happy birthday to me cake

I know I said last week would be my last post until after the baby, but it was my birthday this weekend, and I couldn’t resist making myself a little birthday cake! So I think this will actually be my last post for a few weeks.

I really wanted to try this drip decorating technique before I took my baking break, so figured that for my birthday, I’d give myself a new cake lesson :)

Since we’re still just a family of two, I couldn’t bring myself to bake a full 3-layer cake, even with the 6-inch cake pans I’ve got. So even though I do love mini baking supplies, I decided the best way to DIY a mini cake with what I do already have would be to engineer a few layers from a sheet cake and cut a few small circles out. So the recipe below is for a one layer sheet cake from Recipe Girl, and I used a 10.5x15.5 inch sheet pan. I then used a small 4.75-inch bowl to cut out circles from the cake. Here’s where I wish I had a circular cookie cutter to get cleaner circles. I think because I cut the rounds out with a knife & bowl, it would’ve turned out better if I chilled the sheet cake in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before I started cutting into it. In the end, my rounds weren’t cut out cleanly and I think that also led to a bit of lopsidedness and the difficulty I had getting clean edges around the top with the icing. You can see below… I did what I could.

After cutting my cake rounds out, I did throw them into the fridge for about 20-30 minutes while I made the icing, which was just a very simple vanilla American buttercream. As you can see above, I got 6 rounds from my sheet cake, but only ended up using 3 for the cake. I originally thought I might try to make a second cake, but my husband and I ended up snacking on the extra rounds before I even finished making the one cake!

So using 3 rounds for one full cake, I just layered on the butter cream between cake layers and a crumb coat. Then I tossed the cake back in the fridge to allow the crumb coat to chill. While the cake was chilling, my husband took me out for a birthday dinner, so the cake had a little extra time to chill than normal.

Once we were back from dinner, I colored the rest of my icing pink using gel food coloring and got to decorating. Here’s where I could really use some more practice and nice, even cake layers. I tried to just slab on the pink icing and smooth it out with a cake scraper, but this didn’t go as well as I had planned. I think next time, I’ll take the time to pipe the icing around the cake first to make sure that I have an even coat of icing around the cake before smoothing it out with the scraper. I also ended up watching a few more YouTube videos on this, and apparently it’s important to pipe a higher layer that juts out over the top edge of the cake so that you can pull it down towards the center.

I actually ended up giving up on perfectly smooth layers and a crisp edge since I knew I’d cover it up for the most part with the drip technique. To get the drip layer, I made a simple white chocolate ganache using white chocolate chips, heavy cream, and some gel food coloring. I did the spoon drip technique because I didn’t have a squirt bottle, but this is definitely the less precise way to do it and actually drop me a little nuts. Next time I try the drip decor, I’m definitely getting a squirt bottle on Amazon first.

To get the drips, just spoon the ganache onto the top of the cake and push it out towards the edges with the back of the spoon. Be careful as you approach the edges if you want thin drips down the sides. I accidentally got a few giant drips which you can see in the photos.

After you have the drips all around the cake, I’d recommend putting the cake back into the refrigerator if you plan to add more decoration on top of the cake. I did not do this, and you can see the rest of my icing started to fall over and run with the ganache.

Oh well… just another one for baking bloopers, and I’ve got more self-taught knowledge for next time!

mini chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and white chocolate ganache drips

Prep Time 10 mins | Cook Time: 15-20 mins | Inactive Time: 50 minutes | Decorating Time: 30 mins | Total Time: 1 hour, 50 mins

CHOCOLATE CAKE INGREDIENTS

• 2C (256g) all-purpose flour

• 2C (402g) granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2C buttermilk, room temperature

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1C (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature

• 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1C boiling water

VANILLA AMERICAN BUTTERCREAM INGREDIENTS

• 2C (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 4C (512g) powdered sugar

• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE INGREDIENTS

• 1C white chocolate chips

• 1/3C heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and line a 10.5x15.5inch pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl or one bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt with a hand whisk or fork. In a separate large bowl or in another bowl for the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda.

3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the cocoa. Whisk to combine. Add the boiling water to the pan, mix, and heat until bubbling. Turn off the heat.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture, and mix on low-medium speed using the paddle attachment of the stand mixer. With the mixer still on, pour in the egg mixture and continue to mix until incorporated and smooth.

5. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Flip onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Place the cake into the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

7. Remove the cake from the fridge, and cut six 4-5-inch circles from the sheet cake. Place the rounds in the fridge while you make the buttercream.

8. To make the buttercream, place the butter in a large bowl and whisk with either a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

9. Remove the cake rounds from the refrigerator and add a layer of icing between each layer. Add a thin layer of icing to the top and around the cake for a crumb coat. Place the cake back in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
   While the crumb coat cools, color the remaining buttercream with gel food coloring.

10. To decorate the cake, place the remaining icing into a piping bag, and pipe even layers all the way around the cake. Then, using an icing smoother, smooth the icing while turning the cake around until smooth. Place the cake back in the refrigerator while making the ganache.

11. To make the white chocolate ganache, heat the white chocolate chips and heavy cream and mix until smooth. Remove from heat and add gel food coloring if desired. Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature.

12. Carefully spoon the ganache onto the cake and push towards the edges until it drips down the sides. Continue to do this all around the cake.

13. If desired, use any remaining icing to pipe dollops around the cake. I used a Wilton 4B piping tip to create the design above. Just be sure to chill the cake again for at least 20 minutes so that the ganache hardens a bit before adding more icing to the top.