Erin’s Easy Eats

This is my mommy’s birthday cake.  I guess technically it was both of my parents’ birthday cakes, since their birthdays are only a few days apart, but it was made with my mom in mind.  She has this thing about mice.  Not real  mice, mind you (I think she’d scream and run away if she ever saw a real one in her proximity) but fake, collectible mice.  I made her a cheese cake.

Well, not a cheesecake.  Actually, it’s a yellow buttermilk cake with chocolate pastry cream and buttercream icing.  (Can we use the words butter or cream any more, possibly?)  It was delicious, but best of all, it was adorable, and that’s what I was going for.

I followed the directions here for making chocolate covered cherry mice.  They were not as easy as they sound, although I’m sure some have mastered it.  Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures of them (and all of their mutant relatives) so you’re just going to have to figure it out on your own.

The cake and it’s innards come from “Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours” cookbook of Tuesdays with Dorie fame.  First, let’s make the pastry cream so it has some time to cool down before we need it.

• 2 c. whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 6 Tbs sugar
• 3 Tbs cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2 1/2 Tbs butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature

Bring milk to a boil (in the microwave, if you like.)  In a large saucepan, mix egg yolk s with sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended.  Continue whisking as you add 1/4 c. of hot milk.  If you add it all at once, you’ll cook the egg yolks to make egg drop soup.  Then, while whisking constantly, add the remaining milk.  Bring to a boil, whisking continuously.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Remove pan from heat, and whisk in chocolate.  Let stand 5 minutes, then whisk in butter one piece at a time.  Press plastic wrap to the surface and refrigerate about 2 hours, or until ready to use.

For the cake:

• 2 c. cake flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 sticks (10 Tbs) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 c. sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. buttermilk

Butter two 9″ round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.

Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix butter on medium speed until soft and fluffy.  Add sugar and beat for 3 minuts.  Add eggs and then yolk one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Reduce speed to low, and alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk (beginning and and ending with flour, 3 additions of flour and 2 of buttermilk.)  Divide batter between cake pans and smooth tops.  Bake 28-30 minutes at 350 or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool 5 minutes in pans, then invert, remove parchment paper, and turn right side up to cool completely.

To assemble:

Using a long serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half so you have four layers.  Place one on a serving platter lined with wax paper and use 1/3 of your chocolate pastry cream.  Spread evenly.  Repeat until layers and cake are done, trying not to get too close to the edges.

Now, here is where Dorie and I differ.  She used a white chocolate whipped cream for the center layer and the outside frosting.  Wanting to make this look like cheese, I had to go a different route.  So I cut out a big wedge of cake and “taste tested.”   And then I made super yellow icing.

• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. vegetable shortening (Crisco)
• 1/2 Tbs vanilla extract (if you want white frosting, you’ll have to get clear, but I was dying mine yellow, so I didn’t care)
• 1 lb powdered sugar
• 3-4 Tbs very cold whole milk

Beat butter and shortening together.  Add vanilla.  Slowly add sugar, mixing well before adding more.  When sugar is fully incorporated, add milk until the mixture is the consistency you want.  (If it gets too runny, add in a little more sugar.)  Color with gel food colors.

Then, frost your cake with insane amounts of yellow frosting.  I used fondant cutters to make tiny circles so it looked like cheese, and then I topped it with those cute chocolate mice.  Happy Birthday mamasita

Tags: baking, birthday cake, recipes, sweets