Chocolate and other food groups

Ellen's Birthday cake 2009 I got the idea for this cake from a cookbook. The directions said to use a cake mix, then make the frosting from scratch, and decorate with icing gel. I did it backwards, making the cake from scratch and buying the icing. Here's the recipe for the cake. White Cake 4 egg whites 2 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/8 ts. salt 1/2 c. shortening or butter, softened (I used butter flavor Crisco) 1 3/4 c. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla (I used the expensive kind from Williams-Sonoma) 1 1/3 c. buttermilk or sour milk Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Grease and flour 2 9" cake pans or 13x9 pan. (Really coat both pans - I didn't, and my cakes stuck to the pan a little bit.) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350. In large mixing bowl, beat shortening at high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; mix well. Add egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well...

Sarah's Guitar Cake This year for her birthday, Sarah wanted a yellow cake made from scratch, decorated to look like a guitar. There's the picture above. I just used the recipe from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook and then made buttercream frosting. I kept about 1/4 of the frosting and added 1 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate to the frosting. The cake was baked in a 9 x 13 pan. Then I trimmed off a 4 inch strip for the neck of the guitar and freehanded the body of the guitar. I actually made a pattern out of wax paper, but I had to sort of guess. I think it turned out pretty well! The strings on the guitar are red lace licorice and the rest of the decorations are Starburst candies. I stuck them in the microwave for 10 seconds then shaped them into the way I wanted them. Add 14 candles, and that's all! Happy birthday!

I thought it was time to add another cake picture. This one was for Ellen's 9th birthday (you can sort of count the candles on the cake). I made a 9 x 13 cake and frosted it with blue frosting. Then I made sugar cookies with some fish, shell, starfish and crab cookie cutters and decorated them. Then I added the cookies to the cake, swirling the frosting up around them. I used gel frosting to make seaweed and Swedish fish candies to make it more fun. It turned out really well.

Will is a fan of Spongebob and for his 8th birthday, he wanted a pineapple cake. This is probably not the best pineapple cake ever, but it was simple and he liked it. Here's how I did it. Equipment: 2 oval cake pans cake rack, criss cross style chocolate frosting Spongebob figure sign green construction paper or foam sheets sprinkles candles First, mix your cake, any flavor or recipe, and cook in oval cake pans. Be sure to grease and flour your cake pans. Cool cake in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out of pans to cool completely. Assemble your other equipment. When cakes are cooled, frost with chocolate frosting. As you can tell from the picture, I didn't quite have enough to get the edges nice and smooth. Arrange one layer on serving platter, frost top, then top with second layer and frost. Let cake set about 10 minutes, then use the cake rack to gently imprint a criss cross pattern on top of the cake. This will create the pineapple effect. Then decorate with Spongebob, sp...