Happy Birthday to me!

I know this will come as a shock, but I’m a cake snob.  So I won’t have just any old person make a cake for me, maybe my kids, but that’s it.  I also like experimenting and since making cake just to practice is kind of wasteful, I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like.  It’s been fun this week though.

I did have a problem picking my cake flavour.  I finally decided to use up the banana’s I had and make a banana cake.  It smelt so good and looked so beautiful when I took it out of the oven and then promptly fell and inch.  SO NOT GOOD.

I decided to cut into it and it was raw even though the knife came out clean.  CRAP.  And into the garbage it went.  I did get a few muffins out of it and they were fab.

Second attempt. This time I decided I’d make one of my favorite cakes, carrot. 

Backstory: Introducing Karen’s Carrot’s Cakes; my first business.  When I was in grade five I made carrot cakes every day after school and sold to other kid’s parents, so I could buy a Little Person, better known later as Cabbage Patch Kids.  They are the soft sculpture versions of the Matell plastic faced babies.  After I raised enough money, my mother made a big deal out of it.  On our yearly drive to Florida for the summer we stopped in Cleveland, Georgia at Babyland General Hospital, where I got to adopt Sophia-Ann.  I even got to pick her head from the cabbage patch, she had “surgery” for her dimple and went under the sun lamp for freckles.  Seems bizarre, I know, but for an 11 year old, I was psyched!

Flash forward to today.  I decided to make my carrot cake!  I mean it is my birthday :)

And because it’s my birthday I’m trying something new.  Two actually.  Ombre and frilled ruffles.

I had a few issues.  The fondant kept cracking, as you can plainly see.  I also couldn’t get the graduation in the colour as much as I’d liked.  They do get darker, it’s kind of tough to see in my pics but they do!  All in all, I think for a first try, not too shabby!

I also made a ruffle flower for the top.

I also want to wish many others happy birthday too.  January is a pretty popular month for birthdays, especially for the next three days. 

Happy Birthday to:

Rob and Kaye (cousin’s extraordinaire), Sharon (Rowan’s teacher), Samantha (Flour-de-Lis), Tiffany (Tiffany’s Sweet Spot), and to my friends Angie, Julie, Tracie, Karina, Nancy, Retah, Coreen, Jen, Connie, Miles and Linda.  And anyone else I’ve missed.  This cake is also for you!

Recipe:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups apple sauce
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, apple sauce, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. 
3. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
5. Ice cake with favourite icing.  I used lemon buttercream.
6. Enjoy!

Lots of lessons learned in this attempt.  The top two: always center cake on pedestal when taking pictures and cover the cake board with something LOL! ah well :) and yes, we ate the cake last night because I couldn’t wait. It’s my birthday and I’ll eat cake if I want to!

Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Mingle Monday
Melt In Your Mouth Monday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday