Cake on the brain!

K's birthday is coming up next week and of course she wants a special cake! I have done some fun, some hard to decorate for a few years. M always asks for a barbie cake, which I hate by the way, but I always grit my teeth and decorate one more for her, thinking at the same time "I will never do this again, you can bet on that!"



Anyway, I thought I would post some pictures of cakes I have done in the past. Like I said, some are bad and some are good.

I personally thought it was the worst but M loved it. Oh, well.

Here is E's 9th Birthday cake. She is obsessed by horses right now if you can't tell. Sometimes, if you listen close, you can hear her neighing and clopping around the house. Seriously.

This cake was really fun and easy but as you can tell the birthday girl had to help decorate!

Here is S's 4th Birthday cake, courtesy of Family Fun. They have the best ideas for themed cakes.

Here is my first recipe for my new blog. Hope you try it, it is yummy!!

Chocolate Orange Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1 box yellow cake mix (1 lb. 2.25 ounces)
1 package (3 oz.) orange Jell-O powder (not sugar free)
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
4 eggs
1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Dump the dry cake mix into a large electric mixing bowl. Mix in the orange Jell-O powder. Add the next 4 ingredients and mix throughly until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Fold in the mini chips by hand. Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Loosen the outside edges and middle, then tip the cake out of the pan onto your serving plate. Let cake cool while you make the drizzle frosting.

Orange-Fudge Drizzle Frosting

2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can get this from me!! :) )
1 teaspoon orange extract (I have this too!!)
2 Tablespoons orange juice

Put the butter and chips into a 2-cup microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring after each interval. Stir till smooth. Add the orange extract and stir. Add the orange juice a Tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. Drizzle the frosting over the ridge of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Refrigerate the cake without covering it, so the frosting will set up. After the frosting sets up, you can leave this cake on the counter.


Happy Baking, everyone!!