Birthday Cake Surprise!

Happy Birthday AMERICA!

Looks can be deceiving!

My Genius mom made the BEST B-day cake ever! I was going to log in as her to do this post in her name - but then I would sound boastful and conceited instead of proud and impressed!  She saw it on Studio 5 and instead of thinking "man those girls are crazy!" she thought "Hey! I think I can make that!" Now who's the crazy one?  The original cake was created by Elissa @ 17andbaking.com 

They both used 9" baking pans and now I see the wisdom in that but we wanted to feed a crowd so we went with an 11".  It made stacking the thin layers tricky and it sort of broke apart as we served it.  I think a smaller pan would have remedied both problems - but otherwise we really had a glitch free success!  

To the instructions already! 

3 separate bakings, 3 separate cakes! 

one red velvet, 

one white {dyed blue} 

and one more white (no egg yolks to keep it pure white!)    

The original also dyed the red layer from a white cake mix - we got the idea to use a red velvet mix from make it & love it

Slice the red and white layers horizontally into 2 pieces

White layer down first - FROST

Red layer down - FROST

Set aside

Layer without frosting the remaining red layer, white layer and uncut blue layer 

Center a cylindrical object on top - we used a cereal bowl, and cut straight down through all 3 layers!

Place the blue ring on top of your frosted layers

frost the inside of your blue ring and then place in your red and white circles

Frost to finish!

we kept it simple to up the 'WOW' factor!

Cut dramatically, make sure all eyes are on you!

voila!

If my instructions were confusing check out this studio 5 video:

Happy Birthday AMERICA! 

Chocolate mayo cake-just try it!

Ok, I promise not to do anymore posts for a while to give everyone else a turn. :) Sorry! This is yet another hand-me-down, but from my other grandma who grew up in Germany during WWII. It is the most moist and delicious cake you will ever eat....well, that's homemade. And I absolutely PROMISE it tastes NOTHING like mayonnaise! I tried it out on my in-laws, and you don't do anything to upset in-laws. :) (They loved it, by the way.) So, just try it.

Chocolate Mayo Cake

1 C warm water
3 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa
1 1/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C flour
2 tsp. soda
1 C mayo
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix everything together in one bowl.

Pour into greased pan(s). (Random note: I always coat the pans with butter (or tons of spray), then sprinkle some flour over that. This way, the cakes just slide right out of the pans.)
For two layers bake at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes.

For one layer? (We don't bake one layer cakes at my house, so I have no idea how long to cook one layer...just keep checking it and don't let it burn.) :)

Frost with cool whip, frosting, or cream cheese frosting. (also, at this point, you will probably lose your camera that you gave to your two year old to take pictures with, so revert to using your camera phone...)

(you can just buy the cream cheese frosting from the store, but I've never tried it and this kind is superb)

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened. (HAS to be Philadelphia brand-spend the extra 20 cents-trust me)
2 Tbsp. butter, softened (margarine is fine)
2 tsp. vanilla
4 C powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together except the powdered sugar.
When mixed well, slowly add the powdered sugar.
If too thick, add a few drops of milk.
If too thin, add more powdered sugar.

TA-DA! Enjoy!!!

Easy Peasy Cinnamon Rolls

So, for my very first post on here, I decided to start you ladies out with a wonderful (INSANELY easy) homemade cinnamon rolls recipe. :) Hope you enjoy these as much as we do! *Some notes about this that are totally optional-purely what I prefer-with the frosting, don't double it (that's waaay too much), but just what the recipe calls for never seems like enough, so 1 1/2 it. Also, wait to frost the rolls until they have cooled almost all the way. Otherwise, you end up with more frosting melted on the pan than the rolls. And one last thing-when it says roll dough into a rectangle, an oval is good enough if you can't get those edges quite right. :) Let me know if you have any questions.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

2 (.25 oz) pkgs active dry yeast

2 1/2 C warm water

1 (9 oz) pkg yellow cake mix

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 C all-purpose flour

The inside goodness:

1/2 C butter or margarine-melted

3/4 C white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Frosting:

3 C confectioner's sugar

1/2 C butter or margarine-softened

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 Tbsp milk

Directions: In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let it stand until creamy (about 10 minutes). Then combine the yeast mixture with the cake mix, salt, and vanilla; stir well to combine. Stir in the flour; beat well. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place for one hour. Deflate dough and turn it out onto a well floured surface. Roll dough out into a rectangle and spread with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (combine in a bowl beforehand to make things real easy). Roll up dough and cut into 3/4 inch thick rolls. Place rolls in two lightly greased baking pans. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 45 minutes). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 15-20 minutes. While rolls are cooling, prepare the frosting. In a medium bowl, stir together everything for the frosting. After the rolls have cooled a bit, spread with the frosting. Enjoy!!

Conference Popcorn

Moms caramel recipe + air popped popcorn (1 cup unpoped) + a much too small bowl

= nostalgic conference viewing bliss

Caramels

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup of naughty light corn syrup
1 cube of butter
1 can (15 0z) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

in large sauce pan, melt butter add corn syrup and bring to a boil. add brown sugar stir well and bring up to a boil again. add sweetened condensed milk simmer and stir until it reaches 228° for popcorn or 229° for apple dunking or 230° for caramels take off the heat and stir in vanilla (don't forget nuts for the bottom of the pan) It thickens as it cools.

Custard Bread Pudding

I'm just going to start my mom off in the right direction...
Remember when you made this a couple of weeks ago?


mmmmmmm

We want the recipe ;)

1 qt. milk, scalded
2 c. day-old bread cubes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Set oven for 325 degrees. Pour milk over bread cubes. Add
salt and sugar. Beat eggs; add to bread mixture with butter
and vanilla; mix well. Pour into a 1 1 1/2 quart greased
casserole. Set casserole in a pan. Pour in hot water to
within 1 inch of top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until knife
inserted near rim comes out clean. Makes 8 servings.


SURPRISE PUDDING:

Use plain whole wheat or raisin whole-wheat bread instead of
white bread in making Custard Bread Pudding.


CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING:

Add 2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted, to bread and
milk mixture in Custard Bread Pudding. Use 3/4 cup of sugar
instead of 1/2.

There you go. I used a really good raisin bread for mine and I got the recipe from Cooks.com Love, Mom