Spumoni Birthday Cake

A few years ago we were invited out to dinner. 

We had never visited this restaurant before 

and I have to say I was

very disappointed with my menu selections.

For the main course I ordered

Broasted Chicken.

It made sense to me that Broasted 

should be a compound word

for "oven baked-roasted".

I was wrong.

And although the server offered to bring

me something else, he seemed rather frustrated
that everyone at the table agreed
I was served deep fried chicken.

I declined the offer.

I ordered it, so I ate it.

 Eventhough something deep-fried 

was the very thing I was trying to avoid.

Turns out "Broasted" is different than deep-fried

 in, as far as I can understand, that

deep-fried foods are cooked by floating

 on top of the oils, cooking one side at a time 

and requiring turning to cook both sides.

Broasted foods, on the other hand,

are pressure cooked in the oils so that all sides

are cooked evenly at the same time.

Okay, so I learned something I didn't know before.

For the dessert course

I settled on a Spumoni Cake.

Mmm, I thought, I'm already familiar

with Spumoni ice cream...

the Italian version of Neapolitan

with flavors of Chocolate, Cherry and Pistachio.

Love it.

I could envision the cake wondering

would these three flavors be a

bundt style cake where the flavors

were swirled all around?

Or, would it be a beautiful 

three (3) layer cake?

I was excited to try it and couldn't wait

for our server to bring it.

It would be the perfect end to a not so perfect

meal.

And when the server came

he set a bowl of ice cream in front of me!

Ice Cream?!?!?!?!? 

Really?

Did the menu description

say anything about ice cream?

NO,   it said, 

plainly in black and white,

Spumoni CAKE

ice cream is not cake, folks.

Well you can see how I've overcome

my dissappointment over the years. Ha

I can tell you this, I've learned to ask my 

restaurant servers alot of questions

about menu items, their ingredients and 

how they are prepared. 

So,

this week was my husband's birthday.

I haven't forgotten the beautiful

Spumoni Cake I'd envisioned that night.

For this birthday I departed

from the usual predictable decorated

birthday cake and made a 

Spumoni Cake.

I didn't follow a recipe but used

these cake mixes.

Each mix made two layers

so, after baked, I put one layer of each flavor

in the freezer for another time.

To the chocolate cake I piped Nutella into the

cake batter.  Being rather thick, it didn't want to break off so
became these little strips instead of little dollops.

To the Cherry Chip cake I added 

chopped maraschino cherries and a couple

drops of red food coloring.
It turned out a pretty pink but looks kinda
orange here.

To the white cake I added a 1/2 teaspoon

or so of almond extract and 4 drops of

green food coloring.

I wanted a light whippy "frosting".

And discovered a product called TruWhip which is 

an alternative to Cool Whip

that claims

all natural, non gmo certified, 

has no hydrogenated oils,

no high fructose corn syrup.

I stirred together

a small box of instant pistachio pudding mix

and 1/3 - 1/2 cup of milk

and folded it together with 1 container of TruWhip.


(This wasn't quite enough to finish the job
so I ended up making a second batch
of my pistachio pudding and TruWhip
whippy frosting and used
 most, or at least more than half, of the
second batch.)

I stacked the cakes with the 

chocolate on the bottom

cherry chip in the center

 and almond flavored white cake

tinted a pale minty green  on top.

Frosted all the sides and piped rosettes on the top

to hold the candles.

There....all done.

 Pistachios sprinkled around the top
or pressed onto the sides of this cake 
would have been more impressive,
but pistachios, being a softer nut, can get soggy

and need to go on immediately before serving.

 I opted not to add any to this cake.

Delicious!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Dear

Sharing at Jan's Daily Cup

My Cupcake Tower Tea Party

Welcome to another Tea Party.

Today we are celebrate Mom's 80th Birthday.
When I was growing up I remember her always playing
our living room piano, her accordian, later we aquired
and organ then a keyboard.  

She still occasionally plays for local special 
occasions and some Sundays at church.

So of course I had to make her a keyboard  cake.

 For the Open House Celebration,
I've prepared Cupcakes

I created a three tier stand 

using glass cake stands 

stacked on top of a

large spinning lazy susan style  

silver relish tray base.

I've baked up seven (7)

different flavors of cakes

for our guests enjoyment.

Set in pretty

shabby style cupcake liners.

Here are the strawberry cakes

with fresh strawberries whipped

into a buttercreme frosting

set in a Wilton pink tulip liner....

My chocolate Reeses peanut butter cakes

with chocolate fudge and

peanut butter frostings

garnished with a piece of a Reeses PB cup...

These are set in a black damask printed liner.

Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting of course

and identified by

the little carrot I've piped on top...

The carrot cake cupcakes are set in

orange cupcake liners and then

a lace collar made from a

10 inch paper lace doily.

See how to make these lace collars

in a previous post here.

Betty Crocker makes the best

orange cake I've found

called Orangecicle.

I piped a flower on top of these

with an orange buttercreme

to which fresh orange zest was added

for a truly fresh flavor.

Then I added a little sparkle with

a sprinkle of yellow sugar.

The orange cakes are set in a 

pretty shabby green and polka dot

liner.

I decided to offer a little something

other than cake as well,

Cheesecake

the same recipe as a large cheesecake

but made into individual servings

with some graham cracker crust

spooned into the bottom of the cupcake cup

and topped with the cheesecake batter.

When cooled garnished with a spoonful of

canned cherry pie filling and a

dollop of creme cheese frosting piped along side.

Pineapple upside-down cupcakes...

turned out beautifully, 

much better than my last attempt here.

I wish I could find the post where I

learned how to cook the pineapple rings

in the brown sugar butter syrup and

then lay them on top of the cupcake

rather than bake them in the bottom

of the cupcake cup.  

Brilliant!!

This works a thousand times better.

If this was your post please contact

me so I can give you credit.

Lastly, the cake I am most proud of,

my Spumoni cakes

set in a purple tulip petal liner

and frosted with a pretty pistachio green

frosting to which a box of instant pistachio

pudding was added,

these cakes are made in three layers

bottom- milk chocolate cake with Nutella Hazelnut spread

center- cherry chip cake with chopped maraschino cherries

top- white cake tinted green, flavored with almond extract 

Garnished with a sprinkle of chopped salted pistachios.
See my Spumoni Layer Cake in another post here.

Which will you choose,

Oh, go ahead,

have another...

I'm so glad you could come today,
I do so enjoy your comments, and would
love to return the visit.

Please stop back soon.


Sharing at What's It Wednesday

Cupcakes in a Cup, 3 Different

All look so impressive
but sooo easy to put together.

You can use either the regular or large
size cupcakes.
Today, I'm using the regular size cupcakes.

1.)
  Strawberry Shortcakes

Start with your favorite white cake or shortcake

baked in muffin cups, cool, remove the cupcake

paper and drop in the bottom of a 

clear plastic disposable cup.

Top with sliced fresh strawberries.

Pipe some whipped topping on top.

Garnish with a whole strawberry.

(leave the strawberry leaf/stem on

for a pretty color element).

2. )
Chocolate Cherry  a.k.a. Black Forest

Your favorite chocolate cupcakes,

This is my faaavorite chocolate cake
nice and moist and chocolately!
It's an eggless recipe that I've seen in those
group fundraiser cookbooks under the name
of Crazy Cake.

In a small mixing bowl sift together:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white granulated sugar

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1 teaspoon Arm & Hammer baking soda

a few dashes of salt (less than 1 teaspoon)

In a different small bowl (or glass 2 cup measuring cup with pour spout works great),

whisk to blend then pour into dry ingredients above:

1 cup water

1/2 cup cooking oil, such as Crisco Canola Oil

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon good vanilla (I like McCormicks Clear Imitation Vanilla)

Stir all together with a wire whisk 'til well blended and smooth.

Pour into UNgreased 8x8 baking pan, or 12 cup cupcake tin with liners.

(Because there are no raw eggs you can lick the utensils and bowl, yum!!)

Bake in 350 degrees oven for approx. 20 minutes or until cake is puffed and springy,

wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

So... drop a cooled cupcake into the plastic cup,

Top with a big spoonful of cherry pie filling 

straight out of the can.

Pipe on the whipped topping,

and garnish with a single cherry.
I've recently seen prepackaged shaved/curled 
chocolate in the baking aisle.  
Wish I'd had some to sprinkle on top
around the cherry....next time I will.

3.)
  Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Sorry for the picture quality of some of these.  

I'd just removed these from the refrigerator

and the plastic cup fogged up making it

difficult to see the cake inside.

I'd seen pineapple upside down cupcakes
on Pinterest ....something new to me....
and they looked wonderful so of course
I had to try them.
I definitely recommend using the large size
cupcakes for these.  I used the regular size
and by the time I had the pineapple ring
in the muffin tin there was almost no room
for cake and it ran out of the cup during baking.
I ended up putting two cupcakes in these
plastic cups...a plain cake in the bottom,
whipped topping, and then a
pineapple cake.  I placed a stemmed 
cherry in the pineapple hole.

I'm off to the bake sale!

Let me know if you make any of these,
I'd love to hear your comments.