Birthday Cake
My birthday was off to a great start as when I returned from the hospital (pain meds) around 7h45 the house was quiet and still… I thought maybe the kids were busy eating in the kitchen and went towards my room to hang my coat. In the doorway of my room I found Lloyd standing behind Emeraude who was holding a giant birthday card the two of them had finished while I was at the hospital (Lloyd had been working on it the night before and took advantage of me being gone for a while to help his sister add her special touch and colour the cool letters he had made on the front and sign her intial inside; Lloyd had written a beautiful note inside. What a beautiful gift, I couldn’t have wished for anything more – it was heartwarming and the two of them in my birthday shouting “Surprise!” is a moment I will never forget!!
The highlight of any celebration for Emeraude is baking special treats…
My birthday would be no exception. Mom & Dad had invited the kids and I for spaghetti supper at their house and although Mom and I had talked about a cake earlier in the week I couldn’t recall what had been decided and thought there was no harm in Emeraude baking one anyways.
We decided on a recipe from the book which came with my mixer. It is for a yellow cake but we are women who appreciate colour and Emeraude decided on pink in honour of me 🙂 We made it in a rectangle, 9×11 pan and it came out wonderfully. Refrigerated it as soon as it had cooled as Emeraude has skating today as well and I will need to get it iced before (or during) her nap time to have it ready when the sitter brings her back from skating as we hope to go directly to the grandparents’ house afterwards. this didn’t quite workout as she hadn’t received my email about changing her into the jeans that I had included in her skating bag {and forgot my preference that she not wear tights or long johns under pants that are too tight to accommodate them so she was in track pants & long johns when it was time to go which also would have been very warm to eat supper in. By the time we got her changed and her hair brushed and tied we strolled into Mom & Dad’s house @ nearly 18h – thank goodness it was my birthday and they had extra patience for me!
Quick Yellow Cake Recipe
(from Instructions & Recipes for your Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer 2007)
Yield 12 to 16 servings
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup low-fat milk
1tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Emeraude cracks the eggs for our cake.
Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl. Add shortening, milk, and vanilla. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Add eggs. Coninuing on Speed 2, mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to Speed 6 and beat about 1 minute.
Pour batter into two grased and floured 8 or 9 inch round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack. Frost if desired.
Per serving: About 272 Cal, 4g PRO, 42 G Carb, 10 G FAT, 37 MG Chol, 175 MG SOD
(I don’t really pay attention to these sort of things so couldn’t tell you if all that is good or bad lol)
Like I said, we baked ours in a single, rectangle pan. I have had the habit of late, of overcooking my cakes which can cause the edges to be dry & crunchy and this cake was no exception but I hope the icing will help to moisten it some.
We made one of our own, usual icings: 1 cup margarine (I have another one for butter icing), 1 cup crisco, 2 tbsps milk (I used 2%), and a big bag (1kg) of icing sugar. Emeraude decided on blue icing (she would’ve preffered more variety but time restrictions held us back) and white icing for text.
It was a ton of fun and a special birthday gift indeed!
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- Emeraude cracks the eggs for our cake.
I have to add that my Mom made my delicious supper and I have a whole bunch of wonderful photos of & with her from my birthday (including some with the beautiful purse she & Dad gave me for my birthday) but because of her line of work it is better not to post them on the internet :'(
