March Madness...Baking

The Hubby's birthday was Friday. He is pretty easy to please. He always requests an angel food cake with his grandma's recipe for egg yolk frosting. I misplaced the frosting recipe this year. Before you feel to bad for him, his mother is also making him a cake on Sunday. We have 4 birthdays within 5 days and are doing a group celebration at the farm. In Hubby's side everyone, with the exception of Uncle K, like angel food cake (with the famous frosting) for birthdays. So he really isnt too deprived from the cake I made him. He'll get the coveted frosting soon enough.

We celebrated 35, by  giving him a pass on the no meat on Friday lental rule, and went out to eat. He ordered steak. The kids ate ravioli at home and stayed up past bedtime watching a movie. Hubby and I finished date night by driving out to the farm to put a newborn calf in the barn.

Saturday Bear and I baked her birthday cake masterpiece. She wanted a half and half cake. Half chocolate and half vanilla; half flowers and half mermaid. So after the boy-os and Dad left for the farm, we got to baking. 

I cheated and used box mixes. Devils Food and a plain White mix that we added vanilla to. Then we made 2 kinds of frosting. Swiss Meringue Buttercream and American Buttercream.  I used the first for a crumb coat and inbetween the cake layers, and for the Mermaid/Vanilla half of the cake.  Now I am not a fan of American Buttercream, for me it is too sweet, however it is the most recommended for using with Russian piping tips. Also, it will be a 6 year olds birthday cake, so overly sweet frosting will probably be fine. However, the swiss meringue is stiff enough I think it would have worked too.

I used candy melts in silicone molds for the big flower cake toppers and piped green leaves with more frosting. The mermaid side has a cute figurine as a topper that birthday girl will get to keep.

Bear and I are both pretty proud of how our creation turned out. She picked the flower tips and colors, and helped put on the candy pearl bubbles. Bear is a natural at egg cracking, and might be in line for a breakfast helper promotion. Only one dropped egg and zero shells in all the ones she cracked. She is also an expert spoon licker and quality controlled the cake batter and frostings. Hell of a hand.