There are certain things that automatically bring a smile to your face…puppies and their sweet puppy breath…babies and their itty-bitty baby toes…and these colorful creations – the Rainbow Cake in a Jar. I discovered this creative cake concept on my new favorite site (and everyone else’s)…Pinterest. I must give credit, where credit is due – Thanks Brooke Mclay for posting this unique treat.

Not only are these jarred cakes adorable, they last longer than a typical cake.  Sealed and refrigerated, these cakes will stay moist and delicious for at least 5 days. The jar and metal lid are the perfect vessel for shipping.  The old school Mason jar makes for a great presentation, and allows for numerous ways to dress them up.  You can add a pretty ribbon, or a personal label or perhaps a piece of twine with a little card attached.  The possibilities are endless.

It is the perfect recipe for a child’s birthday…I tested it out for my sons 10^th birthday…and he loved them. The best part of this project was the fact my son was super excited to help!

Here’s how you start…

First, gather all of your ingredients and supplies – this includes the jars you will use. My local grocer carried a variety of mason jars.  I chose the Ball wide mouth pint sized jars. Any sized jar will work, simply adjust amount of batter and cooking time.

I used 2 boxes of cake mix for these simply because I knew “cake mix” was a sure thing

Make the cake according to directions.

Divide the cake mix up and color.  I divided all the batter into 6 bowls.  I then used Wilton Gel food coloring to tint each bowl to the desired shade. Gel food coloring is a MUST for this project. You will not achieve the desired saturation needed to make the colors pop if using standard food coloring.  Once you have all your colors it’s time to assemble the jars for baking.

I used 2 cake mixes and 12 wide mouth pint sized jars.  Be sure to generously spray each jar with cooking spray. To keep your colors in the right place, use disposable pastry bags. You could even use Ziploc bags to easily distribute each color into the jar.  You want even, mess-free, layers.

Keep in mind – the cake will rise. Do not overfill the jars! This means filling no more than half the jar. Once you have all the colors layered into your jar, they are ready to go in the oven. I followed the temperature directions on the cake mix box.  Keep a close eye on them; you don’t want to over bake them. I would say anywhere between 30-40 minutes is the norm.  Be sure to space jars equally to allow even baking.  Once baking is complete, let cool completely.  Then you can top them with your favorite frosting and sprinkles….YUM!

We decorated ours with felt stickers and colorful ribbons.  They turned out really cute, and they tasted even better.  My son was so proud of what he helped create – as he should be.  Since discovering these rainbow cakes I have come across other cake in jar recipes…looks like I better get busy baking.  Let us know your versions of Cake in a Jar.

Farm Animal Baby Shower Cake for Miss Dawn

Let me start off by saying I love this goofy little cake!   It has been a while since I was truly excited about a cake.   Many of the cakes I have done recently have been repeats of ones prior…not much of a challenge.  This time I was given free rein in design and decorating…I love when that happens.  

Two things were for sure…the cake needed to be two tiers and needed to incorporate farm animals.  I got to work the same way I always do by heading to the internet!   Yes I have ideas of my own, but the internet is an invaluable tool when putting together my vision.   I can find new techniques and borrow bits and pieces from others to come up with my master plan. 

This time around I planned to stay away from decorating with fondant; instead I would try my hand at decorating with buttercream.  Don’t get me wrong, I love how smooth and flawless fondant makes a cake appear, but there is something whimsical and scrumptious about buttercream.   Buttercream makes you want to dive in and devour that cake. 

I needed some technique other than decorating with buttercream, something to make it a bit more fun.   Sweetopia not only is one of the cutest websites online, they make the most beautiful cookies.   Aside from showcasing their work, they offer informative tutorials on decorating with Royal Icing.   Did you know…aside from piping royal icing on cakes and cookies you can pipe designs onto parchment paper, let dry and then apply directly to a cake?  Here is the article on how to do it… Royal Icing Flood Work or Runouts.

My Royal Icing Sheep

I decided to break-up the tiers of this cake.  The bottom tier would be the ground…pastures with fence and cute farm animals.  The top tier would be sky with a few clouds and a couple of birds. 

Top Tier of Cake

I tried the royal icing technique on the farm animals.  Pigs and Sheep seemed an easy way to start. I drew out a few designs and placed parchment paper over the top of the design. I then piped royal icing over the lines.  Seems easy enough, doesn’t it?   After all the animals were complete, I placed them on cookie sheets to dry overnight.  I removed them by simply sliding an offset spatula underneath to release them.   They were attached directly to the cake with a couple dabs of royal icing…voila!  Those little sheep and piggies just made me smile…perfect!

So what better way to celebrate and honor the 2010 Winter Olympic Games then with a collection of the best Winter Olympic inspired goodies I could find.  Really, this search was prompted by one shining example, Marian’s Olympic Mascot Cookies from Sweetopia.net.  She is a true sugar master.  The time that goes into these cookies is incredible.

Sweetopia's Olympic Mascot Cookies - Miga and Mukmuk

Sweetopia's Olympic Mascot Cookies - Quatchi

The mascots this year are comical.  Quatchi is  a sasquatch – how funny is that?  A sasquatch that wears boots and earmuffs no less.  And Mukmuk…a marmot. “Hey, nice marmot!”

Another great example of an Olympic inspired sweet is this is Olympic mascot cake done by Anne Elizabeth Cakes.  I love the mascots – she did an excellent job.

Anna Elizabeth Cake's Olympic Mascot Cake

Of course we need a cupcake – so here it is…the Olympic Ring cupcake done by Clever Cupcakes in Montreal, Canada.

Clever Cupcake's Olympic Ring Cupcake

Since the Olympics are being held in Vancouver, British Columbia we should probably have a native dessert as well.  The Nanaimo bar is named for the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia and consists of wafer layer, a custard layer and then is covered in chocolate.    Here, The Kitchn shows us their version of this Olympic inspired treat.

Yum...Olympic Inspired Nanaimo Bars

I hope this inspires you to make your own Olympic themed treats  to eat while cheering on Team USA, of course.  Win Big Team USA – you make me proud to be an American!

My Version of Hummingbird Cake

Baking is a science. Unlike cooking which allows you to add a pinch of this and a tad of that to taste, baking recipes need to be followed to a tee.  Otherwise, the result can be disastrous.

I, like many great bakers, borrow recipes and ideas from the pros.  There are always certain things you can do to put your signature on a recipe and make it your own.  Let’s take Hummingbird Cake for example…there are so many variations of this cake out there for you to try.  My personal favorite is Paula Dean’s version of Hummingbird Cake. Her version is delicious as is, but I wanted to make this recipe my own and give it a personal twist.

As a guideline, I never mess with the amount or type of flour used in a recipe.  The leavening agents are also something I stay spot on with.  When it comes to sugar you can probably get away with adding a bit less, but I wouldn’t recommend changing the actual “type” of sugar. Brown sugar has more moisture than granulated sugar and some sweeteners such as Splenda or Equal don’t translate the same as granulated sugar.  I must not forget to mention that calorie-free sweeteners can leave an unpleasant aftertaste in your baked goods as well as cause them not to rise up. 

Changes should be subtle…adding a different kind of nut, chip or spice.  Making a recipe your own can even be as simple as adding slightly more of one ingredient.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a cuckoo for coconut – it is one of my favorite ingredients to work with.  Simply adding a ½ cup of sweetened flake coconut to this Hummingbird Cake created a whole new layer of flavor and a bit more texture.

The next twist I made on this Hummingbird Cake recipe was replacing the finely chopped pecans with more roughly chopped toasted pecans.

***Chefs Note on Toasting Pecans***

To toast pecans simply place them in a dry pan over medium heat.  Be sure to keep an eye on them and stir often.  Pecans have oil in them that left unattended can burn. And no one wants burnt nuts in their cake.  You will know when they are done when they smell aromatic and are slightly browned

The last change I made to this Hummingbird Cake recipe was to kick up the cinnamon.  To bump up the warmth cinnamon can add, I increased the amount of cinnamon to 1 ½ teaspoons. 

I finished the cake with cream cheese icing, toasted coconut and whole toasted pecans. 

I am still learning about the science behind cake baking.  For more information on this topic check out these sites:

About.com – Baking Ingredient Science

WilliePrejean’s Baking and Baking Science

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients
Serves 12

FOR THE CAKE

• Nonstick vegetable spray
•  All-purpose flour, for pans
•  3 cups self-rising flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
•  3/4 cup vegetable oil
•  1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
•  2 very ripe large bananas, mashed
• 1 (8-ounce) crushed pineapple, with juice
•  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 large eggs, beaten

 FOR THE FROSTING

• 1 pound (1 box) confectioners’ sugar, (for the frosting)
• 1 (8-ounces) cream cheese, room temperature (for the frosting)
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened (for the frosting)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, (for the frosting)
• 1 tablespoon milk, or more if needed (for the frosting)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, (for the frosting)

****(My changes to this recipe include…adding ½ cup sweetened flake coconut, larger toasted pecans and ½ teaspoon more cinnamon)

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside.

2.   Prepare the cake; in a large bowl, stir to combine self-rising flour, sugar, oil, pecans, bananas, pineapple, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs.

3.   Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertips, 26 to 28 minutes.

4.   Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire rack. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.

5.   Prepare the frosting; in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk on medium speed until frosting is smooth. If needed, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to achieve the proper spreading consistency.

6.   Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate. Spread the top of the first layer with 1/4 of the frosting. Place the second layer on top and repeat process with another 1/4 of the frosting. Place the remaining layer on top of the second layer bottom side up. Spread entire cake with remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with pecans. Remove parchment paper strips; refrigerate until ready to serve.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Wood Photography

December is a month full of activities.  Holidays, shopping, cooking, cleaning, and if you have children, well they are home from school for half the month.  This past December I took on a new task, one that was not only stressful but also worthwhile as it would test both my organization and baking abilities…I signed on to do my first wedding.

Weddings are a whole other department in the baking world.  This isn’t just someone’s graduation cake or birthday cake…this was someone’s WEDDING!  Most brides want it to be the most perfect day of their entire life…that’s a lot to live up to. 

The bride and I met back in April for a cake tasting. She sampled the four flavors of cake I had so skillfully prepared…Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Butterceam, Spice Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream, Funfetti with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream. 

Along with eating cake we discussed her vision for the wedding.  One thing that remained an unchanged constant was the wedding cake.  She brought me a photograph from Real Simple, the cake was elegant and understated…quilted white fondant with silver floral and pearl accents – perfect for a winter wedding. 

Fondant that has a quilted effect and pearl accents.

The wedding cake was going to be used simply for display and the cutting ceremony; whereas, the cupcakes were to be served as the actual dessert. The bride wanted each guest to receive three mini cupcakes, in three different flavors: chocolate, spice and funfetti.  Each cupcake would be decorated with a gum paste flower that would mimic the flowers on the wedding cake. 

The wedding cake consisted of three layers, each a different flavor.  The bottom layer was Funfetti Cake; Funfetti being the bride’s favorite cake flavor from her childhood.  The middle layer was Chocolate Cake…who doesn’t like chocolate?  The top of the wedding cake was Spice Cake; her fiancé’s personal favorite.

Once the month of December hit, my stomach went into knots.  I found myself thinking about it day and night.  Was I up to this challenge?  I found my mind racing at night while lying in bed.  “How much butter?”, “How many eggs?”, “How much gum paste is needed for 650 daisies?”. 

Gum Paste Daisies, 650 of them...

One thing I knew for certain is that I needed to organize myself by creating a timeline.  The timeline was crucial for staying on task. Baking is the easy part in my eyes.  The real time comes in the decorations and details. 

The gum paste flowers for 650 mini cupcakes were definitely the first order of business. The next step was figuring out how much butter, sugar, flour, etc. I would need.  I did this by breaking down recipes and with a couple of calculations…viola, the list was together. 

The week of the wedding came and I had briefed my family on the rules.  There was to be no whining, no hanging out in my work space, no friends over, and we would be doing a lot of carryout meals. 

The kitchen became more of an assembly line on certain nights with my good friend Bridget and my husband Tom working the line. They were incredibly helpful…love you guys!  Somehow it all came together just in time.  I officially have a wedding under my belt, and boy am I proud of myself and my work.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Wood Photography - www.JoshuaJWood.com

Special thanks to photographer, Joshua Wood, for the use of his gorgeous photos of the cake and wedding. www.JoshuaJWood.com

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

If you are seeking the perfect dessert to serve this Thanksgiving, look no further.  This is the perfect twist on your classic Pumpkin Pie.  The filling is very similar to pumpkin pie, perhaps a bit sweeter, but also a bit creamier.  The crust is soft and extremely buttery.  The combination of the two create an amazing mouthfeel and offer a satisfyingly sweet end to a rich Thanksgiving dinner.

The Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake sits amongst my favorite all time desserts.  After serving it to family and friends, I imagine it sits at the top for many people.  Since this is a classic Paula Deen recipe, you shouldn’t be too surprised at how rich it actually is.  And like the name implies, it is not lacking in butter.

But, it is Thanksgiving after all.  It is the one time of year you are expected to overindulge.  Oh Paula Deen and your butter rich recipes…you kill me.   

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1.)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.)  Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

3.)  To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.

4.)  Serve your Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake with fresh whipped cream.

It's delivery...no, it's a Pizza Cake!

A hot trend in cake decorating right now is creating a cake that mimics something from everyday life.  Food shaped cakes are some of the most popular. 

My brother-in-law, Joe, just celebrated a birthday… and what better excuse to bake a cake than for a birthday!  Joe, like everyone else in my family, has a love for great food.  He and my sister have traveled and ate their way around the globe.  However when it comes down to the basics, pizza is his go to food.  With that information in hand, I decided a pizza cake was the best bet for him.  This was a fun cake to make simply because…who doesn’t like pizza? 

I started with size and shape.  I knew the cake would be round, but how just how big of a round?  I opted for a 12” round not because there were going to be a ton of guests, but because I thought it would be the most realistic size for a pizza shaped cake. 

Cake baked, cooled, and sliced; I needed to get busy with my plan for decorating the cake to look like a pizza. It had to look realistic. So I started with the obvious…crust first.  In order to give the cake a great crust, I piped a very thick wavy line of buttercream all around the edge of the cake.  After the buttercream was piped, I placed it into the fridge to set up while I worked on the fondant.

A thick, wavy piping of buttercream helped form the "crust"

I have been making my own marshmallow fondant for some time now and find that it works well for me. Plus, the cost of making your own fondant compared to purchasing fondant is like night and day.  Not to mention, marshmallow fondant tastes much better than “regular” fondant – which is normally inedible. 

Once the fondant was rolled, I brought the cake out and went to work covering it.  The crust of a pizza is a multitude of colors and shades. To give my pizza cake this illusion, I watered down some brown gel food coloring and started sponging it on with a crumpled paper towel.  The crust ended up turning out great; it looked just like a Papa John’s pizza crust.

Sauce was my next task.  I chose strawberry preserves to which I added a dash of red food coloring.  I spread the “pizza sauce” edge to edge. 

The pizza "sauce" is strawberry preserves.

On to the cheese – most people’s favorite part!  I have seen cheese done several different ways, my way was to melt white chocolate and drizzle it in a caddywampous pattern over the top. Then, it was back to the fridge to set up.

Now on to the toppings!  So many to choose from, where do I start?  Of course I chose pepperoni, the classic pizza accompaniment.  Since Joe is a meat lover, chunks of sausage made sense.  I added black olives for their round shape and unique color.  And finally, green pepper, to add a hint of green which rounded out the overall look. 

Anyone order a pepperoni, sausage, black olive and green pepper?

All toppings where made out of marshmallow fondant and then hand painted with gel food coloring. A more random arrangement worked best when it came to the toppings.  The end result was a super realistic pizza cake which everyone adored.

My good friend Sherry decided to host a surprise 40^th birthday for her husband Scott.  The party was to be a casual gathering amongst close friends.  I, being the girl who bakes, was in charge of all things CAKE related.  I got busy thinking about the cake…size, flavor, and of course, the shape. 

When baking a cake for a friend or family I always want to give it a personal meaning.  Scott, like many men I know, has an affection for sports and beer, Heineken Beer to be more specific.  What better way to celebrate such a milestone than with a beer inspired birthday cake? 

I set out to surf the Internet for ideas for this cake and I couldn’t believe how many I found!  There were bottles of beer cakes, ale flavored cakes, bottle cap cakes, beer can cakes and of course, cakes shaped like beer kegs.  I turned my attention to the bottle cap designs thinking this would be easier than some of the others to pull off. Sweet Retreat was an incredibly useful website, giving me clear step by step instructions on the process of building this cake.  Click here for their step by step Heineken Beer Cap Cake instructions.

Heineken Beer Cap Cake

I did choose to modify a few things in order to give it my personal stamp. Another difference, I don’t own an airbrush…yet.  I had to hand paint the cake which is nice for certain things but was not ideal for coloring this particular cake. 

I also decided to change up the lettering.  To do this, I looked for the Heineken Beer font online, downloaded it, installed it on my computer and then printed the letters in my desired font size.  From here I took the printed letters and covered them with sheets of wax paper, whipped up a batch of royal icing and began piping. 

When piping letters, be sure to pipe more than one of each letter as they will break every once in a while.   I let the letters dry overnight.  The next morning I lifted them off of the wax paper using an offset spatula and placed them directly onto the cake….great effect!  The cake was a hit and the party was too much fun.

This past month in cake has been fantastic!  Many fun and creative confections have come from my kitchen in the past couple weeks.  Here are a few of the highlights.

First on the list was a beach inspired birthday cake.  Nilla Waffers were the perfect ingredient for making sand, not to mention they taste great too.  The palm tree, beach ball, starfish, coconut, and shark fin were all crafted out of marshmallow fondant. When finished, I couldn’t help but smile. 

Beach cake with Nilla Wafer "sand"

A 59^th birthday cake was next on the list.  This one needed a bit of edge to it, something to laugh about.  I had made a few cakes for this couple before and knew my boundaries.  After much research, a decision was made – a toilet bowl.  What better way to say it, “Another Year Down the Shitter”. I was there for the grand unveiling of this masterpiece and you would have thought they won the lottery by their expressions. It was a sure fire hit! 

Lovely isn't it? Yep, that is a toilet.

The most recent cake to come out of my kitchen was for a dear friend’s surprise birthday party.  When baking a cake for a close friend I try and give it some personal meaning.  Immediately after hearing about the party, I knew what I was going to make.  Kristy, our birthday girl, hates the sight of bare feet.  What better way to say Happy Birthday than a gnarly foot!  The look on her face was priceless and I’m sure we’ll be talking about it for years to come!

Really, we don't want to gross you out.

Baking gets me in my happy place, it allows me to be creative and put a smile on someone elses face. I find with every new challenge I become more confident and comfortable with this craft. Keep’em coming –  I can’t wait for the next challenge!  If you are interested in ordering your next cake from Frosted, please email me at Jody@LifeWithCake.com.

Another thing that fascinates me – sushi.  The skill and time that goes into making it, the beautiful way in which it is presented, all of these things make sushi special.  So naturally, I would be drawn to sweets masquerading as sushi. This is why I am taking on the challenge to showcase my best attempt at “dessert” sushi. 

But before I dive head first into a vat of Rice Krispies, I thought I should showcase some of the best versions of dessert sushi I could find.  There are sushi cakes, sushi cupcakes, sushi candy and the like…all unique in their own way.  All bring a huge smile to my face.

Do you have a unique version of dessert sushi?  Email me your versions of dessert sushi at Megan@LifeWithCake.com – I will feature them on the site.

Sushi Cupcakes

Sushi Cupcakes by Debbie Does Cake 

My absolute favorite version of Dessert Sushi was made by Debbie of Debbie Does Cake in San Francisco.  The white jimmies for rice are ingenious idea.  These sushi cupcakes are a true work of art.  Check out Debbie Does Cake’s gallery for all of her crafty cakes and cupcakes.

Sushi Cakes

Sushi Cake by Whipped Bake Shop

This sushi cake was created by pastry artist Zoe Lukas at the Whipped Bake Shop in Philidelphia.  Check our her creations via Flickr as well as on her website.

Sushi Cake by Kellechu Confections

Kelley Stockton of Kellechu Confections created this amazingly realistic sushi cake.  I love the detail in the maki rolls.  Browse through Kelley’s gallery – you will fall in love with her popcorn cupcakes and her taco and bean dip cake – so darn cute! 

Sushi Candy

Sushi Candy by Koo-Ki Sushi

Koo-Ki Sushi “made” some of the most realistic rice cereal based sushi candy out there.  I say “made” because, sadly, they are now closed for business.  

jglee's Sushi Candy

This great looking dessert sushi was discovered over at jglee’s Food Musings.  She crafted most of the sushi details using marzipan, what an inventive idea! 

Eye Candy's version of "Fake Sushi"

 This “fake sushi” from Eye Candy uses fresh fruit, grapefruit or blood orange slices, to form the  ”fish”.  The blood orange slices resemble the texture of raw fish.  Ingenius!

Dessert Sushi Step by Step Guides

If you are looking to make your own dessert sushi, I suggest the following resources:

1.) About.com’s Step by Step guide to Sushi Candy.

2.) Mommy Knows put up an informative guide for making Sushi Candy along with some gorgeous photography. 

3.) Looking for even more detail?  Check out Family Fun’s video on making “mock” sushi.

My dessert sushi adventure begins today. Check back for my step by step guide to making my version of dessert sushi.