Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Pumpkin Patch Cake

I am not a cake decorator, I am NOT a cake decorator. I like baking, alot more than I used to. I am learning and trying, but sometimes it is NOT pretty. THIS is one of those times. I found a cute recipe for a pumpkin cake- not a pumpkin-flavored cake, a cake that looked like a pumpkin. I am sharing this with you so you will see, I am just a normal mom who loves to cook. I am still learning. I am learning that I am in need of some serious icing lessons....

Buttercream icing from my Betty Crocker cookbook;
colored green and orange with food coloring2 bundt cakes; I used the Spice cake recipe, also from my Betty Crocker cookbook
You turn the bundt cakes over, so the rounded part is the bottom and the top of the "pumpkin"
You also need 2 cupcakes with this. Just take a spoonful of batter from each bundt cake and fill 2/3 way full to make 2 cupcakes. You put the cupcakes, tops together, in the middle of the bundt cakes to make the "stem". Mine did not stick up enough, to make a good stem.Frost the stem with the green and the pumpkin with the orange. After it is smoothly frosted, you can run a spoon (use the back of the spoon) down the sides of the cake, to make "creases" on the pumpkin
This is a really cute idea, and if you are good with icing, then you should try it. The icing needed to be thinner, I will say that. Everybody knew it was a pumpkin and it tasted good, so that is something at least...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Kristen. Great job! And with practice, you will just keep getting better. I have a decorating "tip" for you to help you improve.
Having decorated cakes for over 30 years now, here's one tip that makes so much difference. Having the right equipment makes decorating so much easier. You need to have an slim, angled, flexible, metal spatula to frost cakes. Then after you frost the cake, dip your metal spatula in hot water and then smooth the frosting with the water that clings to your spatula. (Hope that makes sense.) Keep dipping, smoothing, and turning the cake until you have smoothed out all the rough spots. You can use the rounded tip of the spatula to make those "grooves" in the pumpkin sides too. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work. I just love seeing you "girls" accepting the challenges of cooking/baking and succeeding! :)