Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Happy Birthday Little Girl!

My baby girl turned one a few weeks ago, and we had her birthday BBQ this past weekend. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. So much has happened! And this next year looks even busier!!

Her birthday also kicks off what I've dubbed the Birthday Season. From now until Christmas we have 15 birthdays, in our family alone! (There's also 4 anniversaries, but thank goodness those aren't all celebrated unless it's a milestone)

I know it's convenient to buy the fancy fondant decorated birthday cakes these days. Who has the time to bake a cake, shape it, and then decorate it? I'm a stay at home mom and I still have trouble making the time, but I just can't bring myself to buy a cake. My mom always made our birthday cakes, and Halloween costumes, and those are two things I'll always do myself.  Hubby and I also don't care for the sickly sweet cakes you buy these days, this is just another way we limit the sugar and processed crap for ourselves and the kids. Plus it saves me the $50+ I'd be spending. Before and after decorating I'd gladly tell you I don't mind saving the money, during the actual decorating you might hear me swearing, crying and even yelling. That's when I'd give anyone $50 just to make it look the way I envisioned. 

This time I thought I was going to be smart. I traced a picture from pinterest so I could fill in the lines with icing. So smart and easy right? (Especially while you're holding the screaming squirming birthday girl and trying to decorate!) This is what it was supposed to look like:


Cute, right? I thought so too! I learned the hard way that cream cheese icing doesn't harden when its 25+ out, and that if I try to freeze it, the cake freezes solid while the icing stays soft and gooey! So instead of the cute, perfect owl I envisioned, I got this instead 

Which still isn't too bad, but wasn't the smooth picture perfect owl I had envisioned. The most important thing was that it tasted good. In fact it was DELICIOUS! I adapted a Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Icing recipe fro Joy the Baker which I'll post below. It made enough for two 8" cakes, a mini bundt cake and 15 mini muffins (for taste testing.....9 of which went straight into my belly) The cake was quick to whip up, and was insanely moist and flavourful. I can't wait to make it again!

'Tropical' Carrot Cake
adapted from Joy the Baker
3-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 allspice
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup coconut oil (melted)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup crushed pineapple (I used applesauce due to an allergy)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/4 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350, line cake pans with parchment, spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, soda and spices. 

In another bowl whisk eggs and sugars until slightly thickened. Add oils, mix carefully! Add in pineapple, vanilla and mix again

Add wet ingredients all at once to the dry. Fold together, when almost incorporated add in carrots, coconut and dried cranberries. Keep folding together until blended. 

Bake for roughly 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Cream Cheese Icing 

8 oz.   cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups icing sugar, lumps broken up
2 tsp vanilla

Mix cream cheese in mixer until soft and smooth, add butter. Mix well

Add in salt and sugar, blend until smooth, add in vanilla. 

(In retrospect, I would have added more icing sugar to get it to harden)

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