A Celebratory Cake

Everyone in front of Treasure Island in Las Vegas!

Whenever I make excuses about not posting and say I will begin to more frequently…the reality is……that that N-E-V-E-R happens…SO….no empty promises this time loyal readers….. you all will just have to hope I will get on some sort of consistent schedule in the next few weeks….in my defense however, I have started a new job, traveled to LAS VEGAS AND am now suffering the consequences, as I have come down with a horrible virus thats left me unable to eat solid food…..I guess what they say is true….SOME PEOPLE JUST CANT HANDLE VEGAS…… ANYWAYS…onwards and upwards….in case any of you have been with me from the beginning…which was just about ONE YEAR ago…I wanted to say THANKS x 1000…..Especially to my parents, grandparents, Marta & Joan, Ali (who is somewhere in European waters right now!), Isabelle, and any other readers out there….your comments and viewings of my posts have not only boosted my confidence but given me a reason (besides of course personal documentation) to keep “Abite of Life” going over the last year. So a BIG THANKS to everyone and hope to see you all in the next year of the blog as well as hopefully some new readers??? Maybe this year foodgawkerwill ACTUALLY accept one of my submissions & I will do a little more impressive baking and a little less slacking on posting….

The fountains in front of The Bellagio Hotel

For the ONE YEAR anniversary of my blog I wanted to challenge myself….something big…something difficult…something that would take way too much time and most importantly, something with a purpose……as one of my oldest and dearest friends was finally turning 21 this last week I decided I would go ALL OUT and make her a two tiered birthday cake, complete with homemade fondant and butter-cream icing adornments to have the night before we all headed to VEGAS for the big celebration. I only photographed the finished project because the whole process took me a little more than two days to do, as I made the cakes from scratch and the fondant itself which was may more time consuming than I would have thought….although my forearms are looking..P-R-E-T-T-Y jacked after all that kneading..haha…..not really….but here are the recipes in case anyone ever wants to try this themselves.

#1 THE CAKE: A yellow cake from COOKS magazine..”Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake” this cake recipe is FAIL PROOF…it comes out exactly like a boxed mix, but tastes EVEN better! #2 The FONDANT….I homemade this but you can buy it at some grocery stores and cooking supply stores… it is pretty time consuming so definitely make it a day or two in advance…it can keep in the fridge for several weeks and although its sugar overload it tastes pretty good! #3 BUTTER CREAM ICING. I have a special recipe for this and all you need is two sticks (1 lb.) softened UNSALTED butter, 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract, 2 boxes powdered sugar, and some (1/2 cup) warm milk and then mix until you have a thick consistency…I usually just eye-ball it….So, Without further adue….onto the masterpiece…..
Marta wanted the cake to be all pink but I wanted to throw in some color so I added a light green and decorated with white butter cream piping and pink, green and white fondant adornments. There are indeed a few lumps here and there but for my first attempt with fondant…I think it came out spectacularly! My friend Isabelle came over to help with the decorating…thank goodness…She kept my easily side-tracked mind on task! Thank you ISABELLE for all your help! What would I have done without you!? PS- Please note my Apron…I am very fond and proud of it…I bought it while I was abroad traveling in Oxford, England last fall at the Cath Kitson store…man her stuff is adorable…check it out…she has great little items…travel cosmetic bags…aprons…clothes…LOVE HER.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTA! Finally got the cake finished and slightly refrigerated and headed over to celebrate with the birthday girl!
The yellow cake on the inside was very tasty, that COOKS ILLUSTRATED recipe is fail proof…and easy! It also froze well, which was great because I made the cakes three days in advance and they softened right up for the decorating and tasted perfect when we cut it!
After a quick Champagne toast, the Birthday girl (and the rest of us non-birthday girls) dug in. All around, a great experience for me experimenting with some more difficult baking and decorating and it was a great way to celebrate Marta’s birthday and the ONE YEAR anniversary of “Abite of Life”. Until next time….talk to you all soon….!