Cherry Chocolate Cake
A few weeks ago was one of my co-workers birthdays
and I was asked to make a cake. I seem
to always be running low on time and actually threw this one (lovingly of
course) together. I got some inspiration from this pin. It is actually much simpler than it looks. Start out gathering-
Ingredients:
Milk Chocolate cake mix
Eggs
Butter sticks
Cherry Coke or Dr. Pepper
Jar of cherries
Milk Chocolate icing
Directions:
·
Follow the cake mix directions
o
substituting the butter for the oil and double the
quantity. If the mix calls for 1/3 cup of oil- then use 2/3 cup of butter
melted.
o
Substitute the soda and cherry juice for the water.
If called for 1 1/3 cup of water use 1 cup of Cherry Coke and 1/3 cup of Cherry
juice.
o
When it comes to the eggs be sure to add one more
than the mix calls for.
·
Bake as directed on the box.
·
Be sure to let the pans cool for 10 minutes before removing
the cake. Place cakes on flat plates and place in the freezer for at least
three hours. This help when leveling the cake and avoid excess crumbs.
·
After the cakes are leveled, by cutting the rounded
tops off with a large knife, spread one can of icing over the tops and sides-
saving a small portion for decoration.
·
With your second can of icing- pop it in the
microwave for 15 seconds and pour over the top generously.
·
Use a cake decorator or piping bag to place medium
sized dollops of left over icing around the edges to your liking. Place a
cherry on each dollop.
See, simple and easy! Plus it was a huge hit. They
all awed over the look of it, and even more so once they cut into it. One of
the best feelings is when everyone thinks your cake is store bought and you
have to convince them you made it yourself.
Cheetah Cake
So a few days later was another birthday. This time
it was for a 17 year old girl.
So what do
teenage girls like? I had no idea, sadly it’s been over a decade since I was a
teenage girl. But I do know that I found a really cool pin I had been wanting
to try, and this seemed the best opportunity. So I tried the cheetah print
cake.
The gist of it is, that you get a white cake mix and
set aside a portion for coloring. The first color would be a really dark brown
to black color for the lining of the spots, and second would be a light tannish
brown color for the inside of the spots.
So I will tell you what I did, so you can be sure
to not do the same. Cause let me tell you- this was the most evil cake I have
ever worked on! Nothing turned out the way it was supposed to. But on the bright
side, it did taste good-which is what really matters in the end right? So here’s
how it went:
·
I used one box of French vanilla cake mix using one
egg more than called for, doubled the oil amount and used butter instead, and
milk instead of water.
·
Next I made a milk chocolate cake as well using the
same substitutions.
·
In a smaller bowl I mixed both the vanilla and
chocolate to make a light brown color.
·
Next in my two 8” round pans I poured a thin coat
of the vanilla. With a piping bag I filled with the milk chocolate batter, I made
circles on the top resembling a target.
·
In another piping bag I used the tan color to trace
along the milk chocolate circles.
·
Once again I covered the tan circles with the milk
chocolate circles and poured another layer of French vanilla. And repeated the
process of the circles.
·
Then bake as directed. After they cool, freeze for
a few hours.
See here is where it started getting crazy. I did
the crumb coat layer of icing with chocolate icing. Then I got a can of vanilla
icing that was going to be turned hot pink. I used the gel type food coloring
and perhaps a bit much of it. The color was awesome, but when I just so
happened to taste it- it tasted horrible! The food coloring was all I could
taste. Yuck!!!
Since I didn’t have another can of frosting I decided
to improvise. Yikes!!!! So my reasoning was that we make lots of fun desserts
using melted almond bark, and I had plenty of that so…. Yea I did. Don’t judge
me. J So the first bowl I melted and burned so it got
chunky instead of pretty and smooth. So onto the second try. It melted all
pretty like and I used a different type of food coloring this time and the
color was good- so I poured it over the top of the cake. I can’t even tell you
how absolutely blonde I feel right about now! So, yeah, it doesn’t just pour
and spread all thin and pretty like. It puddles up on top and hardens rather quickly.
In for a penny in for a pound, right? So I tried working it. I tried trailing
it down the sides to make it look better, nope doesn’t work that way! So
needless to say, the good thing about it hardening is that it came off in large
chunks and I was back to square… 3?
So the Beast and I had to make an emergency run to
the store less than two hours before I had to be to work. But it did turn into
one of my all-time favorite photo ops. The Beast decided he wanted to be a
superhero all day and wore his cape to the store, it really was too cute!
Anyhow, we got another chocolate icing to melt over
the top, because let’s face it I was pissed by this time. I really didn’t want
to do any more decorating. However I also got another vanilla icing to color
purple and did the piping puffs all around the bottom edge and top edge. As well
as using my 1 and 7 cookie cutters to sprinkle rainbow sprinkles and that
turned out pretty cute. Until it all melted down the sides and the 17 spread to
look bloated.
I already hated this cake and I knew because of how
evil it was, that there was no way it was going to have the cheetah print when
we cut into it. I was right, if anything it just looked like a marble type
cake.
There was no way I was going to take a picture of
this horribly mean cake, at the rate we were going it would have probably broke
my camera! And I was a little afraid to taste it too. Now that I think about
it, I have seemed a little feistier since I ate it! Sorry Chelsey, I hope your
year goes more smoothly than your stinkin cake! Lol!
Weight Watchers Cake
Another Birthday just days later!!! Is there
nothing else to do in July?
The birthday girl this time is actually one who has
been on a Weight Watchers diet for 5 months now and has lost a considerable
amount of weight. But I figured even a girl on a diet needs a cake for her
birthday!
This cake is actually a pin I found and once again
wanted to try but hadn’t had the opportunity. I give you the-
Weight Watchers Cake
Ingredients:
Funfetti cake mix
-
12oz can of diet Cherry 7up
Yep that’s it! Just mix the cake mix powder with
the can of diet 7up. Bake as directed.
Instead of frosting use lite Cool whip.
This cake was not very pretty, I used the Bundt cake
and whipped cream in a can. I sprayed the whipped cream all over the top and
sides in a kinda messy fashion. But the big girl deep down inside the skinny
girl was in heaven and the taste was pretty awesome. I would definitely make
this cake again!
Rainbow Cake
The piece de’ resistance.
I wish I had taken more pictures for all this, but
it was quite an eventful day. Avery’s 8th My Little Pony party. We
made a hamburger bar and then a cupcake bar. We used rainbow colored mini
cupcakes for all the kids to decorate, and one medium sized rainbow cake for
everyone else. Inspired by this pin and this pin. So here’s how we made the rainbow cake.
Ingredients:
2 boxes of vanilla cake mix.
*don’t
forget to sub the milk for water, double butter for oil, and an extra egg.
Food coloring
2 Vanilla icing
Directions:
Make cake mix using substitutions.
Separate into smaller bowls. One box makes three,
for a total of six.
Use the food coloring to make Purple, Blue, Green,
Yellow, Orange, and Red.
Bake as directed in separate pans.
When cooled, freeze.
After cakes freeze, level the tops with a large
knife.
Use vanilla icing to smooth a crumb layer on each. And
stack.
Use another vanilla icing can to color blue and
melt for 15 seconds.
 |
| The reason I forgot to take step by step pics, I got enjoy watching her instead. |
Pour and smooth all along the top and sides.
On the corners I used the sour rainbow Extremes
candy strips, since it was difficult to make the edges perfectly smooth.
Use a piping bag and vanilla icing, place puffs all
along the bottom edge and three puffs in the corner.
Using the Extremes candy- I shaped into rainbows and
froze them so they would stay- i placed them frozen on top of the cake with a
few small MLP toy ponies. It was too
cute. Unfortunately we took the décor off the top before I remembered to take a
picture of it. Throw the dog a bone here- we had a slumber party with thirteen
girls!
So there you have it- 4 cakes in two weeks. I’m a
little caked out at the moment, so were working on our front flower garden this
week. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
