Three Little Pigs Cake

My sister-in-law's baby shower was yesterday. I did a fun Three Little Pigs cake.



Each tier was a different flavor of cake that corresponded with the colors of the tier. The straw tier was a yellow butter cake (recipe below) with Wilton's buttercream with butter flavoring. The stick tier was chocolate cake with chocolate cream filling. The brick tier was strawberry cake with vanilla cream. All of the tiers were covered with marshmallow fondant. For the chocolate tier, I used chocolate marshmallows and a little bit of chocolate syrup instead of regular marshmallows. The three little pigs and big bad wolf were made with white modeling chocolate.

Yellow Butter Cake

This cake was very moist and a fantastic example of what yellow butter cake should be. I found the recipe here at Joy of Baking.

Ingredients
-6 large egg yolks
-1 cup milk
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-3 cups cake flour
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces
I also added 1 4-oz package of instant vanilla pudding.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two nine-inch cake pans and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/4 cup milk.
3. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix (if using). Mix until well combined. Add butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk and mix until well-combined.
4. Add egg mixture gradually, beating well.
5. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a pick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Strawberry Cake

My sister-in-law's birthday is July 1st, and Walter's is July 31st. Because of this, they usually have a joint party in mid-July to celebrate both.

Strawberry Cake



I found the recipe for this cake here at Country Living. It was well-loved, very moist with a great strawberry flavor. I do wish I had added more food coloring than I did, because it was not as pink as I wanted it to be, but that is purely an aesthetic issue that nobody seemed to mind.

I used marshmallow fondant to cover and decorate. I used the star imprint mat from Wilton to get the star design on the cake--it was really easy to work with, but I do suggest spraying the mat with nonstick cooking spray before you use it. It's a silicone mat and very easy to clean. I liked it a lot.

I used vanilla cream for the filling and placed fresh strawberry slices between the layers. It was a perfect summer cake.

Ingredients
-2 1/2 cups cake flour
-1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-3/4 cup butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1 cup strawberry preserves
-4 eggs
-3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/8 teaspoon red food coloring
-1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9- or 10-inch cake pans and set aside.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, and set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add strawberry preserves and vanilla and mix well.
4. Add eggs to butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add dry mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternating buttermilk between additions, beginning and ending with the dry mixture and beating well after each addition. Add food coloring and mix well.
6. Divide batter evenly among cake pans. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes or until a pick inserted in the cake's center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Banana and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake Bites

I had leftover cake after Father's Day, as always. I found some peanut butter flavored Wilton candy melts, so I decided to dip the chocolate chip cake in those. I also ground some chocolate chips up and threw them in with the cake and frosting because the cake I had leftover didn't really have any chocolate chips in it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake Bites



I thought the peanut butter was a great addition to these. They were wonderful.

Ingredients
-1 recipe Chocolate Chip Cake
-1/2 cup vanilla cream
-Witon's Candy Melts, peanut butter flavor
-6 ounces ground chocolate chips

Directions
1. Crumble prepared cake into crumbs. Mix in vanilla cream and chocolate chips until well combined.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls. Dip in melted peanut butter candy and cool on wax paper. Drizzle with additional chocolate if desired.

Banana Cake Bites



These were my favorite. I considered dipping them in peanut butter as well, but I only bought one bag and used it all on the others.

Ingredients
-1 recipe Banana Cake
-1/2 cup vanilla cream
-Wilton's candy melts light cocoa and white

Directions
1. Crumble prepared cake into crumbs. Mix in vanilla cream until well combined.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls. Dip in melted chocolate or white chocolate and cool on wax paper. Drizzle with additional chocolate if desired.

Tiki Idol Cake

This cake was for my father. He collects tiki idols, and so this cake was born.



I liked this cake much better, aesthetically. It also tasted fantastic. It was a banana cake with vanilla cream filling, and there were sliced bananas and strawberries between each layer. It was covered and detailed with marshmallow fondant.

Banana Cake

This tasted like banana bread but with the fluffy cake texture. I found the recipe here at Cooks.com. I was very pleased with it. I also altered this one a small bit.

Ingredients
-1 1/4 cups sugar
-1/2 cup butter
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-4 tablespoons sour cream
-1 cup banana puree
-1 1/2 cups cake flour
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 4-ounce package banana cream instant pudding

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 8-inch square pan and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs.
3. Dissolve baking soda in sour cream and add to batter. Add remaining ingredients and beat well.
4. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until pick inserted comes out clean.

Harley Davidson Cake

I made two cakes today. I think the quality of this one (which I made second) suffered because of it. But it's for my father-in-law, who has never seen one of my decorated cakes, so maybe he won't realize that it's not my best work. ;)

Father-in-law collects Harley Davidson memorabilia, so I decorated the cake accordingly.



I made a chocolate chip cake with a vanilla cream filling. I used marshmallow fondant for all of the details except the writing on the logo, which I did with Wilton's Icing Writers.



Chocolate Chip Cake

This cake tasted like a chocolate chip cookie. It was fabulous and incredibly moist. I did make a few changes, so I will write the recipe as adapted. The original recipe can be found here at Recipezaar.

Ingredients
-2 1/4 cup cake flour
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 1/4 cups sour cream
-3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-3 eggs
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1 12-ounce package chocolate chips
-2 additional teaspoons flour

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 8-inch cake pans and set aside.
2. Combine first nine ingredients in large bowl and mix until smooth and well combined.
3. Combine cinnamon and additional flour in a small bag. Add chocolate chips and shake until they are coated. Fold into batter.
4. Pour batter into pans and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a pick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Vanilla Cream

This tasted just like vanilla ice cream! It was fantastic. This recipe makes about twice as much as was needed for this cake.

Ingredients
-2 cups heavy whipping cream
-2 cups powdered sugar
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and mix until thickened.

Sunflower Cake

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday. Her favorite flower is the sunflower, so I used it for inspiration for her cake.



I am getting very comfortable working with fondant. I really enjoy it.



I didn't use any new recipes for this cake. The recipes I used are listed below.

Recipes Used

Easy Chocolate Party Cake--I added a 4-ounce box of instant chocolate pudding to the batter to make it more moist. It worked!
Chocolate Cream Filling--I also used this for the crumb coat.
Chocolate Fondant
Marshmallow Fondant

Stepford Sweets: Half-Life Groom's Cake

This was the first cake I did for my business, Stepford Sweets. I also included a small batch of chocolate cake bites. The customers loved the look of the cake and the cake bites, as well as the white chocolate details. They did say that the cake was a little dry, which I am taking into account and will remedy in the future. But overall, the bride and groom were both satisfied with the look and taste of the cake, so I definitely consider it a job well done.

Half-Life Groom's Cake



Half-Life is a post-apocalyptic video game. The bride suggested it for the groom's cake because the groom was playing the game in his dorm room the first time they met. Headcrabs are common monsters in the game, and the crowbar is a common weapon used by the main character.



I used this chocolate cake recipe, these recipes for chocolate fondant and chocolate buttercream, this recipe for the modeling chocolate headcrabs and crowbar, and this recipe for the marshmallow fondant (the orange detail on the cake). I used Wilton's Fondant Icing Writers mixed with orange food coloring for the writing on the cake. The filling of the cake was a self-created chocolate cream recipe (see below).

Chocolate Cream Filling

This was delicious and smooth. The recipe makes far more than required for filling the cake, but I definitely didn't complain.

Ingredients
-2 cups heavy whipping cream
-1 bag (about 20 squares) Hershey's Cacao Reserve Milk Chocolate Squares
-1/2 cup Hershey's chocolate syrup

Directions
1. Melt chocolate squares.
2. Combine all three ingredients and whip cream until smooth and fluffy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Graduation Cupcakes

Walter's cousin is graduating from high school on Sunday. Naturally, I had to bake for the party after. So, I made some chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and peanut butter cup graduation caps.

Chocolate Cupcakes



I got this recipe here from Ina Garten at The Food Network. I ended up with 18 cupcakes instead of the 14-15 she said I'd get, but I am not too concerned by it. These cupcakes were pretty delicious. Moist and chocolatey. Walter said you could taste the coffee and wasn't thoroughly impressed with that, but I couldn't taste it at all. Although afterwards, he said that perhaps he was just tasting the peanut butter icing, so I am not sure. Regardless, I rather enjoyed them.

Ingredients
-3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
-2/3 cup granulated sugar
-2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
-2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I used 2 large eggs)
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
-1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
-2 tablespoons brewed coffee
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup good cocoa powder
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I used table salt)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the vanilla and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the butter mixture, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture and mixing well after each addition. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.
6. Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

This also came from Ina Garten (same link as above). I was worried it would be too sweet, but it was very good and complimented the cupcakes well.

Ingredients
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1 cup creamy peanut butter
-5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
-3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (I used table salt)
-1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions
1. Combine first five ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix until smooth. Add cream and mix on high speed until combined and smooth. Spread over cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Cup Graduation Caps

This idea originally came from Bakerella, but I found it here at A Year in the Kitchen. I thought it was an adorable idea, so I had to do it!

Ingredients
-Reese's mini Peanut Butter Cups (the same number as you have cupcakes)
-An equal amount of chocolate squares (I used Hershey's Cacao Reserve milk chocolate squares)
-Fruit-by-the-Foot candies (Bakerella used Airheads Sours. I was going to use those, but I ate them all before I got to it and then couldn't find more. Ashlee used Twizzlers Pull N Peels. Basically, anything you think will work is great. Be creative!)
-Colored icing (I used Wilton's Icing Writers in blue for this. Ashlee used
-Peanut butter

Directions
1. Unwrap peanut butter cups and chocolate squares. Place a small dab of peanut butter on the underside of the chocolate square and attach it to the small end of the peanut butter cup (so that the cup is resting upside-down).
2. Cut a small strip from the Fruit-by-the-Foot and attach it to the top of the cap with some of the colored icing. Place a small dab of the icing in the center of the square to make it look like a cap top.
3. Place graduation craps on cupcakes and serve.

Strawberry Cake Bites

Final shower upload! These were made from leftover cake, and they went fast. I ended up making something like 170 of them, so I sent some to the office with Walter today as well.

Strawberry Cake Bites



Nothing new here. My mother loves these and was very "helpful" when I was making them. She kept deciding one looked "messed up," meaning she had to take care of it for me. She probably ate ten of them. ;)

Ingredients
-1 recipe 1-2-3-4 Cake
-1 recipe Strawberry Cream
-Light cocoa melting discs

Directions
1. Crumble prepared cake into crumbs. Mix in strawberry cream until well combined.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls. Dip in melted chocolate and cool on wax paper. Drizzle with additional chocolate if desired.

Winnie the Pooh Cake

I am so glad the shower is over. It took me a week to complete this cake, and then it melted on the way to my mother's house. It looked perfect and fantastic when I left the house, but in 80 degree Missouri weather with no air conditioning, it was droopy by the time I got there, and the fondant was tearing a bit on the top tier, causing the strawberry cream to leak out...everyone said it looked good and that it tasted fantastic, so I guess I am being too hard on myself. But I was nearly in tears at the fact that it melted so much, and I am almost embarrassed to post it on here given how horrible I think it turned out. Regardless, I have a number of pictures of it and its details. I will go ahead and post the pictures first, and then I will post the recipes for the fondant and strawberry cream.

EDIT: I am much more impressed with myself and this cake than I was last night. I have decided that if everyone else in the world thinks it turned out okay, I must be the one in the wrong. :) Thank you so much to everyone for your support.

Winnie the Pooh Cake

This cake was a white cake that was filled and frosted with a strawberry whipped cream and covered in marshmallow fondant. The cake and modeling chocolate recipes I used can be found here. All of the detailing (except the clouds, which were fondant) was done in white chocolate. I used food coloring to color the layers of the cake different colors:



Front of the cake:



Side of the cake:



Back of the cake. Pooh is caught in Rabbit's door...I foolishly put him on the cake before I left home, so he sagged quite a bit:




Winnie the Pooh:



The door to Pooh's house:



Winnie the Pooh, stuck in Rabbit's door. As you can see, he melted and got somewhat squished on the ride there:



Rabbit:



My sister:



The sign for Rabbit's House:



Tigger:



Eeyore:



Close up of Eeyore's tail:



Piglet:



Strawberry Cream Filling

This recipe is an adaptation of the Cookies and Cream Filling I used here, which I found at Annie's Eats.

Ingredients
-1 1/4 cup heavy cream
-2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 cup strawberry puree

Directions
1. Combine the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Mix until all sugar is incorporated. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Mix in strawberry puree until well combined.

Marshmallow Fondant

This is a delicious and easy recipe that I found here at Skinny Food by Amy. I think I will be using it for all fondant cakes from now on.

Ingredients
-1 cup mini marshmallows
-1 Tablespoon water I replaced 1/8 teaspoon water with 1/8 teaspoon strawberry oil in one batch of fondant--I made about 6 batches)
-1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Directions
1. Place marshmallows in microwave safe bowl and add water and candy oil (if using). Microwave for about 20 seconds, just long enough for marshmallows to puff up.
2. Stir marshmallows until liquified and soupy. Add powdered sugar and mix until well-incorporated and no longer sticky.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake Bites

Friday, I started my cake for Easter. It stuck to the pan, so I made it into cake balls. Walter's office loves cake bites.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake Bites



I love cake bites because they are easy to make, easy to ship, and they are heavenly. I used some of the cookies and cream filling from the cake in them, but it didn't really come through. Regardless, delicious.

Ingredients
-1 recipe Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake (see below)
-Leftover chocolate buttercream icing and cookies and cream filling, or 1 can of chocolate frosting
-Wilton chocolate melting wafers for dipping (I used about two 14-oz bags for dipping and 1/2 14-oz bag for drizzling)

Directions
1. Crumble cake into fine crumbs. Add frosting and mix well.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls.
3. Melt chocolate and dip cake balls into it. Let dry, then drizzle with additional chocolate.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake

This recipe, of course, comes from Hershey's, but I got it from Annie's Eats. It is so moist and delicious.

Ingredients
-2 cups sugar
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 3/4 cups plus 2 1/2 Tablespoons cake flour)
-3/4 cup cocoa powder
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 eggs
-1 cup milk
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 cup boiling water

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cake pans (I used 3 8 inch pans) and set aside.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
3. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake's center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on wire racks.

Chocolate Easter Cake

This cake was a disaster up until the very end. All of my cakes seem to be. I get so nervous about 3/4 of the way through that I nearly give up, and then they turn out lovely.

Easter Cake



I did some mixing and matching for this cake. I was going to make everything from this entry in Annie's Eats. Well, I made the cake yesterday, but I did not grease the pans well enough, so the layers did not come out intact. Frustrated, I decided to try another recipe for the cake. I used Annie's recipe for the filling and chocolate buttercream, though...and Walter's office will get more cake balls next week!

The handle (which is held firm with a wire inside the fondant) and top of the basket are made with chocolate fondant. The other decorations are edible Easter grass, Peeps, and Zachary's chocolate marshmallow eggs.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake

I found this recipe here at The Way the Cookie Crumbles. It is officially my new favorite chocolate cake recipe. It is easy, moist, and delicious, and it did not crumb nearly as badly as the last recipe I used. It held up nicely for the cake decorating, which I much appreciated.

Ingredients
-12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (by now, you know my obsession with cake flour. I used 1 3/4 cup plus 3 1/2 Tablespoons cake flour)
-4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
-1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
-1/2 cup hot water
-1 1/4 cups and 1/2 cup sugar, divided
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1 teaspoon table salt
-1 cup buttermilk
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-4 large eggs
-2 large egg yolks

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cake pans (I used 3 8-inch pans) and set aside.

2. Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, and hot water in a double boiler or a glass bowl over a simmering pot of water and heat until chocolate is melted. Add 1/2 cup sugar to chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.
3. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in small bowl. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk eggs and egg yolks until combined. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color. Add cooled chocolate mixture to egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
5. Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition. Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
6. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; smooth batter to edges of pan with spatula.
7. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool cakes to room temperature before frosting, 45 to 60 minutes.

Cookies and Cream Filling

This...oh my goodness, this is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. If I weren't lactose intolerant, it wouldn't have made it onto the cake. I got it here at Annie's Eats, and it is amazing. I had some left over, so I added it to the leftover chocolate buttercream I had and plan to use it for the cake balls.

Ingredients
-1 1/4 cups heavy cream
-2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
-10 chocolate Oreos, finely chopped

Directions
1. Combine the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Mix until all sugar is incorporated. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in chopped cookie pieces with a rubber spatula. Spread between layers of cake or eat it all because it is wonderful.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This was pretty run-of-the-mill chocolate buttercream. Tasty and smooth, and worked well for piping.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
-2/3 cup cocoa powder
-3 cups powdered sugar
-1/3 cup milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, combine melted butter and cocoa powder. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk until the icing reaches a spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla and spread over cake.