Spring Celebration Cake

My MIL graciously told me that I could bring a cake to a family get together this weekend.  It just so happens that I know of three ladies celebrating a birthday in the next few days (happy birthday mom!), so I figured a birthday cake would be appropriate.

And since I have had my Dear Husband home this week, I was actually able to make a real cake. 

No boxes. 

Totally from scratch, frosting and all.

It was so fun.

I dread him going back to work.

Anywho, my MIL loves spring colors and flowers and so I thought I would make a Spring Celebration Cake.

That is Gloria holding her/my MIL's  birthday cake.  Isn't she gorgeous?

A sweet little cake with flowing green grass and some colorful flowers to brighten any winter day.

Except I wanted it to be a birthday cake as well...

So I made the grass with all the letters of Happy Birthday.

It was definitely a fun cake to make!

Now, the really fun part.  The recipe!

I saw Ina Gartens recipe for chocolate cake and had to try it.

CAKE

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions

1. MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper; butter the paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out any excess.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, mix the flour with the sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt at low speed. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the oil, eggs and vanilla. Slowly beat the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until just incorporated, then slowly beat in the hot coffee until fully incorporated.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then invert the cakes onto a rack to cool completely. Peel off the parchment paper.
4. Set a cake layer on a plate with the flat side facing up. Evenly spread one-third of the frosting over the cake to the edge. Top with the second cake layer, rounded side up. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and side of the cake. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before slicing.

***

I them took it a step further and used Magnolia Bakery's Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

Divine.

Just divine.

MAGNOLIA BAKERY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 cups confectioner’s sugar

1. Combine all ingredients except the sugar into a large bowl and mix on medium speed until smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl often. Once all sugar is added, beat until fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. 

***

FYI~ I would probably not use the cream cheese frosting again if I were going to decorate it.  I think buttercream works the best for that!

The cake turned out super good and I think Ina's recipe is a winner!

I used royal icing for the decorations which worked beautifully as I had to travel for 3+ hours by car with it on my lap.  Since it dries hard it stayed totally in tact!

Comments

[ClassiclyAmber]

Woooooooow!! This is cool! I made one very similar several years ago....but then I scrolled down to look at more of the pictures here and saw the "Happy Birthday" genius part for the grass! THAT is awesome! I said that out loud, too. So the whole fam was in here ooohing and aaaaahing over your cake.

As always, you do a FABULOUS job, girl!!

[Holly Neaton]

Beautiful! You rock!

[Jessica]

Gloria is gorgeous and so is this cake!! WOW!! It made me all happy thinking of snow. :)

[Pamela Miller]

Patience....if only I had those patience lol - it looks fantastic!

[Kate]

Best.cake.ever.

Ever.

[Nancy]

Fantastical, Amanda! I love how you did the lettering! How do you do that detailed work without your hands shaking? My hands were shaking as I wrote out my Christmas cards! The first 10 or looked awful! I finally got into a grove and the rest looked better. I would imagine that the key is getting the icing the right consistency. Still....I might need a glass of wine or something just to keep my hands from shaking the cake off of the table!!

[Londa]

Wow! So creative! The chocolate cake recipe sounds super delicious! I love seeing your baking creations!

[darcie]

ok, are you kidding me? no seriously! seriously? You have outdone yourself girlfriend! out. done. yourself! amazing!!!

[ElizaBeth]

I think this may be Maygan's "inspiration" cake for the Cake & Sugar Art Show.... Just perfect!

[Renee]

Beautiful!

[bp]

That is so cool you wrote the letters to say happy birthday on the side!!

Thanks for sharing it! Hooray for email updates :) I didn't like not being able to have i am baker on my google reader.

[Kristin]

Oh my! Gorgeous!

[bridget {bake at 350}]

Oh, Amanda! (Do I start every comment that way?) That cake is amazing! LOVE, LOVE the letters as the grass!!! Yes, your MIL is gorgeous, too!

[Stephanie]

How fantastic is that cake?! Super fun Amanda. You blew me away with the grass being letters. I always (you know, like once or twice a year!) make homemade cakes so thanks for another recipe to try out! Beautiful job, thanks for sharing!

[Alex]

Homemade cake is the best, definitely. I'm lucky to have a family chocolate family cake recipe. The cake is amazing.

[Cop Mama]

That has to be the prettiest cake I have seen! Love the little flowers, so adorable.

[Ali]

That cake is unbelievable. I wish I had the patience to do something like that as it is the cutest idea I have seen in a long time.. So glad I found you :)

[Mandi]

Are you kidding me? Happy Birthday blades of grass?!? Adorable, creative, AMAZING! Seriously, everyone who is in your family or who is blessed to be your friend must get SO excited when it comes time to go to an event that you're a part of ;)

[Amanda]

Absolutely beautiful - just like my talented and gifted daughter. Mom

[Janis]

I was impressed with just the cake but when I saw the letters I was astounded...there is no limit to your talents! :)

Looks just yummy!!!!

[Christina]

Absolutely Stunning!

[Amy from She Wears Many Hats]

That. Is. The. Cutest. Cake!!!

All of your creations are adorable and perfect and yummy looking. I can hardly ice a cupcake well enough to photograph. You should have a seminar for people like me - sign me up!

[shelly (cookies and cups)]

Very cute idea! I love Ina's chocolate cake recipe! Definitely a keeper.

[Chantal]

Absolutely gorgeous and very creative! I know that had to have been a very tedious decorating process but absolutely worth it.

[cathy]

I bow down to your talent. So pretty! (In a million years I would not have the patience to ice all those letters.)

[Aftertheharvest.blogspot.com]

That is a gorgeous cake and so creative!

[Lollipop Events & Designs]

This is gorgeous!!!! Absolutely LOVELY!

[BJ_Mama]

What a Unique Idea! BEAUTIFUL!

[amy t]

Amanda, that is absolutely gorgeous!!! I cannot even imagine the amount of time it must have taken to write happy birthday so many times, but it is just genious!!!

[Marla]

What a steady hand! This cake is creative, gorgeous and I bet it tastes awesome! Great job.

[jo]

This cake is absolutely gorgeous. What's not to like! The colors are fabulous and love the wordings coming out from the edge of the cake.

[Ciaochowlinda]

I don't know how you managed to do the writing on the cake in such tiny and perfectly formed letters but it looks fantastic. You have the patience of Job and the steadiness of a surgeon.

[Memoria]

What a cute, cute cake! I love how you did the grass!! Happy belated birthday to your MIL; she is gorgeous.

[Lisa]

I just love this cake, the smile on your MIL's face says it all. Beautiful job :)

[Dina]

that is so unique and so lovely!

[Katie]

This is so gorgeous! The little letters and flowers are perfect!

[Diane {createdbydiane.blogspot.com}]

LOVE all the detail! You do a fantastic job.

[Jenifer]

Oh, wow! Could you teach me how to make a cake like this? Would you mind if I re-posted it and credited and linked back to you? This is simply amazing.

[grace]

ach! the colors! so beautiful! and if i tried to decorate a cake with all those little details, i'd be cross-eyed. that would be bad.

[Susan]

I have to be honest. At first I thought, "Hmmm... I could do that EASILY." And then I looked closer and saw your amazing Happy Birthday lettering ALL OVER and around and in the shape of blades of grass and whatnot, and then I realized, "Ummm... Yeah... I don't think anybody will be receiving a cake like that from ME anytime soon!" Ha ha ha.

It's really cool Amanda. Your mother in law looks so excited!

[Jelli Bean]

What a cute cake! I love the happy birthday grass. I too, have had my experience decorating with cream cheese icing, and as delicious as it is, it sure is a pain to pipe. Great work!

[Mr. P]

What a great design idea! I love it!

(You should enter my lamington challenge! http://deliciousdeliciousdelicious.blogspot.com/2010/01/re-inventing-lamington-competition-and.html )

[ingrid]

Love how you did the little flower stems! Very cool!
~ingrid

[Lindsay B]

Adorable cake! Very cool idea with the Happy Birthdays in the grass/stems! I was actually wondering how you got that finish on the detail icing. I love the sheen to it!!! I find that a lot of detail icing looks dull. Can you post the recipe?

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawng5QjohS9kWPPhwWDogVEmW_7HUGjWS14]

Found your website via MckMama. . . want to start baking right now. I am a bit challenged when it comes to baking but everything I see looks beautiful. This cake especially! What a great cake. Thanks for sharing.

[Mommyrachelle.blogspot.com]

Beautiful, intricate addition to the stems. I love the subtle touch that makes this soooo special. Awesome.

[kelly]

*faints* Ok, so I thought the cake was completely adorable from a distance, and then you go and show that the GRASS is really WORDS? *faints again* AH-mazing. SO clever and sooooo cute.

[Amanda]

THAT is truly an amazing work of art!! So gorgeous! Totally genius to use the letters. CLAP CLAP!

[Katrina]

Wow, love the grass lettering! What a great cake!

[Suzanne Collier]

Beautiful and even more so up close! Wow, very impressive!