It's time for another original episode of Slashfood in the Kitchen with Marisa (that's me!) and Scott. This time we make a classic yellow birthday cake from scratch and top it with a chocolate seven minute frosting. It's a quick and delicious way to make someone feel loved on their special day and do it in no time at all.
The cake recipe came from my copy of the Gourmet Cookbook (the big yellow one that came out a few years ago) but you can also find the recipe here on Epicurious.com. I used this seven minute frosting recipe, also from Epicurious, and added in 2 ounces of melted unsweetened bakers' chocolate at the end.
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For more Slashfood in the Kitchen, check out episode 1, 2 and 3.
As I mentioned earlier, you really need to have cake to make some occasions - birthday parties, etc. - work, although you never need an excuse to make the cake in the first place. These are tasty, basic cupcakes that will be welcomed both at birthday parties and as an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee, so they're a good choice whether you need or just want a cupcake fix. The cake is light, tender and has a lovely buttery flavor from the buttermilk. The frosting is a quick and easy type of buttercream that is a great topping for just about any flavor of cake, although I think that the contrast of vanilla cake with chocolate frosting is a classic one.
I don't recall the 2nd amendment being written into the standard set of wedding vows, but then again, I'm also not from Texas, where this cake was prominently featured at a real wedding this past weekend. The gun was carved from a chocolate cake layer and stacked on top of the chocolate cake base, then decorated with rich frosting. The base is actually the shape of a target from the IPSC, a group that supports sport shooting and marksmanship.
Perhaps it's a less-than-common choice for a wedding cake, but all things considered, it's great that people are taking these celebratory cakes in new and unusual directions. After all, there is no reason why you have to have a plain white cake with flowers when you can have wedding cupcakes, snack food towers or anything that you (and your new spouse) really enjoy.
Admit it: the reason that you like cupcakes is that they give you an excuse to eat like a kid again. A single-serving cake in a cute wrapper will unfailingly bring a smile to the face of any hungry onlooker, but it is not the cake itself that inspires lust for the little treat. It's the frosting.
This rich chocolate frosted cupcake was spotted on Cupcakes Take The Cake, a blog that is one of the finest resources for cupcake photos on the internet. Somewhere under this decadently fudgy topping is cake, but with frosting that looks this good, the only reason for the cake to be there is to support its weight. After all, the kid in you probably want to lick the frosting off and toss the rest of the cupcake - and when frosting looks this good, we can't blame you.
Peak into my grocery bag from last night: I went to Trader Joe's last night
to get a couple of things for dinner. But there were so many good things on the new products shelf! I picked up one.
Then another. And then I figured, why not? I'm doing it for you. I'll be reviewing some delicious (or maybe not so
much) things including:
Creating the ultimate Mother's Day gift for the carnivorous mom
Create less clutter with your Mother's Day gifts
Gifts for the vegetarian (or vegetable-loving) mom
