Have your cake and eat it too!

Spring brings.........babies!

My sis in law is expecting her 2nd baby, and we love parties, so we threw a co-ed baby shower!

No party is complete without cake. Period.

Can't decide on what flavor? I couldn't........so I did three!

The miniature "Unhatched Egg Cake" is a Raspberry Layer Cake with Almond Buttercream.  Everyone loves this cake!

Then come the cupcakes!

I LOVE cupcakes!! They are so fun to make! They always look great! And who doesn't like a bite sized cupcake? You can eat like 5 of them and hardly feel guilty!

The middle tier are Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting.

The bottom tier are Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

BANANA CUPCAKES

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Combine sugar, sour cream, softened butter, and eggs; beat 1 minute.  Add vanilla and bananas. Add dry ingredients; beat 1 minute.  Line a mini muffin pan with mini cupcake papers.  Fill papers almost to top with batter.  Bake at 350 degrees until tops have a hint of golden brown and a toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean.  (Approximately 15-20 minutes).

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

4 oz. cream cheese

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 T. soft butter

dash of salt

In a mixing bowl beat all ingredients until very fluffy! Pipe frosting onto cupcakes with a star tip.

These cupcakes rate 5 stars in my book! Moist banana cake with a creamy delicious frosting! Mmm.......bet it will be hard to just eat one!

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE CUPCAKES

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (6 oz.) semi sweet chocolate chips

Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 T. white vinegar

For filling, in a small bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in egg and salt until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips; set aside.

In a bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar and salt. In another bowl, whisk water, oil, and vinegar; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fill mini paper lined muffin cups half full with batter.  Drop filling by heaping teaspoonfuls into the center of each. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes clean.  Cool on wire racks.

If you are wondering why sugar and salt are listed twice in this recipe, here is why:  I have made these several times and each time I have had to remake them because I would forget the sugar and salt in the chocolate cake part! The original recipe was written 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided. The salt the same way. I would add it to the filling, but always forget it in the cake! So, to eliminate any more mistakes, I fixed the problem!! :)

MOCHA FROSTING

6 T. semi sweet chocolate chips

6 T. milk chocolate chips

2/3 cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

2-4  T. brewed coffee

chocolate sprinkles

In a microwave safe bowl, melt chips.  Stir until smooth.  Add butter; beat until blended.  Gradually beat in powdered sugar and coffee. (Start with 2 T. and add more if frosting seems to thick.)  Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes using a star tip.  Immediatly top with chocolate sprinkles.

If you have never melted chocolate chips in the microwave:  Melt them in a glass bowl--plastic is not healthy to microwave! Start with 1 minute. Stir. If chocolate is lumpy, microwave for 30 more seconds. Continue stirring and doing 30 second intervals until chocolate is smooth.

These cupcakes are also 5 star!  The frosting is fabulous!  I use this frosting on lots of cupcakes!

RASPBERRY LAYER CAKE

Raspberry Filling

12 oz. frozen raspberries

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

3 T. cornstarch

Combine sugar and cornstarch in saucepan.  Stir in water and raspberries.  Cook, stirring until mixture boils; boil 1 minutes until thickened and clear.  Press plastic wrap directly on top of filling and refrigerate until chilled. (If I am in a hurry I freeze the filling until set)

Cake

2 boxes white cake mix (I like Betty Crocker)

Mix cake mix according to package directions.  Sometimes I follow the box, other times I substitute melted butter for the oil and milk for the water.  I always use whole eggs.

Grease and flour 2 six inch cake pans.  Fill 3/4 full with batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in cake comes out clean.

If there is extra batter make a few mini cupcakes!

Before removing cake from pan, I cut off the top using a long knife resting on the top of the pan.  Turn cakes out onto a wire rack and cool completely.  When cool, place 1 round on cake plate with cut side up.  Spread on lots of raspberry filling.  Top with other round, cut side to filling.  Frost with almond buttercream and decorate however your heart desires!

ALMOND BUTTERCREAM

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup crisco

(I am not a fan of crisco, but for this frosting it works best!)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. almond extract

2 dashes salt

1/4 cup milk

7 1/2 - 8 cups powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients together in Kitchen Aid mixer until very fluffy!

"Unhatched Egg Cake"

If you want to make your cake look like mine:

Toast 1/2 cup coconut in a 350 degree oven, shaking pan occasionally until golden brown.  Let cool.

Divide frosting into 4 parts.  Three smaller bowls (about 1/4 cup each), and 1 larger bowl with remaining frosting.  Tint large bowl with a gel tint--Ivory (I like Wilton Brand Icing Colors).  Tint remaining three bowls with Leaf Green, Sky Blue, and Brown. 

Out of the large bowl of frosting, take out a few tablespoons to shape nest...set aside.  Frost entire cake with Ivory frosting.  Let icing set for 15 minutes.  With a piping bag and a #12 round tip, pipe a nest on top of cake.  Press on toasted coconut shaping into a nest. 

With the Sky Blue frosting and a #12 round tip, form eggs in nest.

With the Brown frosting and a #5 round tip, pipe branches onto sides of cake.

With the Leaf Green frosting and a #3 round tip, pipe little leaves onto branches.

And there you have a cake perfect for Spring!

This cake is excellent! I have never heard a complaint! I never liked cake frosting until I tried this one!

5 stars all the way baby!