A Monster Jam Birthday

The idea for this Monster Jam cake came to me while I was planning my hubby's 34th brirthday. For several years, we had talked about going to a Monster Jam truck show. They always come to town in January, right around his birthday, but every year we've always come up with an excuse not to go...money, time, etc. This year I didn't ask him if he wanted to go...I just bought the tickets and surprised him with them the night of the show. Although Monster Jam had been one of his top guesses, he was still surprised and we had a blast.

We brought our 20 month old daughter, and our good friend and neighbor "Unkie Scott" joined us as well. Tampa's own Medusa was awesome in her pink truck. Maximum Destruction won the freestyle. Grave Digger (the front runner) tipped over within the first couple of seconds in the freestyle, but they righted his truck and he was able to put on a great show for his fans.

Here are some pics from that night, followed by the cake inspired by the event...

I used a Paula Deen spice cake recipe (my hubby's all-time favorite kind of cake) and layered it with homemade cream cheese icing. I wanted to make the cake three layers, so I doubled the cake recipe and quadrupled the icing recipe. This amount of cake batter actually ended up making 4 layers (using a 10" round cake pan) which put the cake at daring heights. I didn't use the forth layer in the Monster Jam cake, so we munched on the extra layer the night before his party. There was a lot of icing left over too, so I could have just tripled the recipe.

Click here for the Paula Deen Spice Cake recipe.
If you follow my blog, you've probably noticed that I use Paula Deen recipes a lot. She is an amazing southern cook and I seriously wish I was related to her just so I could come to her parties and eat her food. No, seriously...I actually refer to her as "Aunt Paula".

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe:

You've probably also noticed that I use cream cheese icing a lot. It's the best icing in the world, it tastes good on just about anything, and it's my fave.

Mix together...

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Football Cake

This past weekend, my brother-in-law, turned 32 years old. He is a Gator football fanatic, so my sister asked me to make him a Florida Gator cake for his birthday. I decide to go to Joanne's and check out their cake supply section for inspiration. Wilton makes a cake pan called the First and Ten Football Cake. I found it at Joanne's, and it was perfect for his birthday. Also, the football cake pan can be used to make other things...like football-shaped bread, and as a mold for a giant rice crispy treat, so I knew it would get used a lot during football season.

His favorite cake is red velvet with cream cheese icing. I used a recipe I found in a book called The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn. She uses store-bought cake mixes as the base in all of her recipes to make delicious semi-homemade cakes. I dyed some of the icing orange and used it to frost the cake. Then, I dyed a smaller portion of the icing blue, and used that to decorate the cake.

The red velvet cake was so moist and delicious, and the cream cheese icing was creamy and sweet. It got rave reviews and was literally annihilated in about 10 minutes, leaving me wishing I had made two cakes because I don't think everyone got a piece.

Red Velvet Cake recipe:
1 box of German chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 ounce Wilton red food coloring
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

*Blend all ingredients and bake at 350 degrees until the sides of the cake just start to pull away from the pan. The time will vary depending on the size of your pan(s).

Cream Cheese Icing recipe:
8 ounces cream cheese (room temp)
1 stick butter (room temp)
3-3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

*Blend all ingredients and spread on cake

Pink Leopard-Print Rainbow Pound Cake

Laura, my little sister, recently turned 31 years old, and for her birthday she requested that I make her a cake, to which I replied, "sure!" Laura then went on to describe what kind of birthday cake she wanted. "I want a pink leopard-print rainbow cake." "You are really testing my skills," I replied. But, I'm not the type of person to back down from a challenge, and let me tell you...it was not without challenges.

It is actually pound cake. I figured the layers would hold up better with a dense cake. I got the recipe from a co-worker and it is really good. I frosted the cake with cream cheese icing that I dyed pink using Wilton icing color.

To make it a rainbow cake, I separated the batter into five bowls and dyed each bowl a different color with McCormick food coloring. I then put scoops of each color in the pan and used a knife to gently swirl the colors through each other, creating a tye-die effect. I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the cake...we were too busy eating it! Here is a picture I found on the internet that resembles the inside of my cake. Click on the link to see a step by step pictorial on how to create a rainbow cake...

One-Step Pound Cake:
Blend together...
2-1/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter (softened)
8oz yogert (any flavor) or sour cream
3 eggs

Pour mixture into pan that has been greased and floured.
Bake at 325 for aprx 60 minutes

Cream Cheese Icing:
Blend together...
4 ounces butter (softened)
4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

A Sweet Ending To A Perfect Day

My husband and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and fell in love with the beauty of the islands. So, for our daughters first birthday, we wanted to recreate that feeling of Aloha Spirit by throwing a luau in her honor.

Feeling very optimistic I decided that, rather than purchase a pre-designed cake from Publix, I would make this a birthday to remember...and make her cake. But not just any cake. It had to be special...and it had to be fit for a Hawaiian princess.

The cake is actually banana bread. When we were in Hawaii, one of our fondest memories is of the "road to Hana", on the island of Maui, where we bought the most delicious banana bread from a young lady who managed a quaint roadside stand. Although I've never been able to recreate that banana bread, this recipe is pretty darn good.

The cake is two tiers, and each tier has two layers. Between each cake layer is a thick layer of the best cream cheese frosting you've ever tasted. After stacking the layers and tiers, and icing the cake with cream cheese frosting, I placed the chocolate-filled cookies around the edge of the bottom layer. Then, I sprinkled brown sugar "sand" atop the bottom layer, added a few seashells and a few more cookies to frame my daughters name. The grand finale is the bouquet of hot pink hibiscus that tops the cake. It was truly a sweet ending to a perfect day.

Here are the recipes...

Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees - Bake for aprx 60 minutes (the time will vary depending on the size of the pan)

***The recipe calls for mixing dry ingredients separately, but I just throw everything into one bowl and it always turns out delicious.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted (and cooled)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
*optional - chocolate chips, chopped nuts, shredded coconut (I've tried all of these optional ingredients and they are all fabulous!

Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix together...

4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla