BAKE IN THE FUN PUT YOUR OWN SPIN ON BIRTHDAY CAKES.Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor Instead of running out to the store at the last minute, why not bake something at home to say Happy Birthday on that special day? ``A homemade cake doesn't have to take a lot of time, nor be costly,'' says Donna Erickson, a creative parenting expert and host of PBS' ``Donna's Day'' for the last 5 1/2 years. And, ``You don't have to use a lot of elaborate decorations,'' adds Nancy Siler, director of consumer affairs for Wilton Industries Inc., Woodridge, Ill. A fan of creating fun and memorable kids' birthdays, Erickson suggests letting the child select the party theme and then incorporating it into the cake design. Involve the child in cake baking and decorating chores if you feel so inclined. One of Erickson's unforgettable cake designs is individual hamburgers made from a brownie mix Noun 1. brownie mix - a commercial mix for making brownies ready-mix - a commercial preparation containing most of the ingredients for a dish , a yellow cake mix and tinted frostings and served in a plastic basket (or on a platter). Kids delight in the element of surprise. Instead of individual burgers, you might find it easier and less time- consuming to make one large hamburger cake. Simply bake the brownie mix (burger) in a 9-inch round cake pan and the box of yellow cake mix in two 9-inch round cake pans. Once cooled, assemble with yellow and red frostings (for mustard and ketchup), sliced kiwis (for pickles) and the other ingredients noted in the recipe here. Erickson's favorite birthday cake is angel food, which lends itself to lots of different possibilities. You can split it into three layers and doll it up with different flavor fillings, frostings and themes. Try a layer of fresh fruit with whipped cream or tinted buttercream frostings. After frosting frosting the slight graying of the haircoat around the face, particularly muzzle, in dogs with aging and as a regular feature of some breeds such as the Belgian shepherd dog. the top as desired, add some fresh, nonpoisonous flowers (or use artificial if you feel more comfortable) or some fun plastic sport-themed toys, paper flags, balloon designs or anything to tie in with the party theme. The simplest cakes can be baked in a flat (9x13-inch) baking pan, then decorated with writing, piped flowers and various shapes, notes Anna Von Marburg in her recently released book ``Happy Birthday: 22 Spectacularly Easy Birthday Cakes'' (Allen & Unwin; $14.95 paperback). Use a cookie cutter (to tie in with the party theme) pressed into the cake frosting (then removed) for a stencil stencil, cutout device of oiled or shellacked tough and resistant paper, thin metal, or other material used in applying paint, dye, or ink to reproduce its design or lettering upon a surface. - and then fill in (or outline) with candies or colored icings piped on with a star tip and decorate with plastic toys Plastic Toys are an electro-rock band formed in late 2003 based in Southampton, UK. The 4-piece group are made up of Jon Plastic (Vocals/Guitars), Kitty Brooks (Bass), Si Jackson (Guitars) and Ben Coley (Drums). or other items, suggests Siler, adding that it not only looks pretty but is simple to do. Also, look for edible cake toppers at stores that stock cake decorating Cake decorating is one of the sugar arts that uses icing and other edible decorative elements to transform otherwise plain cakes into colorful and festive works of art. Cakes come in all shapes and sizes from ordinary single layer sheet cakes to towering multi-tiered wedding cakes. supplies. Kids are kids and not really trend watchers when it comes to cake themes, points out Siler. Girls favor pink, yellow and violet colors along with cakes in the shape of ballet slippers, dolls, princesses and assorted fairy tale fairy tale Simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings. Fairy tales may be written or told for the amusement of children or may have a more sophisticated narrative containing supernatural or obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages characters. Popular with boys are cakes in the shape of trucks, policemen, firemen and dinosaurs in bright primary colors those developed from the solar beam by the prism, viz., red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, which are reduced by some authors to three, - red, green, and violet-blue. These three are sometimes called fundamental colors. See under Color. See also: Color Primary . Clowns, balloons, teddy bears and stars are always good cake designs for either girls or boys, she adds. The trendiest pan these days for all ages is the SpongeBob SquarePants This article is about the series. For the title character, see SpongeBob SquarePants (character). For other uses, see SpongeBob SquarePants (disambiguation). SpongeBob SquarePants is an Emmy-nominated American animated television series and media franchise. Cake that came out last fall. The ducky cake ranks high in popularity with a variety of ages as well. For first birthday parties, Winnie the Pooh is still very popular. A Dora the Explorer Dora the Explorer is an animated television series that is carried on the Nickelodeon cable television network. A pilot episode for the series aired in 1999, and Dora the Explorer became a regular series in 2000. pan and a new release of the Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake is a licensed character owned by American Greetings, originally used in greeting cards and expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products. pan will be available in the next few months. Cakes baked in an array of shaped pans take on life when you apply contrasting frosting colors and colored decorations. When it comes to tinting frostings, either homemade or store-bought, Siler recommends using paste icing colors because they don't dilute the icing, resulting in more vivid colors "Vivid Colors" is the second single of Japanese band L'Arc-en-Ciel. Track listing
Chart (1995) Peak position Time in chart . At cake-decorating supply stores, you'll find more than two dozen colors in several versions of reds, greens, yellows and more. If you plan to use decorating tips, opt for metal, as they yield much sharper decoration results, advises Siler. A few basic tips - including a star tip, a round tip and a petal or ruffle tip - will enable home cake bakers to turn out fashionable cakes with an array of attractive decorations. Siler finds a No. 18 star tip (medium) essential. Decorating bag options include heavy clear plastic disposable and nondisposable bags; suit yourself. If time is short, cupcakes might be your best bet. You can make themed party cupcakes by baking them in thematic designed paper cups - and decorating with thematic edible decorations and sprinkles. BURGER SURPRISE This recipe looks like a platter of hamburgers, but it's really a brownie and cake dessert. 1 (1-pound 3.5-ounce) package fudge brownie mix 10 (6-ounce) tuna cans, thoroughly cleaned, labels removed and greased (OR use cleaned 8-ounce pineapple cans) 1 (18.25-ounce) package yellow cake mix 1/2 cup creamy vanilla frosting (from a 16-ounce container) Yellow food color Red food color 2 tablespoons corn syrup corn syrup Sweet syrup produced by breaking down (hydrolyzing) cornstarch (a product of corn). Corn syrup contains dextrins, maltose, and dextrose and is used in baked goods, jelly and jam, and candy. Sesame seeds 2 kiwi, peeled and sliced Bake fudge brownie mix according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. package directions. Cool. Using 1 tuna can OR a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 10 brownie rounds. Cover. Reserve for later use. Mix yellow cake mix as directed on package. Pour into 10 greased tuna cans, filling each can half full. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick toothpick, n a wood sliver used to cleanse the interdental space. toothpick, balsa wood, n a triangular wedge of balsa wood used to clean the teeth interproximally and stimulate the interdental gingival tissues. inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly. Remove from cans. Cut each cake round ``bun'' in half lengthwise length·wise adv. & adj. Of, along, or in reference to the direction of the length; longitudinally. Adj. 1. lengthwise . Brush top halves with corn syrup. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Tint 1/4 cup frosting with yellow food color. Tint remaining 1/4 cup frosting with red food color. To assemble ``burgers,'' place bottom half of cake rounds on a platter. Top each bottom cake round with one brownie ``burger.'' Spoon frosting into two small resealable food storage plastic bags; seal bags. Cut small hole in bottom corner of each bag. Squeeze small amount of each frosting on brownies to resemble ketchup and mustard. Place sliced kiwi on frostings to look like pickles. Top with remaining cake halves. Makes 10 servings or ``burgers''. Shared by Donna Erickson, creative parenting expert. RUBBER DUCKY CAKE 3 cups sifted cake flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 cup butter OR margarine, softened 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar Noun 1. granulated sugar - sugar in the form of small grains powdered sugar - sugar granulated into a fine powder refined sugar, sugar - a white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative granulated sugar 5 egg whites 3/4 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2 (16-ounce) containers white decorator icing Lemon yellow and orange food color pastes 1 (16-ounce) bag white candy discs 1 (16-ounce) bag candy-coated chocolate dot candies Spray both halves of a 3-D Rubber Ducky Pan (made by Wilton) with vegetable cooking spray Cooking spray is a spray form of various types of oils, combined with lecithin, an emulsifier, and a propellent such as food-grade alcohol, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide or propane. Cooking spray is applied to frying pans and other cookware to prevent food from sticking. ; place on a baking sheet baking sheet n. A flat rectangular metal pan, often with at least one rolled-up edge, used for baking. . Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Set aside. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Set aside. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternatively with milk and beat at low speed. Beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Pour all batter into bottom half of pan. Attach top of pan (air hole). Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 65 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Follow cooling instructions that come with cake pan. Cool completely before icing. Place cake on an 8-inch cake board circle (trimmed to fit bottom of cake) and attach with icing. To decorate, tint 1 3/4 containers of icing with lemon yellow color and remaining 1/4 container of icing with orange color. Spread the beak area with orange icing. Using a spatula spatula /spat·u·la/ (spach´u-lah) [L.] 1. a wide, flat, blunt, usually flexible instrument of little thickness, used for spreading material on a smooth surface. 2. a spatulate structure. , ice the body of duck with lemon yellow icing. Position 2 candy discs for eyes and press into icing. Add a little icing to candy-coated chocolate dot candies and attach to eyes for pupils. Serve ducky cake surrounded with cupcakes decorated with store-bought Ducky Icing Decorations (from Wilton) and sprinkles and sugar cookies cut and baked in ducky shapes and iced as desired. Makes 1 ducky cake, 12 servings. CAROUSEL CAKE Put candles on the cake after removing the dome and the straw supports. Golden Butter Cake A butter cake is a cake in which one of the main ingredients is butter. These cakes are considered one of the quintessential cakes in American baking. They find their origins in the English pound cake, which traditionally used equal parts of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs to (recipe follows) Big-Batch Butter Frosting (recipe follows) Red, green, yellow and blue food color pastes 2 (2 1/8-ounce) boxes animal crackers Animal crackers are a popular children's snack, in which the crackers are shaped like zoo animals. Animal Crackers may also refer to:
1 cup (about) bite-size round fruit candies 11 plastic drinking straws 1 colored plastic yellow plate (about 10 1/2 inches) Narrow curling ribbon in assorted colors Colorful animal stickers Prepare batter for Golden Butter Cake and bake in 2 prepared 9-inch round cake pans as directed. Cool. Prepare Big-Batch Butter Frosting. Tint 1/4 cup frosting red. Tint 1/4 cup frosting green. Tint 1/4 cup frosting yellow. Tint 1/4 cup frosting blue. Leave remaining frosting white. Spoon each colored frosting into a decorating bag fitted with a small writing tip. Decorate animal crackers as you like; let frosting set. Transfer 1 cake layer, bottom side up, to a large plate. With a large metal spatula, spread top with about 1/2 cup white frosting; top with second cake layer. Frost top and side of cake with remaining white frosting. Press some of crackers and candies around side of cake. With scissors scissors Cutting instrument or tool consisting of a pair of opposed metal blades that meet and cut when the handles at their ends are brought together. Modern scissors are of two types: the more usual pivoted blades have a rivet or screw connection between the cutting ends , cut 8 straws to measure 6 inches each. Insert 6-inch straws, 1-inch from edge, evenly spaced around cake; insert 3 remaining straws touching in center of cake. With scissors, make 8 evenly spaced cuts in plastic plate, from edge to 1/4-inch from center. With plate bottom side up, proceed around plate overlapping cut sections by 1/2-inch and stapling each overlap at edge of plate to form dome-shaped top for carousel. Attach colorful stickers around edge of dome. With ribbon, make curled streamers Streamers is a play by David Rabe. The last in his Vietnam War trilogy that began with The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Sticks and Bones ; tape them to top center of dome. Set dome on straws and stand remaining cookies in cake leaning against straws. Garnish with remaining candies. Makes 14 servings. From ``Good Housekeeping Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. Great Baking.'' GOLDEN BUTTER CAKE 3 cups cake flour (not self-rising) 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups sugar 1 cup butter OR margarine (2 sticks), softened 4 large eggs Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper waxed paper n. Wax paper. waxed paper or wax paper Noun paper treated or coated with wax or paraffin to make it waterproof ; grease and flour paper. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. In a measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla. In a large bowl, with mixer at medium-high speed, beat sugar and butter until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until just smooth, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 23 to 25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool on wire rack See wiring rack. 10 minutes. With small knife, loosen layers from sides of pans; invert in·vert v. 1. To turn inside out or upside down. 2. To reverse the position, order, or condition of. 3. To subject to inversion. n. Something inverted. onto racks. Remove waxed paper; cool completely. Makes 2 (9-inch) cake layers. From ``Good Housekeeping Great Baking.'' BIG-BATCH BUTTER FROSTING In large bowl, with electric mixer at low speed, beat together 1 cup butter OR margarine (2 sticks), softened, 6 cups powdered sugar (about 1 1/2 one-pound packages), 1/2 cup half-and-half and 1 tablespoon vanilla just until blended. Increase speed to medium; beat until frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly with rubber spatula. Makes about 3 3/4 cups. From ``Good Housekeeping Great Baking.'' FROSTED CUPCAKE CONES 1 (18.25-ounce) package any flavor cake mix Water, oil and eggs called for on cake mix package 30 to 36 flat-bottom ice-cream cones 1 (12-ounce) tub whipped frosting (any flavor), tinted with food colors as desired Assorted candies, cookies, miniature chocolate chips or colored candy sprinkles Make cake mix as directed on package using water, oil and eggs. Fill each cone about 1/2 full of batter. Stand cones in muffin pans. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick carefully inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Ice with tinted frostings and decorate with assorted candies, cookies, etc. Store loosely covered at room temperature. Makes 30 to 36 cupcake cones. NOTE: Create some exciting ``creatures'' on the top using small cookies for bodies, mini candy-coated chocolate candies for eyes and small pieces of licorice licorice (lĭk`ərĭs, –rĭsh), name for a European plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) and for the sweet substance obtained from the root. for legs and antennae. From ``Betty Crocker's Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook.'' CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) building a better birthday cake Making a creative confection con·fec·tion n. A sweetened medicinal compound. Also called electuary. is easier than you think From ``Good Housekeeping Great Baking,'' Hearst Books (2 -- color) Burger Surprise (3 -- color) Frosted Cupcake Cones (4 -- color) Rubber Ducky Cake |
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