Happy 15th Birthday Chocolate Cake
Welcome! It's an exciting, and maybe a bit of an emotional week for Pink Lilli. Our Lilli is turning 15!
Every year, I challenge myself a little to make an awesome homemade cake for my babies. This year was a little different. I did not need to make anything fancy, we are keeping it a small, simple birthday. All she wants is a fire, hot dogs, and to go see the new Barbie movie. Which makes this Momma very happy, as Barbie was my thing in the 90s. (Which may be a whole other blog...)
Read below, to follow the making of this 15th Birthday Cake, AND what little surprise is hidden in the cake. You can also download the recipe for yourself, under downloads!
This is a chocolate cake. The best cake you will ever have, and it is super simple to make. Plus it also only uses one bowl.
It is the same recipe I used to make her first birthday cake, way back in 2009! Probably 100 more cakes since. It has never failed me, and even works when I use gluten free flours.
I can honestly say, she eats a little neater at 15! Look at how adorable she is.
You are going to start with mixing all the dry ingredients together: easy. I use this glass pampered chef, which is amazing on it's own.
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Next: Stir in the wet ingredients, stir until well combined:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (I have NEVER used this, and use a non dairy milk)
2 eggs
1 cup hot water
We made a giant cupcake this year. I used a Wilton cake pan for this. In a past life, I made a lot of cakes and cupcakes. In this life, my body, my stomach, and my skin do not love cake as much as my heart does. I still have a small variety of cake pans!
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan of your choice, or you can make cupcakes. Bake at 350*F for 35-40 minutes. This took a little longer as it is pretty thick.
Once cooled, we can get to the fun part. Once you get these out of the pan, which sometimes is a little challenging. It takes patience, and being prepared to glue a few parts back together with icing. BEFORE I glued (with classic buttercream) the top to the bottom, I dug out some cake from the bottom. This is a great opportunity to taste test.
I filled the hole with CONFETTI (really just sprinkles). I have never done this before, so we will see if it is a Pinterest fail.
Spread some buttercream frosting (or whatever frosting you choose), between the top and the bottom. Gently piece them together. Then have some fun with the9 frosting!
Classic Buttercream:
1 cup butter
4 cups icing sugar
4 tbls milk (again I used almond milk)
4 tsp vanilla (we don't have vanilla, we just use whatever alcohol is laying around)
Whip your butter, add 2 cups icing sugar and whip. Add 2 tbsl milk, add remaining icing sugar, add remaining milk and whip. Add your vanilla and whip.
I have no idea if this is actually classic buttercream or not. This is what I have always done, and just memorized the recipe a LONG time ago.
To decorate this, I started at the bottom. I used plain white icing, and a thin tip. Once I got the icing on the bottom which would be the "cupcake liner", I smoothed it out as best I could, with just a butter knife. It was hot and I was running out of time. For the cupcake top, I made it pink. A couple drops of pink food dye, and a quick mix. Then I used a floral Rosette tip (maybe #2) and made some quick swirls. I then put it in the freezer ASAP so the icing could stop melting!
I hope Lilli dives into her cake with the same gusto as her first birthday cake...although hopefully now she will use a fork, and not require a bath when she is finished!
