DINO!!!

BeforeAfter

Okay. This was actually a personal endeavor, not a school project, but it's SO awesome that I have to show it. A lot of you saw this cake at the birthday party, but for those who didn't, this in a Dino the Dinosaur cake I made for my friend, Dustin's, 26th birthday party. It turned out awesome! I was given lots of compliments on it, which is great. I did develop that very annoying characteristic of not shutting up about it for most of the night though. I'm sure I started to piss people off when my first sentence was always, "Hi! Did you see the cake?" I tried to calm down about it...but LOOK AT IT! IT'S SO AWESOME!! If anyone else wants to have a themed party of any sort, I am totally up for making the cake. I should go to school for this or something!?
The cake had a butter cream frosting that I adjusted slightly. It turned out a little on the rich side, but still really tasty. The filling was a fudge icing, which did not help the richness factor, but I wanted to pack a little extra chocolate goodness in. The actual cake was also chocolate. I found the recipe online some place last year for my sister’s birthday cake. It's a fairly simple recipe and the cake was able to sustain quite a beating without turning completely to crumbs, which I was very happy about. And it was still light and moist! Yay! If you're ever brave enough or bored enough to undertake baking a cake from scratch, I endorse this recipe:

Chocolate Cake

¾ cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 ¾ cups sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Sift (Yes, SIFT) flour, sugar cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into butter. Add 1 cup buttermilk and mix until all flour is moist. **Beat 2 minutes at low speed of electric mixer.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla, and **beat an additional 3 minutes. Pour into 2 buttered and floured round layer cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

** The recipe says to beat it 2 and 3 minutes, but I don’t really recommend this unless you want holes in your cake. Beating the batter to excess like that will cause ‘tunneling,’ which is long holes in the cake running from top to bottom. Just a warning.

Can you tell I’m excited about this cake? I think I may have found my calling. Surprisingly, the fiancée actually endorses the destruction of the kitchen for love of my hobby.

So! I suggest you all take advantage of my crazy and request a cake before I become the most celebrated cake maker/decorator in the history of Western culture! I like making cakes