Birthday Cakes - 4/4 - The Idea Room

Oreo Cupcakes

I had so much fun at the Recessionista Party last night. So much so, that I was too tired to get a great post together. I will post some pics of the party later. But I didn’t want to leave you empty handed today so I posted my favorite Oreo Cupcake recipe! De.Li.Ci.OUS!

Too Much Chocolate Cake from allrecipes

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used miniature)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

*Note: I made cupcakes with this recipe. I ended up with 28 cupcakes that were baked at 350 degrees F for about 21 minutes.

Buttercream Dream Frosting

Ingredients:
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
4-6 tablespoons very cold milk (I used 5 TBS)
8 crushed Oreo cookies with the cream removed before crushing

Directions:
Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk… one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency. Fold in the Oreo cookie crumbs. Top cooled cupcakes with the buttercream frosting and garnish with 1/2 an Oreo.

November 13, 2009 · Filed under: Birthday Cakes, Birthdays, Recipes, Treats Tagged with

Marshmallow Fondant Flower Cake

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*Be sure to enter the giveway which can be found here!

My baby turned 2 recently! How did that happen? I wanted to make her a flower cake with fondant but wanted some that wasn’t pricey and tasted good. I found a great recipe for homemade marshmallow fondant from Cake Journal here. And it really does taste yummy!

I separated the melted marshmallows into two different bowls and made half of the fondant brown and half pink. I’ll admit, I had a bit of a panic attack while kneading it because it was so sticky at first. I learned to mix the second color a lot more in the bowl with the powdered sugar (icing sugar) with much better results, minus the panicky feeling!

When it was no longer sticky, I rolled the fondant out and cut out the flower shapes. Then I just randomly placed them onto the icing. I used the end of a straw to make round centers and then placed them in the middle of the flowers.

For the cake, I made a white cake and split the batter in half into two separate bowls. I dyed one brown using cocoa and the other pink by adding one drop of red food coloring. I greased two round cake pans and poured the brown batter into the pan first. Then I dribbled the pink batter around the chocolate batter so that it was marbelized.

I baked the cakes at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. After they had cooled completely, I placed one cake on the cake stand and covered the top of it with home-made buttercream frosting and then added the second cake layer. I added a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake (crumb layer) and then placed into the freezer. After a half an hour, I took the cake out and completely frosted the cake.

To make the frosting smooth, I took a flat spatula and a glass of HOT water. I went over the frosting layer very gently and each time placed the spatula in the hot water and rinsed it clean. Do this over the entire cake. Now it is ready to place the fondant shapes onto the cake.

You can do any shapes or theme you like. I love how versatile this is for boys and girls of any age!

You can also coordinate wrapping paper and boxes to match your cake as well. I buy white wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree and then wrap my gifts with it. Then I paint or cut and paste round polka dots or shapes to match my cakes or birthday theme! A cheap but cute alternative!

**Edit–Here is my recipe for Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup shortening (I use Crisco Butter Flavor)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
5 Tbsp. Milk
5 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar (Icing Sugar)

Mix together butter, shortening and vanilla. Alternate between adding milk and cups of sugar. Whip together well until a smooth consistency. Add more of less sugar and milk to get your desired consistency! I usually just add sugar without measuring. I don’t usually add all 5 1/2 cups.

October 2, 2009 · Filed under: Birthday Cakes, Recipes Tagged with

Rainbow Cake

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Need some happiness in the form of a Rainbow Layer Cake? I think yes!!

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My daughter just recently celebrated her birthday. As I was looking for cake ideas I came across this idea for making a rainbow cake and of course my daughter and I both loved it. Who wouldn’t want a rainbow layer cake for her birthday?

I took two white cake mixes and mixed them up in a large bowl according to the directions on the box. Then I divided the batter into 6 different bowls. Each bowl ended up with about 1 and 3/4 cups of batter each. Then I mixed some food coloring into each bowl to get my rainbow colors. I used the gel food colors rather than the liquid drops.

When each color is mixed, place batter into 6 separate round 9 inch pans. I only had three, so I baked 3 first and then when they had cooled, I transferred the cakes to a cookie sheet. I washed the pans and baked the other 3 cakes. Be sure to grease your pans well so that the cakes come out without sticking. I baked the cakes in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes.

After all the cake layers have cooled, place your bottom layer (purple) onto your cake plate. Add a thin layer of frosting. Place your blue cake layer on top of the frosting. Continue in this manner until you have added all your cake layers.

I have learned the trick for getting a nice clean frosting layer without all the cake crumbs in it. Have you ever had that problem? After you have your cake layers placed together, before you frost the rest of the cake, place your entire cake into the freezer for about an hour or so. Then take your frosting and lightly frost the entire cake.

This layer will have a lot of crumbs in it, but don’t worry, they will not show. I forgot to take a picture of this step, sorry. Place your cake back into the freezer for another hour. This will seal your cake crumbs so that they will not stick to your final frosting layer. Take your cake out and frost the entire cake.

Right after I have frosted the entire cake, I take my flat spatula and dip it into a tall cup of hot water. Then with it clean of frosting, I run it over the frosting layer to give it a smooth finish. I continue washing the spatula in the hot water over and over until I like the results.

**Update—The Light and Fluffy frosting recipe I used for this cake is as follows:

Place 2 sticks of salted butter, at room temperature (otherwise you will get chunks of butter in your frosting), into mixer and whip together until nice and smooth. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Gradually add about ½ to ¾ of a bag (regular size about 4 cups? ) of powdered sugar (Confectioner’s sugar). It will be a bit chunky and not very smooth. Gradually add 1 teaspoon of milk while mixing frosting. If it is still not the consistency you desire, add another teaspoon of milk until you get a nice thick frosting that is smooth. Then fold in 1 tub of Cool Whip. That’s it. This makes a very light and creamy frosting. This is just enough for frosting this BIG cake. Make sure to go easy on the frosting between layers so you have enough to cover the entire cake.

My family was so surprised at the colorful cake awaiting them when we cut into it. The cake is so colorful it makes me happy just to look at it. Imagine how you feel when you are actually eating it.

This cake would be fun to make for all sorts of holidays too. I thought red and white layers would be fun for Dr. Seuss day to eat while you read his books together.

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