"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

SHOW AND TELL: The Cake That Took Over The World

Every year, I let the kids pick what kind of cake they want for their birthday. Then, we have a loose theme based on that cake. This year Joey requested a pyramid cake for his party. I told him there was no way I would attempt the classic smooth sided Egyptian pyramid but I could manage a step pyramid. 7 boxes of Devil's Food cake mix, 21 eggs, 9 1/3 cups of water, 3 ½ cups of oil, and some of the best damned frosting EVAH combined to make this behemoth of a cake...

BTW, that is a mummy figurine on top.
Yeah, I could have made a smaller cake but the wonderful perfectly square pans I had access to resulted in a cake this big. Each layer was 2 ½ inches tall resulting in a cake 10 inches high.

Honestly, this cake wasn't that hard to make. I baked and assembled it Friday night and applied the deliciousness that was the frosting I made on Saturday. The key to getting a thin, smooth frosting cover is to apply it in two layers. When I assembled it, I covered each layer with a thin cover of store bought cream cheese frosting. This layer sealed in the crumbs and stuck the layers together. Once I did that, I refrigerated the cake over night. Chilling the cake helped set the frosting layer and made this huge, heavy cake a bit more stable.

Devil's food cake and cream cheese frosting is always delish but what really made this cake was the outer layer of frosting. I made the super easy cream cheese frosting featured in The Joy of Cooking. I found the recipe over at slashfood.com
Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until you reach a consistency and sweetness that fits your taste.

No softening the cream cheese (though you do have to plan ahead with the butter). No whipping to a certain point that occurs for all of ten seconds before it's ruined. The hardest part is not eating the frosting straight from the bowl by the spoonful.
Then, to give the frosting the right color and the sandy texture, we crushed 18 cinnamon graham crackers (2 sleeves) and mixed it directly into the frosting. It truly was good enough to eat by the spoonful.
*****************************************
To see what everyone else in class is bringing to SHOW AND TELL, take a trip to visit the Miss Mel, Goddess of the Infertility Blogosphere.
*****************************************
BREAKING NEWS...Gabe used the potty!!!!

30 comments:

Quiet Dreams said...

I suddenly have a desire to go buy a tub of frosting and crumble graham crackers into it.

Great cake. Wish I were there. :)

Carrie27 said...

That's one HUGE cake! I am all about the devil's food, as well. Yummy!

Mrs. Gamgee said...

Guess who's impressed?

I can't bake cakes to save my life! Cookies I can do... but not cake.

It looks fantastic!

areyoukiddingme said...

Sigh. I love cake (and especially frosting!) but there are not enough people in my house to eat cake. So I never bake cakes and look longingly at yours on the screen. It's fantastic. And now I'm hungry.

Michelle said...

I am impressed! It looks great!

Delenn said...

Wow! I have said it before, but I will say it again--you are one great mama!

Lori Lavender Luz said...

That's some cake! And you are some mom.

Yay for Gabe!

That sounds like YUMMY frosting!!

battynurse said...

Fabulous cake! And yay for Gabe and the potty.
I'm having a hard time keeping up with you hear. I could swear when I sat down there were only 8 posts from you in my reader, now there are 10.

Circus Princess said...

Holy cow, that's a monster cake! Did you eat it all??

Sheri said...

The cake looks delicious and I appreciated your tips on building such a wonderful looking cake. My boys would think this is SO cool!

What really caught my eye, however, was that Gabe used the potty!

I'm about to email you, but wanted to let you know I pulled an additional tarot card for you today. Check it out at www.wildwomenuniverse.com.

Go Gabe! Go You! Go Gabe! Go You!

Shelly- Mom Files said...

AWESOME cake and we LOVE cream cheese frosting. I make the exact one you do :) It's great to dip strawberries and other fruit. I'm not going to lie, I eat it by the tablespoonfuls!

Life Happens said...

Wow, that's a big cake! I bet it was delish!

Lynn said...

My mouth is watering just looking at that cake and reading the recipe for the frosting. I LOVE cream cheese frosting! I will definitely have to try that.

Btw, great job Gabe!

Jen said...

love the cake! Yay on Gabe using the potty!

chicklet said...

Holy, that is one mother of a cake! And so cool that it stayed together and the layers didn't crush the other layers! Well done:-)

Once A Mother said...

what a delicious looking cake. send the leftovers my way :) congrats to Gabe!

Sandy said...

What an AMAZING cake! Can I have a piece? Lol. You are such a good mom. Also, congratulations Gabe!

AnotherDreamer said...

LOL, that breaking news is awesome :)

The cake is way cool!

Meari said...

What a cool cake! Happy Birthday to Joey... and congrats to Gabe for using the potty!

Anonymous said...

Cool looking cake, but what is that standing on the top..? :)

Happy birthday to Joey!

Emmy said...

The cake looks great!

I love cream cheese frosting, and am excited to try that recipe! Yum.

Beth Smith said...

Sweet cake!

Amy said...

I love your cake! Good job with the pyramid.

Anonymous said...

A fantastic idea for a cake; Happy Birthday to Joey!

Anonymous said...

That is one AMAZING cake! Well done!

PurpleTX said...

that cake is pure AWESOMENESS!!!! Way to go!

*Tanyetta* said...

GABE!!!!! You're awesome! Happy Birthday!!!!

MrsSpock said...

That is one enormous cake! I hope you had a big crowd to feed it to...

Skye @ Planet Jinxatron said...

That is hilarious. I wish I'd thought of that for my wedding cake...

Beautiful Mess said...

Great job on the cake! It looks awesome! The frosting sounds YUMMY!
*HUGS*