valentine's buttercream cake with strawberries

Cake, strawberries and buttercream frosting.... yes please 

I have been craving cake lately and thought I would make a quick 

valentine's cake

to show some love this month. 

For my birthday, I always get white cake with strawberry filling and buttercream frosting from our local bakery. My family always makes fun of me that I have no variety- but I like what I like. And I LIKE!!! ...I'm liking this better though :) 

White cake 

4 egg whites

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening, softened
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
 1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1. Break eggs and separate. Set aside and let rest for 30 minutes 
2. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. 
4. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. 
5. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Spread batter into the prepared pan(s).
7. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes in a round 8 inch cake pan 

Chocolate cake 

3/4 cup butter 

3 eggs

2 cups ap flour 

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

1 1/4 cups milk 

1. Warm butter and eggs to room temp 
2. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt - set aside 
3. Beat butter for 30 seconds, slowly add sugar and mix 4-6 minutes 
4. Add in eggs 1at a time
5. Add vanilla 
6. Alternate adding in flour and milk
7. Spread into 8 inch pans and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes 
8. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on wire rack than remove to finish cooling. 

- recipes adopted from better homes and garden 

Butter Cream frosting 

you can also click here for recipe 

3 cups confections’ sugar

1 cup butter softened over night

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons whipping cream  

1. In a standing mixer equipped with the whisk, mix overnight soft butter and confection’s sugar. 
2. Mix on a low speed until blended then increase to medium and whisk for 3 minutes.
3. Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. Add more cream according to desired consistency

- you can get clear vanilla at most cooking stores if you want pure white frosting.

- make sure and whisk for the whole 3 minutes- it does make a difference. 

I decided to stack this cake to show its two flavors and because I can not frost a cake. They turn out ugly- very very ugly, not a skill that I have. 

I hope that you enjoy this wonderful cake. It is a perfect valentine or anytime treat. 

-ALIX 

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Butter cream Frosting. Happy birthday Son

My son's birthday was the beginning of the month and he requested cupcakes with blue and green swirl frosting. So I made my super easy, extra delicious 

Butter cream vanilla frosting. 

• 3 cups confections’ sugar
• 1 cup butter softened over night
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream  

In a standing mixer equipped with the whisk, mix overnight soft butter and confection’s sugar. Mix on a low speed until blended then increase to medium and whisk for 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. Add more cream according to desired consistency

- you can get clear vanilla at most cooking stores if you want pure white frosting.

-make sure and whisk for the whole 3 minutes- it does make a difference.


(recipe card at end of post) 

This year he wanted a Mario Kart Wii birthday party, and he wanted to ride his bike. Which he just learned how to ride without training wheels!!!

• The first thing I did was spray paint boxes gold and added numbers to create 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place platforms. I then found pictures on-line and printed them onto stickers and stuck them onto toothpicks and inserted into the cupcakes. 
• With the extra spray paint I covered a $1 cup I found to look like the trophy. This made a perfect holder for the markers in which the kids used to decorate their own t-shirts. This way they could "choose" which character they were going to be. 
• It was a hot day and hydration was needed. I created labels and printed them on sticker paper and wrapped them around water bottles.
• I found gold coins, mushroom looking balloons, and yellow star candy to top off the decor. 
• For give-away bags the kids got crazy straw water bottles, their decorated shirts, Mario stickers, and gold coins. 

A picture of the whole table. 

Next was the race track. It was very very windy so we had to do some heavy duty taping, which ruined the look of my decor a little.

I wanted to recreate a race track.  

• We set up a starting line, and had laminated photos of the icons you get when you run over the question marks. The kids had a blast pretending that they had run over a bullet, star, mushroom, or lighting cloud. 
• We also blew up posters of the characters on their vehicles so it looked like they were also involved in the race. 

The kids had a blast. They raced, raced, and raced some more. The cupcakes were a big hit and overall it was a great party. 

Happy 5th Birthday Son. Hope this is a great year!! 

Click to print recipe card. 

  

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