Yellow Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting

Making layered cakes have always scared the heck out of me. I was so sure that I would mess it up somehow.

But for my mom's birthday last month, I decided to confront this fear once and for all. 

And boy am I glad I did, because now I am totally hooked on making them!

My mom doesn't have a sweet tooth like I do. So I knew that buttercream frosting is out of question.

 I decided to use a chocolate whipped cream frosting recipe that I found at Baking with Nadia. And we LOVED it! It was soft, fluffy and not too sweet. Just perfect!

And you know what else I loved about Nadia's site? The video tutorials! She makes them look so easy and her instructions are so simple to follow. Extremely helpful for a newbie like me.

Here's how I made it.

Cake ingredients:

cake mix ( I used Betty Crocker Butter Recipe Yellow )

1 cup milk

10 tablespoons butter ( softened )

4 eggs

I heated the oven to 325 degrees F. Then I greased and floured my two 8" round pans.

I mixed all the cake ingredients making sure not to overbeat it.

I wanted to make three layers but I only have two 8" pans, and I wasn't brave enough to cut the cake into layers. So I poured equal amounts of the cake batter into the two pans and a third container (for the third layer), so I could bake them in shifts. I covered and refrigerated the batter in the container while the first two layers bake (I hope that makes sense).

Bake for 22- 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Frosting ingredients:

1 quart or 4 cups heavy whipping cream

6-7 tablespoons of sifted powdered sugar

6-9 tablespoons of high quality unsweetened cocoa powder

Click here to see the instructions and video tutorial on making the chocolate whipped cream frosting.

Nadia also has a video tutorial on how to assemble and frost cake layers. You can watch it here.

You can also add some chocolate curls/shavings on top of the cake just like I did.

Enjoy! (^_^)

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I linked this post to these wonderful parties:

All Things Thursday Blog Hop :  Posed Perfection  |  Bewitch Me & Titi Link Party : TitiCrafty  |  Create With Joy : Inspire Me Monday  |  Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends :  Love Bakes Good Cakes  |  Friday Link Party : The Pin Junkie  |  Friday Flash Blog : The Jenny Evolution  |  Say G'Day Saturday Linky Party : Natasha in Oz  |  Share Your Stuff Tuesdays : Table for Seven  |  Tasty Tuesdays : Anyonita Nibbles  |  The Wednesday Roundup : Crafty Wife  |  Whimsy Wednesdays : The NY Melrose Family

Easter KitKat Wrappers

Easter is just a few days away, and my little first grader's class is going to have a small Easter Egg exchange.

So I got some KitKat bars - the snack size ones -  from the commissary and started making these candy wrappers.

My kids and I love KitKat. So you can imagine how much we're looking forward to eating the ones that are not gonna be taken to school (I bought 2 bags of KitKat bars even though there's only 23 kids in the little boy's class).

I made these wrappers by using digital papers and elements from Akizo Designs, DigiTee Designs By Sheila, and Shery K Designs.

My little boy is excited to share them tomorrow with his classmates. I really hope the kids enjoy them! (^_^)

I linked this post to these wonderful parties:

Bewitch Me & Titi Link Party : Titi Crafty  |  DIY Sunday Showcase : Minettes Maze  |   Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends : Love Bakes Good Cakes  |  Friday Flash Blog : The Jenny Evolution  |  Friday Link Party : The Pin Junkie  |  Inspiration Monday : I Should Be Mopping The Floor  |  Inspire Me Monday : Create With Joy

Mickey and Minnie Cupcakes

My oldest daughter Bea is graduating high school in a few weeks. Instead of going to the prom, she wanted to go on their Grad Nite, which simply means she gets to go to Disneyland with other seniors. :)

She and her friends wanted to wear Disney themed hair bows for this special event, so they went on a sleepover and made their own hair bows while watching some Disney movies.

These are her Alice in Wonderland themed hair bows. They turned out real pretty, don't you think?

And to make their sleepover a little bit more memorable, I made some Mickey and Minnie Cupcakes. Everybody thought they were adorable. :)

You can get the template and instructions on making the Mickey and Minnie chocolates here.

The cupcake wrappers are free printables by Cupcake Addiction and you can find it here.

I used Cake Mate Glitter Gels for Minnie's hair bow (neon pink).

For the cupcakes, I used Betty Crocker Devil's Food cake mix. I made and baked them as directed on the box.

Here is the recipe for the buttercream frosting. Recipe is courtesy of the Betty Crocker site.

Enjoy!

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

FROSTING

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

In a mixing bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.

Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to  make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.

This post was featured at:

I linked this post to these wonderful parties:

All Things Thursday Blog Hop : Posed Perfection  |  Bewitch Me & Titi Link Party : Titi Crafty  |  DIY Sunday Showcase : Minettes Maze  |  Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends : Love Bakes Good Cakes  |  Friday Flash Blog : The Jenny Evolution  |  Friday Link Party : The Pin Junkie  |  Inspiration Monday : I Should Be Mopping the Floor  |  Inspire Me Monday : Create With Joy  |  Say G'Day Saturday Linky Party : Natasha in Oz  |  Tasty Tuesdays : Anyonita Nibbles