MangiaMore: BOOZY yellow birthday cake and chocolate ERMINE frosting

RER 4.21.18

Oh, I do love a good birthday cake. Especially, when I get to make the cake for someone very special’s birthday. Not only do I get to make it, which is an odd mixture of stress and joy, but also I get to eat said cake, each step of the way. #anditsnotevenmybirthday

I have about a million tabs open on Chrome on my phone, so preparing to make this birthday cake merely involved thumbing through the tabs and some quick reference searching (can you make buttermilk? the answer is yes!).

It only seemed fitting that I make Hummingbird High’s boozy yellow birthday cake. There is something about eponymous about yellow cake and birthdays.   Annnnd Birthday is even in the name of the cake. Done. Yellow cakes have been a challenge for me—once a disaster, once a success— so I was excited to gain some more experience in yolky, buttery deliciousness. 

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RER 4.21.18 

RER 4.21.18

Ten egg yolks, much sugar, and much butter, and a tired arm later, I gained that experience and a beautiful batter that was a pretty yellow and tasted like sugar cookie dough.

RER 4.21.18

RER 4.21.18

Instead of orange peel to go with the Grand Marnier, I opted for almond extract mixed in the sugar before adding it to the rest of the concoction. Love, love almond cakes. This cake had just a hint of almond, but it definitely added an earthy opulence to this yellow birthday cake.

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Next came the frosting. The birthday boy has grown tired of traditional American buttercream frosting, but severely enjoyed the flour/ermine/boiled buttercream I made a while back, topping of a highly delectable almond sheet cake.  Yellow cake deserves chocolate frosting. So, I referred to Pastry Chef Online for a chocolate ermine frosting. This is where things got tricky. It started strong, but my cocoa powder was clumpy and that stayed through to the final result. Then, I was challenged with stubborn frosting. Something was separating, so I tried heat and cold and powdered sugar (even though the recipe did not call for it) and beating forever. In the end, it turned out ok, but it was less attractive than I wanted for a birthday cake. Oh well. Turned out pretty tasty, though: light and not too sweet, sweeping and fluffy.

RER 4.21.18

RER 4.21.18

Then, there was the booze. I did not forget about the booze. What’s a celebration without booze!? Grand Marnier is not a staple in our household bar, so I went with Disaronno, our tried and true friend. All it took was a little heat, water, and sugar to make the sweet syrup that would be dabbed on the two layers. I say “dabbed” because without a pastry brush, improvisation was involved—that Downy paper towel. Wish I got more of that syrup onto the cake and less on my fingers. The bites where the cake absorbed the most of the sweet stuff were magnificent.

RER 4.21.18

RER 4.21.18

All in all, I love birthday cake. And this cake definitely fit the bill. My birthday boy enjoyed it too, so I’m happy. I think we should start celebrating half birthdays, because more birthday cake… halfy birthday to you. 

RER

4.30.18

RER 4.21.18