I am getting ready to bake my son's birthday cake.

[wildeyed]

Wish me luck. I am so tired when I do these projects, I have had some extremely odd results in the past. Luckily kids like anything with sugar and butter, so can't go too far wrong :)

I am attempting butter cream frosting this year. I tried it once before and learned that when they say you need a candy thermometer, you really do need a candy thermometer. Eyeballing it doesn't work. I made a very nice glaze last time. Oh well, it still tasted good.

[NMDemDist2]

1. man, I'm with you. I tried a mapleine cake from scratch two weeks ago

and it was awful. The texture and taste were all wrong. It did convince me I absolutely NEEDED a Mix Master though LOL

My frosting came out fine (butter, salt, mapleine, eggs and powdered sugar) but the cake wasn't sweet enough at all and had a "floury" taste!

DH's comment was "I have had women, including my mother, try and make me "scratch" cake for years, but nobody beats Betty Crocker. Just buy the mixes from now on OK honey" :cry:

He then did manfully say "But I'll eat it if you want me to." ROFL

[wildeyed]

2. Disasters with cake making.

Well let's see, in my last house, the floor in the kitchen was uneven, so the cakes were uneven. I had to stick the layers together with tooth picks. One year, flat baking powder, so it didn't rise properly. Last year, I used a new recipe which was either bad or I made a mistake so I ended up with something that resembled fried pancake. I currently have the cakes in the oven, so I don't know what will got wrong this year. But there was already some problem with the whipping of the egg whites. While I was doing it, my son fell down and cut his lip, so I had to stop and attend to him. They weren't as fluffy as they should have been when I finally got back to it.

You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. But I just can't help myself with cake baking. I keep thinking, this time, it will turn out right. This time will be different.......

[eleny]

3. If nothing else

Your cakes will be the stories your kids tell with much fondness for mom who made them from scratch. Who knows - they may judge other cakes as not being as good as mom's. :)

My mom used to make our birthday cakes. August and September birthdays. She would use flowers from the garden to decorate them. Floppy little pink ones. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out!

[Stinky The Clown]

4. So now we're all waiting with 'bated breath to find out how the cake

turned out! Tell! Tell!

But as eleny said, it won't really matter to your kids. They'll love you no matter what!

[wildeyed]

7. So far, so good.

The cakes are denser than they should be due to the earlier mentioned problem with the egg whites. But they appear to be edible.

I make the frosting tonight. :scared:

I think the key to this whole cake making thing is practice. I only make one or two cakes a year, so I can never quite remember what worked and what didn't. So I plan to make a cake every week for the next few weeks until I get the hang of it. My kids will be psyched! I did that with roast chicken and now I make a nearly perfect one every time with out even trying.

[grasswire]

5. you're a better person than I am!

I wouldn't waste buttercream on kids. Yum.

[wildeyed]

8. The parents will appreciate it.

Plus I just want to make it for fun. Yum!

[The empressof all]

6. Easiest, awesome birthday cake

I've made this cake for my daughter's birthday for the last 10 years and have gotten requests from her friends to make theirs.

Ingredients

1 bag double stuff Oreos
1 bag chocolate chips
1 Frozen Sara Lee Pound Cake
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 jar caramel sauce
3 pints of good ice-cream (flavors that go with oreo's-we used the Dulce con Leche flavor last time)

You will need a large spring form pan

Instructions:

Slice pound cake thinly
Crush Oreo's in food processor until medium fine crumbs
Melt chocolate chips with cream -stir until smooth

Starting with the pound cake start building layers. Pound Cake, Ice Cream, drizzle of chocolate, crushed oreos, (reserve about 1/4 of your crushed cookies) caramel sauce. You want the top to be a good size layer of chocolate.

Freeze in Pan until Hard then unmold from pan

When frozen press remaining Oreo's around the edge of the cake

The chocolate top is hard enough to write Happy Birthday on with icing.

[wildeyed]

9. Oooh, maybe I will do that for my daughter's party.

She is born right before Christmas, so this year we punted on the party and will do it in the summer. Ice cream and oreo cake would be massively popular.

[eleny]

10. One thing you might try

Just as a cake to make every few weeks like you want to do. My mom used to make all cakes from scratch. She started using a tube pan. Bundt pans are a good choice, too. Pretty much the same thing, really.

You make the cake, pop it out, let it cool and dust it with powdered sugar. Putting a little powdered sugar in a strainer and tapping the strainer to let the sugar fall on the cake like snow.

I loved this cake and learned that my mom in law also made them when her 3 boys were small and went through cakes like buzzsaws.

When you get the hang of the cake baking, then icing might be less daunting. It would shake me up if I was learning both at once! I still make bundt cakes more often than any other kind. Just be sure to grease up the pan very well so they pop out easy.

You brought back good memories with this thread. Thanks!

[wildeyed]

12. Good idea.

If I made a cake with frosting every week, we would all be as big as a house, too. So no frosting is better for an everyday cake. Also I think you can freeze the layers for a few months, so I might put some of them in the freezer to use later.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Here's another tip to make any cake baking a little easier

Try using a silicone baking pan instead of metal. I know they seem pricey but they really do work. Nothing sticks and cakes are very easy to remove. As to their baking properties, they're pretty close to standard dark metal, but a bit different from shiny or silver metal.

[wildeyed]

13. I don't have a bundt pan.

Maybe I will get a silicone.

This forum is bad for my pocket book. So many toys, so little time!

[eleny]

14. Check out the thrift shop for a bundt if you go that route

I'm also interested in this silicone pan thing. I never heard of this. We're spending but we're learning, too!

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Here's some info about them

I found this in a quick google. I am sure you can find out much more about them with more research. We have a few and really like them.

http://www.chefscatalog.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=cprod4130006&parentId=cat000266&masterId=cat000259&grandMasterId=cat000258&cmCat=&index=15&showCrumb=true&cm_ven=Google&cm_cat=AdWords&cm_pla=Search&cm_ite=silicone%20cake%20pan

[NMDemDist2]

16. you are an expensive habit H2S LOL

you share so many cool kitchen toys :D

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Who? Me?

[eleny]

18. Oh, so they're the same as a Silpat

Same idea, I mean. I got myself a Silpat pan liner the other day. I didn't know they used that technology for pans, too!

P.S. Edit - This online store has some of these for $5.00. I wonder about the quality? http://www.kitchencollection.com/

[Stinky The Clown]

19. Pretty much ... yeah .......

The Silpat replaces parchment and also can be used where a bare pan is called for. It is a pure silicone surface and nothing sticks to it.

The pans are a similar principle. They're pure silicone and nothing sticks to them. However, where the Silpat has those threads in it for both strength and thermal properties, the bakeware relies on opaque color to achieve the thermal properties and thickness to achieve the strength.

If you mean the 3 for $25 Kitchen Aid silicone pans on that linked page, that appears to be a good deal. I have seen the KA products in the flesh and they appear to be just fine.

[eleny]

20. Thanks for responding about the pans on sale

They have some others for $5.00 each. I was looking at the combo deal, too. What I want is the 6 muffin pan, a bundt pan and a loaf.

Thanks for the word on the inexpensive ones. I went as far as updating a couple of choices with my zip code and came up no shipping or tax. I may call them Monday to see if that's correct. If so, they've made a sale and some of my old pans are going to the thrift.

[wildeyed]

21. Ta-dum!

Birthday cake :)



My son keeps saying, "Mine cake! Mine cake!" He doesn't understand about waiting until tomorrow for the guests.

[Stinky The Clown]

22. Ta-dum, ta-dum

What a cute kid! Looking wantingly at that cake (which also is pretty good looking)!

Is your dog a Border Collie?

[wildeyed]

24. Yes, she is a Border Collie.

Great dogs if you can deal with the energy level. She is waiting to see if any of that cake will end up on the floor for her.

[Stinky The Clown]

28. Border collies are great dogs!

We had one (sadly now gone) and my son has one now. We doggie sat her for almost 6 months. Made us want another one.

They are incredibly intelligent. You're right about the energy level!

Hi!Gladyou'rehome!Canwegooutandplaynow?Itsureisgoodtohaveyouhere. Gotanyfood?Ihavetopeesoyoubetterletmeoutquick!Ohyeah.Gotanysheepthatneedherding? ........

[wildeyed]

29. Mine is obsessed with frisbees.

We adopted Ruby as a 2 year old through a breed rescue. I wanted the intelligence and the temperament without the insane energy level, and choosing an adult dog ensured that we wouldn't end up mismatched with a high drive dog. She is perfect for us. Smart, sensitive, with no herding instinct and little drive. She is happy to follow me around the house and 'help' with domestic chores, keep an eye on the kids, go for the occasional jog and run after her frisbee for a 1/2 an hour every day.

[NMDemDist2]

32. people who rescue animals have a special place in heaven

here's my "bubba" we named him Einstein LOL he's the sweetest animal i've ever met

[wildeyed]

33. What a sweet boy! Love the one white eye.

He has that typical BC look, like he can understand English and is trying to form a complete sentence to answer back with.

[Longhorn]

23. That looks yummy!

Good job, Mom! And Happy Birthday to your cutie pie! :party:

[wildeyed]

25. Thanks! n/t

[NMDemDist2]

26. looks great! and watch out.... that brilliant dog is already whispering

in that innocent child's ear..."Pull it down, pull it down, no one will care"

I have a Border too and they are so smart!!

[wildeyed]

30. My dogs are very bonded with the children,

largely for that reason. It is worth the occasional tail pull to get all that yummy people food :9

[eleny]

27. What a sweet picture!

Look at those earnest eyebrows. They tell a story, mom. Next time we'll see your little guy with that icing on his cheeks.

The cake turned out very pretty. You're a neat cake maker. It looks like it belongs in a bakery window. Have a fun party!

[wildeyed]

31. Thanks!

It doesn't look so neat close up. My husband asked if I would like for him to try to get the frosting even. But it doesn't appear that the birthday boy will mind!

[fortyfeetunder]

34. Awesome job!

I hope all went well at the party!

[wildeyed]

35. Final report.

The cake turned out well, for once! Everyone ate it up, and they weren't just being polite. Chocolate buttercream is *really* yummy. I will definitely make it again, even though it is some work.

[NJCher]

36. I came to this thread late

But I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the story of your cake, the picture with your little boy and dog, and the stories about border collies.

What a happy story--contrasts with how I had to turn of the television news earlier because of too much bush.


Cher

[wildeyed]

37. Thanks!

I find the entire Cooking and Baking Forum is a great refuge from reality.

[NMDemDist2]

38. Amen Sistah!!! LOL n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

39. Keeps my blood pressure low

News is always bad. Here it is always happy!

[eleny]

40. Amen!

After all the dismal events, I found refuge here. When I'm feeling stronger (politically) I'll jump back into other discussions - although I keep up my email and letter writing campaigns. It's great to be hanging out with Dems and talk cooking!

Btw, I had my teeth cleaned yesterday. My dental office is always so shocked when I tell them I'm glad to see them. My hygenist and my dentist both hate what's going on in the country and with Iraq. I look forward to getting a cleaning every 3 months. And it helps that my dentist is also an artist. He's gotten into metal sculpture lately. What a guy!

[NMDemDist2]

41. my chiropractor is like that

he's a joy to see, but his office mate and the receptionist are Bushies. I think he is VERY relieved to see me so he can safely vent LOL

[eleny]

42. My chiro, too!

She's a total peach. And her sister is her receptionist. So, it's safe all around. Amazing how much you can discuss in 10 minutes!