I want to make a cake for my son's 1st birthday party, one for the guests and a separate one for my son. Bakery cakes are nice, but they are ridiculously expensive and I'm pretty good in the kitchen so I figure I'll give it a whirl. There is this bakery in Berwyn called Pierre's Bakery that makes an atomic cake with a cheesecake layer instead of bananas. It's been awhile since I've had it and I can't remember the way the layers were put together. Has anyone out there had this cake that can help me remember? Or do you have a delicious cake recipe I can borrow?
Also, what is the best kind of cake to give my son for his special "smash" cake? What about frosting? I'm not really concerned with nutritional value here, it's birthday cake for goodness sake :) I just don't want him to get sick.
Thanks Mamas!
Well, I broke down and went and bought a slice of the cake at Pierre's. For anyone who'd like to know, it's a layer of chocolate cake with a very thin coat of whipped cream, topped with a thin layer of cheescake, topped with a thin layer of strawberries mixed with whipped cream, topped with a layer of yellow cake, and finished with a thin whipped cream frosting. Hope I can do it justice! Thanks for the ideas, I'll probably just go with a small chocolate cake with whipped frosting for the smash cake, since I'll already have the stuff from the other cake.
I made marble cake with chocolate icing, I used 2 package caked and used some of it to make a small rectangle cake in a casserole dish for my son, and used the rest to make cupcakes for everyone else. He loved it and had chocolate all over his face. It was too cute. (but he had tried chocolate before this, so I knew he had no allergies)
Hi S.
Thanks for this post.
Sorry I don't have any cake recipes.
Like you I am good in the kitchen and I want to start baking my own cakes.Nothing tastes better than a homecake cake and of course saves money.
I am going to watch this post so I can take down recipes.
Happy 1st Birthday to your son.
Thanks Mamas from me too in advance
I've made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting or just a white or yellow cake. How about a cupcake for your son. If you want a fancier cake, I have a flourless chocolate cake recipe. Hopefully nobody has a nut allergy. I have a lot of recipes. You can always do an internet search. I like to use allrecipes.com because people rate the recipes.
For the cake:
2 bars (4 oz. each) Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (divided)
6 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
7 egg whites (room temperature)
pinch of salt
Melt chocolate in microwave on medium heat for 30 seconds at a time for about 3 minutes (until melted). Be careful not to over cook the chocolate or it will have a burnt flavor. Set aside. Cream the butter, gradually adding 1/2 cup of sugar. Mix until very fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla. Beat until creamy. Fold melted chocolate into creamed mixture. Use a food process or blender to chop pecans to a coarse powder. Combine nuts with the crumbs and fold into chocolate mixture. Beat egg whites into chocolate mixture; fold in remaining egg whites. Pour batter into a buttered 9 inch pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until the center is firm. Cool. Cake will sink lightly in the center. Run a knife along the edge and gently remove from the pan. Remove the parchment liner. Top with the Glaze and decorate with whipped cream and berries or whole pecans along the edge.
Glaze:
1 bar (4 oz.) Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
Heat the cream until hot over low heat. Add the chocolate, stirring until smooth and thick. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Turn torte, top side down, onto serving plate. Arrange strips of parchment paper under the cake edge to catch excess glaze. Pour glaze over the top and sides of the cake. After a short time, run excess glaze up the sides of the cake. Cover sides of the cake with nuts. Decorate the top as you see fit. Be creative and enjoy!
The website copykat.com may have the recipe you are looking for, they specialize in knock off recipes from restaurants. And some of the recipes are for local places rather than just national chains.
I do cake decorating and most smash cakes I make are chocolate cake. And it usually work with butter cream frosting. It tastes good, it holds up well to most weather (in Texas the heat is a concern) and it decorates well. Happy Baking!
...if you opt to buy a cake... grocery store cakes are not expensive.
If you make your own cake(s)... it will probably be MORE expensive, than buying one.... especially if it is a specialty 'gourmet' cake....
Carrot cake... is good for kids.
whatever you do - try a smaller test cake on him first to make sure he doesnt break out in hives. our child busted out with hives on a smaller test version when i let her mash it all over the place. something in the frosting reacted with her skin - wherever the icing was, there was a bump....however when i fed it to her with a spoon - no break out, she was just fine.
Hello!! My little one is also turning 1 on Tues and I had the same question!! I decided to buy a cup cake mold from the "as seen on tv" store at the mall. It is a huge cake mold, have you seen the infomercials? It claims to be 32x the size of a regular cup cake. Anyways, I am going to get the mold and bake her her own special smash cake. I also recommend copykat.com for any recipes!! I have not bought a PIerre cake in years because they are so expensive.
Have fun!
Don't have a specific cake recipe, but am looking forward to the answers. I did want to say this, the special smoosh cake (how fun~~I remember) is best when in light colors. Something about chocolate all over everywhere. Oh have the greatest day, the time flies!
Hi S.,
I agree with SB that buttercream icing is the way to go. I prefer white cake, however. If you're short on time and choose to use a boxed cake mix, try folding in 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest to your batter. It amps up your flavor and gives a more "from scratch" taste. I usually bake my cakes about 25 degrees cooler than the recipe calls for and start checking it a few minutes early to make sure it doesn't get too dry. After your cake is cooled, you can put it in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. This can help to keep the cake from "crumbing" when you ice it. It can also help keep your cake moist. And my final tip - to get a smooth looking finish with you buttercream, ice your cake then let the icing "crust" over (let it sit for about 10-15 minutes). Then using a Viva paper towel, place it on the top of your cake and gently rub out any spatula markings. Do the same for the sides. Viva towels are soft and don't have any textured pattern in them.
Happy Birthday to your little one and good luck!!
I don't know how to bake but I do know about the "smash cakes." I've found the simpler the better. You definitly want to avoid bright blue and darker green frosting colors because they stain, nearly impossible to get out. With both my kids I did white frosting on their smash cakes because it doesn't stain. Then I did a giant number one shaped candle (pink for my daughter, blue/green for my son), but didn't light it. I then presented the cake to my daughter/son with the unlit candle. Some of the best pictures/video was of my kids taking the candle out and gnawing on it, figuring out what it was before smashing into the cake! The white frosting also photographs pretty well. If you want a more "dramatic effect" use chocolate frosting, I would just avoid all the bright color frostings due to the stain factor. Believe me a 1 yr old can get frosting in places you didn't think were possible ( we were wiping frosting off of the cat!). Have fun!!
Here is a recipe for Atomic Cake off of my favorite cooking website:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts...
I've never actually made it myself, but I hope it's what you are looking for.
