Party Time-Batman cake

    My nephew turned five this week and I had the pleasure of making the cake for his Batman themed bash. The party was held at Pump in Up which is this really cool inflatable party place in Chattanooga. Harrison and Chloe alike had a blast and were looking like they might keel over from exhaustion after a mere 30 minutes of running around.

Janine and I met two weeks ago to discuss ideas for the cake and she found a few pictures online that she and Andrew(the birthday boy) really liked. She was expecting up to 30 people for the party so I decided to do a 10 and 6 inch stacked cake. Andrew is really in to batman right now and I was super excited to do something a little bit different. Especially since Janine wasn't super picky about what she wanted. The inspiration for his cake was found here on flickr but I changed it up a bit and added a few elements of my own.

these little guys remind me of the old batman cartoons with the "BLAM" and "POW" popping up everywhere

I baked a dozen cupcakes with some leftover batter and had some really cute cupcake wraps that matched the theme perfectly. Makes me think of gotham city with them all around the cake.

Andrew's expression when he saw the cake was priceless. That is my favorite part of the whole process. I love making people happy and who doesn't love cake?

I love this one..he is looking so lovingly at that cake!

sneaky pants over here snagged a cupcake and had most of the icing gone by the time anyone noticed. His face was so yellow that it looked like he had jaundice.

After we all scarfed down our cake and ice cream it was time for presents. I love the expressions on all of their little faces. Andrew looks very pleased with his booty but what cracks me up is the reaction of the two other cuties. Harrison seemed equally amazed at this gift. It is so fun to catch things like that on camera.

Overall it was a great party and Andrew came up to me before he left and said "thank you aunt kristy for making my cake." He is such a sweetheart.

and on a final note....

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

      One of my best friends is getting married in a few weeks and I had the pleasure of  doing some cupcakes for her lingerie shower. I know she likes my white cake but I wanted to stray from my normal recipe and try something new. I found this recipe for a vanilla buttermilk cake on a few different sites and it sounded so delicious, I knew I had to try it. I was afraid from looking at the batter that they were going to be too yellow in color but they baked up beautifully and turned out a lightly golden color. I have been looking for a new buttercream recipe as well and found a really yummy one that I thought would pair really well with the buttermilk cake. It comes from Elizabeth Faulkner's Demolition Desserts which is a book that  has so many amazing recipes that I want to try them all. This buttercream is quite smooth ,super easy to make & pipes really well.

      

     I am also quite retarded and didn't think much of the kosher salt that it called for when I was looking over the ingredients so I didn't pick up any at the store. When it came time to make the icing, I figured that regular salt would work the same. Boy was I wrong. The icing tasted great at first, then when you got a big mouthful of it, the salty flavor was enough to knock you out. I didn't really notice it until I got to the shower and tried a whole cupcake with the heaping mound of icing. It wasn't horrible exactly, actually most everyone loved them but I did find one with a tossed in the wastebasket in the bathroom and it was missing one tiny little bite. I can't help but laugh. I'm learning! I will definately pay more attention to the ingredients list and do my research.

    Here are a few pictures of the finished cupcakes. I made 2 dozen total and custom made the little pink S candies in honor of Lauren's new last name to put on 12 of them. I filled half a dozen cupcakes with chocolate ganache and topped those with silver sanding sugar then I used a large star tip and pink flakes to dress up the other half of the cupcakes. It is amazing how that one little tip can make your cupcakes look so much more professional! I love it!

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake- makes an 8-inch layer cake or 24 cupcakes

adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alicia Huntsman and Peter Wynne

4 whole large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 t vanilla extract

1 1/4 c buttermilk

3 c cake flour

2 c sugar

4 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

-Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray the bottom and sides of three 8-inch cake pans. Line with parchment rounds and grease.

-Place the eggs and the yolks in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and 1/4 cup of buttermilk. Whisk well and set aside.

-Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a mixer; whisk to blend. Add the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk and the butter to the dry ingredients and with the mixer on low speed, blend together. Raise the mixer to medium speed and beat until light fluffy (about 2 minutes).

-Add the egg mixture in three additions, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Don’t overmix.

-Divide the batter among the three pans. Bake the cake layers for 28-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack and remove the paper from the bottoms. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

* this recipe made almost 3 dozen cupcakes

Vanilla Buttercream

as adapted from Demolition Desserts

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

4 oz. unsalted softened butter

2 1/2 c. or 10 oz. powdered sugar

1/2 t. kosher salt

1 T. plus 1 t. whole milk

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1 t. fresh lemon juice (I put 1/2 t.)

Directions:

In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter & salt for about 30 seconds and then add half of the powdered sugar and the milk to the butter and beat again until combined. Scrape down the bowl. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and the lemon juice and beat until combined. Scrape down the bowl again. Beat on high speed for 5-6 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy.

*I doubled this recipe and had just enough to ice 2 dozen cupcakes.

Let me know what you guys think about these recipes! have a great week!