upside down cupcake with the cherry blossom on top, because:
it is cherry blossom time here in the DC area.
is that a cool idea or what?!?!
no other reason, really.
My sister-in-law chose the chocolate raspberry cupcake because she loves chocolate almost as much as I do. It had a delicious raspberry filling in the middle… yum!
My mother-in-law chose a lemon pound cake cupcake. What a great idea, to make a cupcake with pound cake! Hers also had a filling, but hers was, naturally, lemon.
We all thoroughly enjoyed our cupcake selections, practically licking our cupcake wrappers clean. Now we know where to go for a cupcake fix!
Last night, while I was lying in bed at around 11pm and thinking about this post, I literally had an epiphany. You know, those moments where you have an idea that is simply so brilliant, so simple and so perfect?! I had already decided to share my local cupcake rapture with you, but then I thought… why not let everyone else share their favorite local haunts? Eating locally, whether it’s from a local farm, bakery, diner, cafe or whatever, is good for the economy, the environment… and you! Chances are, the food that’s made fresh in small batches is better for you than the mass-produced food found in chains.
Hence, my new link-up: Eat LOCAL, Eat Fresh! Have a local organic grocery store you love? What about a cafe that makes the best espresso in the county? Or a farm where you find pastured organic eggs? Tell us all about it! Let’s give the mom and pops the spotlight! There are no rules except that your post be about a local food source of some kind. If you want to grab the button and link back here, please do. And be sure to check out the other local haunts as well.
Despite the fact that this was truly a last-minute inspiration, I hope it will be successful. I will keep the links open all weekend long to give you a chance to link up; posts from the archive are fine, so don’t feel pressured to come up with something new. And my goal is to host this link-up once a month, on every 3rd Friday. So spread the word!
The funnest (I know, not a word) part about planning my mother- and sister-in laws’ cupcake-themed birthday party was coming up with the cupcake-themed gifts. I’m actually just a wee bit envious of the gifts I gave them, and wish I had given one to myself.
That’s OK. I just need to collect a few more Swagbucks, and then I can order them myself for free from Amazon.com! (Yes, those are affiliate links, just in case you want to click on them and earn me some money! ::wink, wink::)
I love baking cakes, cupcakes and muffins with my silicone pans because silicone pans are by far the easiest to remove baked goods from. By far, I say, with added emphasis. And this is not a paid review; it’s just my honest opinion. For a low-level home cook and baker like myself, I like tools that help me get the job done professionally without the necessary professional skills. So if you have trouble, like me, getting your baked goods out of the pan in their entirety, silicone is the way to go! Even though my MIL and SIL have no such problem (they both make amazing desserts!), I knew they would enjoy these fun silicone cupcake cups:
Aren’t they fun?! I’d love a set for myself, and I happen to have my own birthday coming up here soon (hint, hint, for any family reading…). You can use these silicone baking cups like any other silicone baking pan: simply place them on a cookie sheet, fill with batter, bake at a maximum of 450F (which covers pretty much any normal baked good), cool after removing from oven, then tip over and easily remove your delicious cupcakes! Or, you can leave them in the cup for serving, whichever you prefer.
The cupcake pans were only part of the gift, though. I also gave them
canned frosting (unfortunately, the storebought kind because I didn’t think any homemade frosting would store long enough for gift giving, and then they’d have to use it right away instead of at their leisure)
cupcake decorations
cute spring tea towels
and the other star of the show: cupcake mix in a jar.
Let me tell you, I searched long and hard, high and low looking for an easy to mix and easy to use (with few additional ingredients) cupcake mix in a jar. There are lots of recipes out there but either they involve too many ingredients or too involved instructions. Quick and easy is my thing, you know. I finally found the perfect recipe, and also discovered it could easily be adapted into two very different – but both amazingly delicious – flavors. I’ll give you the instructions for the mix I used, and then a simple variation. You can come up with your own variations, too – please tell me if you do so we can share with everyone else who may want them!
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour (or white whole wheat flour)
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Whisk together ingredients and carefully spoon into a 1 qt glass canning jar. Cut a small circle of scrapbook or wrapping paper to fit the top of the lid, and glue it on, smoothing it with some pressure from your thumb to remove any wrinkles or air bubbles. Screw lid on tightly. Print out the following instructions, cut them out and glue them onto coordinating scrapbook or wrapping paper. Punch a hole in the top, and tie with a ribbon onto the neck of the jar.
To make the cupcakes:
1 jar cake mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup oil
Combine ingredients. Mix well. Bake in muffin tin at 350F for 20 minutes.
That’s it! To make Apple Spice Cupcakes, simply:
Add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp ground cloves to dry mix.
Use apple juice instead of orange juice.
I finished off the cupcake theme by decorating two very basic gift bags ($.50 each at Target) with more coordinating paper cut out in a cupcake shape, as you can see in the picture below.
I used 3 1/2 sheets of scrapbook paper from my stash to make the invitations, cupcake in a mix jars, gift bags, and popcakes. Less than a buck for all of it!
This is a QUICK last-minute gift idea, perfect for birthdays, holidays, Easter, hostess gifts, you name it! Even (or especially) a non-cook will enjoy the ease and simplicity.
It’s EASY to prepare for giving, and easy to bake upon receiving. What more can you ask?
It’s also a great CHEAP gift idea (shhh… don’t tell my in-laws!)! Here’s the breakdown of what I spent total for both gifts:
$1.00 for the gift bags
jars from my stash = FREE!
$1.15 for flour and sugar
$10 for cupcake baking cups (one set was free with my Swagbucks gift cards to Amazon – more shameless affiliate links)
I’ll get back to Fall Fest 2010 and my usual healthy fare in my next post, but for right now, I’m really excited to share with you the cake I made for my Certain Little Someone’s second birthday party today!
Being a 2-year-old little boy, he is madly in love with all things “Thomas”, so naturally his birthday party was all about that very special little train and his friends. About a month ago, I looked through pages and pages of online pictures of various Thomas cakes, hoping to find inspiration for a cake that was cute but not too complicated or involved. I skipped over all the ones that actually involved making a train shape or a Thomas face… I did a molded cake last year, and while it was fun, I was ready for something simpler this time around.
You know, because I like things to beEASY. So trust me, while this cake is certainly not as easy as paying someone else to do it, it’s certainly cheaper, AND it’s definitely a lot easier than it looks. And that, my friends, is what I’m all about: make a good impression without a lot of effort. wink, wink
Just in case you’re dying to know how to make a Thomas cake just like this, here’s how I did it. I was inspired by this picture, and developed it from there.
Oh, and yes, there is powdered sugar in the frosting, which those of you who follow me know is completely against all my principles, but… it’s a birthday! And a birthday cake! And you can’t make a birthday cake without powdered sugar frosting. At least I don’t even want to try, because, you know, I want it to be easy!
Dairy-Free Decorator’s Frosting
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated palm oil shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
approx. 3 TBSP water
Combine shortening, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer. Add water 1 TBSP at a time until desired consistency is achieved (it should be fairly thick for decorating, but not so stiff that it can’t flow easily through a decorating bag and tip).
To make this Thomas cake, you will need about 1 1/2 recipes of the frosting.
I used this recipe, which made 3 layers, which was exactly the right amount for this cake design. The original cake that inspired me actually only used 2 layers, though, so that’s definitely a possibility if you don’t want to make 1 and a half (or 2) cake recipes.
Place one round cake layer on your serving plate. Tuck strips of wax paper underneath to catch any stray frosting or other drips (don’t tuck them too far under the cake, because you’ll have to remove them later from the finished product). Spread a thin layer of jam on top of the cake (you want enough that the layers will stick together, but not so much that they will slip and slide off each other), and top with the next layer. Cut the third layer into two equal parts. Spread a thin layer of jam on half of the second layer, and top with one of the parts. Spread another layer of jam and top with the final half of the third layer.
Using a knife in a smooth back-and-forth motion, coat the entire cake with a thin layer of white frosting. It’s OK if crumbs get stuck in this frosting. This is the “crumb coat”, and after it sets and hardens for a little while (maybe 30 minutes, depending on frosting consistency), you will have a nice smooth surface for the actual decorative frosting.
Using a gel food dye, color the remaining frosting a light green color for the grass. (You’ll need to make a second full or half batch for the rest.) Spread a thick layer of frosting all around the bottom portion of the cake. When you’ve finished spreading the frosting, you can make it appear smoother by dipping the knife in water and smoothing it over the frosting, repeating over the entire surface. Don’t do the grass yet.
To make the “tunnels”, I melted a small amount of chocolate (Trader Joe’s melting wafers), and poured it carefully into the outline of a tunnel opening I had drawn on wax paper. The size of the tunnel will vary depending on the height of your cake layers, so you will need to measure this. Mine ended up being about 2″ tall and about as wide. I set the wax paper on a plate in the fridge for it to harden quickly.
Take an additional half batch of frosting and add 1 TBSP of cocoa to it. Frost the higher portion of the cake, including the entire back side, which you can see here.
Press your cooled and hardened chocolate tunnel openings into the front of the higher cake portion. You can apply a little extra chocolate frosting to help them adhere better if necessary.
I used caramel apple jelly beans for the “stones” on the “viaduct”, but you can also use chocolate rock candy (available in specialty candy stores). Press them gently into the frosting all along the front of the higher cake portion, forming arches around the tunnel openings.
I also pressed a line of jelly beans along the top on either side as a border. In the back, I placed a few random sets of jelly beans to convey the idea of the stone wall. This picture below is the best view I have of that, unfortunately.
Add another TBSP of cocoa to the remaining chocolate frosting. Use decorator tip #47 and a frosting bag to pipe the tracks, both on the top of the “viaduct”, and on the lower surface of the cake, coming out of one of the tunnels. You can alternatively use fruit leather – choose an apple variety or any that will be a dark brown-sh color, and cut into strips for the tracks. That will add pleasing texture and flavor.
Take a blue fruit roll-up (yes, I know, full of very bad things. Birthday, remember, birthday!) and use a sharp paring knife to shape the sides like a winding river. Place it on the green surface of the cake so that it is flowing out of the other “tunnel”.
Now we’re back to the green frosting. Make the remaining green frosting a darker green by adding more food color. Use decorating tip #233 and a decorating bag to pipe clumps of grass around the edge as a border, and all the way around the bottom as a border. Fill in here and there with clumps of grass, on ever surface, including the top of the viaduct and the back.
To finish, just place some toy trains on the tracks, and you’re all set!
So my Certain Little Someone is turning one tomorrow, can you believe it?! He was born on a Friday last year (obviously) so all day today I have been remembering the labor and delivery… and believe it or not, the memories are quite pleasant! What a day that was!
So you know I like things to be quick and easy, cheap and healthy, right? So how exactly does one accomplish a “QECH” birthday? That’s easy: one doesn’t!!! A birthday is no time to skimp on time, effort, money (ok, as long as you don’t spend more than you have!)… or even sugar. Can you believe I said that? To be honest, I’m a little shocked myself at how much sugar is in this cake, but I am repeating to myself over and over, “It’s for his birthday, It’s for his birthday. And it’s his FIRST birthday. He won’t eat like this every day.” Please tell me my mantra is right!
Aside from the fact that I had no choice but to make his birthday cake, since any baker in town would look cross-eyed at me if I asked for a wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free cake, I have always wanted to make my children’s birthday cakes because that’s what my mom did for us when we were little. Actually, I have a special status in my family: I was the very first one to have a non-homemade cake. Yup! Normally, my mom, frugal lady that she is, would make our birthday cakes herself and decorate them. But my third birthday happened to fall on the day after we moved across the country and for some reason my mom wasn’t really into baking and decorating a cake on that day. So, yes, I was the very first in my family to have a store-bought cake for my birthday, aren’t I special?!
Anyway, I digress… at some point, my mom stopped making fancy decorated cakes, but I love looking at the pictures of the cakes she made when we were little. I even remember her cake decorating kit, although by the time I was old enough to use it, she wasn’t really doing that anymore so I never learned.
Until recently! My friend does an awesome job of decorating cakes for birthdays, wedding and baby showers, so I asked her to give me a crash course in cake decorating. She graciously came over and helped me decorate a practice cake for my Certain Little Someone, and today I made the real thing on my own.
This cake is actually made of 3 cakes: 1 9×12, 1 8×8, and one car shaped cake on top. The rectangle and square form the “road” and are made with an “Eggless Chocolate Cake” recipe (one full and one half) I found in an old Fannie Farmer cookbook that I have. I picked it because it was a quick and easy recipe. Why aren’t you surprised?! The car cake is an allergy-friendly Wacky Cake. Wacky Cake is an awesome cake for food-allergic people because it has no dairy or egg in it. Depending on what you’re reading, it was developed either during the Depression or WWII when eggs and milk were scarce and/or expensive. So the only thing I had to substitute was the wheat flour, and thankfully, this recipe is so sturdy, it can handle a shake-up like that! Scroll down to the bottom to see the recipes.
The frosting is so terribly bad for you I can barely manage to speak about it, but for the sake of total openness and honesty, I will tell you that it is composed entirely of shortening, vanilla, lots and lots and lots of powdered sugar, and water. At least the shortening was non-hydrogenated. But I can’t use butter, and I was pretty sure the non-dairy margarines wouldn’t hold up well enough for a good strong buttercream frosting, so I went with the shortening. There. I told you. Whew!
Here you can see the cake in its entirety:
First I laid out the rectangular and square cakes and covered them with a crumb coat. (Should I tell you that I actually made another rectangular cake and it fell apart, so I was forced to make the square cake? Nah, I won’t tell you about that disaster.) For the sake of anyone who doesn’t know but wants to, a crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting that you allow to set so that you can then easily frost the cake without a layer of crumbs getting in the way. I haven’t tried it, but I have read that another option is to freeze the cake for a little while.
After the crumb coat was set, I used a knife to spread a portion of frosting colored with cocoa for the road. I went over that with a spatula to make it nice and smooth. At that point, I put the car cake (which I had on a separate cake board, both to make it easy to transfer but also to separate the allergy-free cake from the allergenic one) on top in the middle. I used a #103 tip to pipe the lines on the road, and a #233 tip to pipe the grass on the sides of the cake.
Once the road was done, I set to work on the car itself. Once again, I covered it with a crumb coat, then I added another layer of white on all the windows. Alternately, gray or black frosting could be used, but I went with the white because it was easier (surprised?).
I used a #3 tip to pipe an outline for the windows and doors. In retrospect, I probably should have used a bigger one, but it turned out OK. To make the numbers, I first outlined them in the crumb coat with a toothpick and then used the #3 tip to follow the outline and then fill it in. I used a #21 tip to pipe all the stars.
I cut two marshmallows in half, flattened them and painted them with yellow food coloring for the headlights. I attached chocolate cream cookies for the wheels and piped an extra layer of stars around them to make the wheel wells.
And that’s it! My super unhealthy cake! I can’t wait until my Certain Little Someone gets his hands on it and makes a big huge mess of it. Based on experience, I really don’t think he’s going to be the type to eat it daintily.
RECIPES:
Egg-Free, Dairy-Free, Wheat-Free Wacky Birthday Cake 1 cup rice flour 1 cup tapioca flour 2/3 cup arrowroot starch or corn starch 1/3 cup potato starch 2 tsp xantham gum 2 cups sugar 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 cups water 1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP oil (I used corn; I have used coconut in the past) 2 TBSP vinegar 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a 4-cup measuring cup mix the liquid ingredients and add them to the dry ingredients. Stir until thoroughly combined. Pour into a pan that has been well-greased and floured and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.
*Note: I learned a few tricks to help this cake cook evenly in the shaped pan. First of all, I put an upside down flower nail into the middle of the cake to help distribute the heat evenly. Then I raised the oven rack one notch and turn the oven back to 325. After it had baked for about 50 minutes, I covered it with foil so that the top would not burn.
Easy Egg-Free Chocolate Cake 1 2/3 cup flour 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup cocoa 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup buttermilk (or milk soured with lemon juice or vinegar) 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add the liquid ingredients and mix well. Bake in a greased and floured pan at 375 for 30 minutes. This recipe will make one thin 9×12 cake or one thick 8×8.
Butter-Free Cream-Free Buttercream Frosting 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening 1 tsp vanilla approx. 5 cups powdered sugar 4-8 TBSP of water
Beat the shortening and vanilla together until creamy (this won’t take long!). Alternate the powdered sugar and water until you achieve the right consistency. You’ll need a firm but not stiff consistency in order to decorate with the bag and tips.
Once the frosting is to the preferred consistency, add in your chosen color. Use gel food coloring rather than liquid to maintain the consistency, and follow the directions on the package for achieving the desired color.
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QECH
* QUICK - because who has time for anything more?
* EASY - because I'm no gourmet.
* CHEAP - because who has money for anything more?
* HEALTHY - because you are what you eat.
Wacky cake was invented during the world wars, when butter, eggs, milk, and sugar were rationed due to shortages. Thanks to the inventive generations preceding us, we have a reliable and easy recipe to use during times when we have:
! (Yes, those are affiliate links, just in case you want to click on them and earn me some money! ::wink, wink::) 
