Thursday, February 24, 2011

The big one (well, one of them, anyway)



About a week ago, I was having a conversation with (my 4yo daughter) Gillian as we were in the car on the way to the daycare.  I asked her if she knew that she was going to get to stay home with me on Monday (Presidents Day, the 21st).  "Yes! That's my day off!"  "Do you know what else it is?"  "Is it your birthday?"  "Yes, it is.  How old do you think I'm going to be?"  "100?"  Thanks, kid.  =)  

So yes, this past Monday was my birthday.  While I'm not quite 100, it was one of those birthdays with a zero at the end.  When I told Gillian which one, she insisted that we count from 1 to 40, just because she could.  Again, thanks. =)  I didn't really have any special plans for the day, in part because I knew Gillian would be home with me all day.  We went to Costco (and G was very disappointed in the lack of samples on weekdays), and did some baking.  


I was thrilled to get lots of wonderful birthday wishes from family and friends.  My family knows me well--my in-laws sent a baking-themed card, my sister Kate & her husband Jeff sent a gift card to King Arthur Flour, and my Dad and Judy sent a gift card to Sur la Table.  Time for some shopping! =)  (I already have my eye on this pullman pan. Though I still don't understand why they don't just sell the lid with it...)  The big question everyone kept asking, though, was who was making my birthday cake?  

There are two answers to that. The Friday before my birthday, one of my bankers made a cake for me and brought it to work.  It was one of my all-time favorites, yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  She was a little worried that I wouldn't like cake from a box mix.  My thoughts on that?  Any cake that someone else makes for me is awesome!  Plus, who doesn't like box yellow cake?  =)  It was fantastic.  

I also made cake for myself on Monday.  Gillian helped a bit with stirring and licking beaters. =)  Unlike the rest of my immediate family, I prefer vanilla cake with my chocolate frosting.  Since I was in the mood for raspberry filling, I decided to make white cake, since I think it works better than yellow for that.  My go-to recipe for white cake is in one of the first baking books I ever got, The Cake Bible.  It's the White Velvet Butter Cake.  One of the great things about making white cake instead of yellow is that I got to get some of the egg whites out of my freezer. =)  For the filling, I got to use more egg whites, since I made my favorite Swiss meringue buttercream, flavored with raspberry.  And I went the easy route for the frosting--I can probably make the sour cream-chocolate frosting in my sleep, I've made it so many times now.  I like lots of layers, so I sliced each of the 9" layers in half so I had four layers of cake with filling between them.  I didn't want to mess with decorating, so I just swirled the chocolate frosting on the top.  Brianna and Gillian insisted it needed something more, so we added some multicolored non-pareil sprinkles.


The verdict?  Well, that's kind of a silly question, since I made it with flavors that are my favorites.  Honestly, though, I might change the frosting next time.  The raspberry buttercream was fantastic with the texture of the cake.  The chocolate frosting was a bit heavy for the whole thing.  I might have to try it with chocolate buttercream for the outside next time, or maybe a milk chocolate ganache glaze.  It was still very tasty, though, and was eagerly eaten by everyone here.  

If you'd like to try making the White Velvet Butter Cake, you can find the recipe here.  The Sour Cream-Chocolate Frosting is in this post of mine.  And the Swiss Meringue Buttercream is in my post on Dorie's Perfect Party Cake.  (I added about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of raspberry fruit butter to the buttercream to flavor it. Raspberry jam should work as well.)  


16 comments:

  1. This is a cake I really want to make, too! And I even have the cake bible. Will have to check out your other posts for the raspberry buttercream and the chocolate sour cream frosting. Sounds and looks awesome! Happy belated birthday again!

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  2. So glad that you had such a good birthday, Di! Have so much fun shopping. And that cake looks marvelous...my favorite flavors, too. +)

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  3. Yay for February b-days! Your cake looks delicious - so glad it was a happy day for you (and G)! :)

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  4. 100, remind me never to ask G how old she thinks I AM!! LOL. It was fun getting to celebrate your birthday on twitter again this year...let's go for next year as well. Who does not love a layered birthday cake with sprinkles??? Very nice. btw, the little word verification for this post is "tweep" -- I think that means a Twitter Peep, don't you?? lol

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  5. Is there any cake left for me? Yum. I am glad you had such a great birthday cake to celebrate such a great person!

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  6. Happy Birthday Di! The cake looks great :-)

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  7. Happy Birthday! (and I hope you like Julia's letters...she was just so cool.)

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  8. Gosh, if you're 100, I was here when dinosaurs roamed the earth! I'm so glad you had a fun birthday, and your cake looks delectable!

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  9. 100 huh? Wow, that's pretty old :) Seriously, I'm always amused by the things kids say and do. Today my neighbor's 3 year old attached a leash to my shirt so he could walk me!

    Your cake looks amazing, I just wish we'd all been there to celebrate with you. Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

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  10. My SIL had my nephew's brainwashed into believing she was 29 for years! lol

    The cake is gorgeous and I love how you used the Swiss Buttercram with raspberry! Glad you had an enjoyable birthday!

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  11. Happy Birthday to you! Enjoy spending your gift card. You may be looking at the loaf pan that looks like the pullman (deep with sides straight up). Our test kitchen has found it to be a great pan for gluten free bread baking (item 2958). Item 2959 is our 9" pullman pan WITH lid. They are essentially the same product. One comes with a lid while the other does not. Give us a call (800-827-6836) or send an email to customercare@kingarthurflour.com with any questions you may have. Elisabeth from King Arthur Flour

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  12. Hello! I have just discovered you blog. Your cake looks yummy. Your stories about your grand daughter are so cute. Happy Birthday (with an 0) to you. Oh BTW, we were just in Austin the other day touring U.T!

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  13. Although I feel like we were able to celebrate your birthday with you this year, Di, thanks to the magic of social media, there was one thing missing: we couldn't share the cake or shout the birthday song! Now at least I've got a good view of the cake and can imagine the flavors. Now you just have to imagine me singing to you!!

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  14. Happy Birthday (late)! We were out of town skiing last week, but I did stop and hope you did something fun -- or had good cake -- on Monday.

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