I've decided that if I'm not going to be a very good cook the least I can do for my kids is make them bad ass birthday cakes each year. I'm signing up for a cake decorating class at Michaels and going to give it a go. Today I did a little trial run with my new train cake mold-the longing of Tommy's heart for his 2nd Birthday in November. (At least I am hoping he still longs for trains by then). My goal is to try this cake every few weeks until I come up with the perfect design and flavor for his b-day party. Call me over the top, but I know you are secretly excited to watch the train cake evolve over the next few months. Tips are always welcome, however extra pounds from this new creative outlet are not. PS-Can you believe I actually took the time to make all those little stars?
Here's what I will change on this one for next time...
1. Make the red icing RED (not peachy-orange) using Wilton food dye with pink icing
2. Make the wheels black, not white
3. Find some sort of people to go in the windows?
4. Something must be done about the taste of this cake. Today I just did the cake itself from a box b/c I wanted to see how the mold worked, but I'm seeking out recipes for cakes from scratch that work well in molds.
5. Do not use White Chocolate Frosting, yuck.
6. Buy the actual icing bags instead of using ziplocks.
7. I want to have box cars attached to the back of the cake and a caboose. I'm thinking sugar cookies for that part.
8. Build some sort of edible track.
9. Do the outside edges with white.
10. Make the stars even smaller so there is more icing. It was a little skimpy.
6 comments:
All right, this is coming from the woman who stays up until 2 AM each year finishing Reece's cake.
A few thoughts on your inquiries:
Licorice for the track? I saw this somewhere.
You have to really squish the stars together to make it all icing and no cake showing.
The Wilton icing bags work really well, but just spend the money and get enough tips so you don't have to change them out for every color; total pain in the butt.
The food color gels are much more color potent than liquid food coloring.
It's fun, but it's so sad when you see your creation disappear in a matter of minutes : )
Just the other day I was searching for a made-from-scratch cake recipe that I could make here in Peru where cake mixes are nonexistent. I searched on www.allrecipes.com (an awesome website if you've never used it before) and found a 5-star recipe for homemade cakes recommended for cake molds. A lady who decorates cakes for a living left a comment that this is her favorite recipe to use. Plus, you can adjust the recipe to make it a white cake, yellow cake, chocolate cake, etc. Haven't tried it, but it looked good! I'll see if I can find it again and forward it to you. Good luck - it's looking good so far!!
I for one am in full favor of as many trail runs as possible! (And I liked the white chocolate icing - I picked it out.) I'll expect a hot, sweet tasty choo choo on my kitchen counter once a week, Woman!
I was just telling someone today that one of the things I have accepted as a mom is that I am not going to make amazing birthday cakes. It is too easy to call another SAHM that does that as her side business and have her do it. They are good and I justify it by saying that I am supporting another mom's business :) so way to go for being the mom who cares enough to actually make her kids' own cakes instead of ordering them!! yet one more way you challenge me to be a better mom!
As far as suggestions on the train cake - I have already admitted I am not qualified to make any but I know our friend here in wichita, Allison, makes yummy cakes from scratch so she might have a recipe suggestion.
my only other thought is that I wish I lived close enough to help taste test all the upcoming train experiments!
Oh boy, my high school employment decorating ice cream cakes at Baskin Robbins has all come flooding back... I might get crazy and slap some Oreos on for wheels, or else frost the wheels with something other than the star tip to make them look more circular.
Just to be a real dork, I did my color theory class research paper on the color blue as an appetite suppressant (because other than blueberries and potatoes, most blue things in nature are poisonous) so I'd use the blue for highlights only, whereas reds & yellows are appetite stimulants (think fast food restaurants...)
I'll shut up now...
I enjoyed test-tasting train cake #2 tonight! It was YUMMY and impressively decorated. Keep practicing and Georgia and I will come over for practice birthday cake anytime.
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