First, I want to apologize for my absence this week. I made a rice pudding which I wanted to write about, but frankly, it was so disappointing and looked so unappealing (there were definitely references to bathroom behavior by my bf. Yes it was that bad looking), that I didn’t even take any final pictures. Maybe, one day when I’m bored, I’ll bring out my half-done photos and discuss it. Plus, I had friends over last weekend and cooked up a storm, so I just wasn’t in the mood to cook this week. (I made my goat cheese and asparagus quiche, the lemonade layer cake, and a green bean recipe. I forgot to take pictures of the green beans though, so I’ll have to make it again and document). Alas, I had nothing to really write about until now.
When I get sad about going to California and leaving my bf (which is often), I do my best to console myself by thinking about the things I am looking forward to having around. First on the list, being close to my family again (no offense guys but being able to attend and watch Giants games on the television is a close second). Part of my thinking-about-family time includes planning all of the nummies that I want to make for them. (If you haven’t heard of the word nummies, you need to hop on the bandwagon pronto).
Fabulous Pink Cake
This cake is my recent obsession. I have two nieces who I’m particularly fond of and I will finally be around to celebrate their birthdays. Look at the cake below and tell me that doesn’t scream “little girl birthday cake”. I have visions of three little round tiers with pink frosting and edible white pearl accents. Way over the top? Most definitely. But if a little girl birthday isn’t the occasion for over-the-top-ness, I don’t know what is. So my mission: Find a way to create this cake and this frosting and then make it in three small tiers. Due date: December 16. I know I have started a really long time in advance, but I figure one I get the tiers right, it can be recreated for any holiday. Fourth of July with red and blue sprinkles and white frosting: awesome. Halloween cake with orange and black sprinkles: check. Christmas with red and green sprinkles, with white frosting and holly accents: most definitely. I am obsessed, I know.
Step one: make the cake with sprinkles. This was my task last night. I decided, since I have so much time between now and my due date, that I can afford to take it one step at a time and make sure I get them right. (Plus, I didn’t have any powdered sugar, so I couldn’t go with my usual frosting methods and had to try something new).
First, I made the vanilla cake (from a box, gasp! I know, how could I?). But seriously, those box mixes are mighty delicious. I sprinkled a bunch of sprinkles into the batter before I poured it into the pan. Not the best idea. They all sort of sunk to the bottom while the oven finished heating up (my oven has been wacky lately and takes forever to get hot). So next time, I’m going to try sprinkling them on top of the cake once it’s in the pan and then letting them sit for just a minute so they can sink into the batter, but not to the bottom.
These were the only multi-colored sprinkles I had in my pantry, so I used them. They taste good and expand nicely in the cake, but they are too big. So you end up with spots of color and then pieces with no color at all. Maybe, I didn’t use enough, but I don’t think so. Next time, I’m definitely going to try the multi-colored sugar sprinkles (you know, the ones that are nice and tiny). Also, this type of sprinkle has brown sprinkles in them, which is weird once you have brown frosting on the cake. It makes it look like there was some sort of frosting debacle. But, I consider this test run a success because I can make the cake better next time.
I baked the cake at 350 for about 30 minutes until I could insert a toothpick and it came out cleanly.
Next up? Frosting. Once the cake was cooled, I put the sugar, light cream and butter in a sauce pan and brought the mix to a boil was stirring constantly. Then, I turned down the heat to medium and cooked the mix for two minutes (while stirring).
Then, I added the chocolate chips, stirred until smooth, and turned off the heat. I poured the vanilla in, stirred again and let the frosting cool for about ten minutes. The frosting is REALLY rich. They aren’t kidding when they say fudge. I probably would use a little less chocolate chips next time, although the chocolate monster that is my bf would disagree, he loved the frosting.
Once the frosting had cooled a bit (it doesn’t have to be totally cool, just not hot or warm. More lukewarm), I poured it on the cake and let it sit. I was really worried because the frosting was rather runny, but once it cools and hardens, it was perfect.
As you can see from this photo, the sprinkles were all clumped at the bottom, but boy was it delicious!
Frosting Recipe:
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup cream (or light cream)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract