Creating My Birthday Cake

Well it's that time of the year again. My Birthday. Since I am taking Cake Decorating Classes, it would be a shame if I celebrated my big day, with a store bought cake. So I present to you, the making of Dee's (that's me) birthday cake. The recipe? Pumpkin Spice Cake, with a Cream Cheese Icing. I used the pumpkin insides that I froze, when I was carving my jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. You can freeze the insides for up to 6 months.

As I type this, it is baking in my NEW convection oven. I can barely concentrate. Check back from time to time, as I am uploading my photos, as I progress.

Happy Birthday to me... Here we go!

Recipe
1 package spice cake mix
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 eggs

Icing
1 (16 ounce) can vanilla frosting
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x13 inch baking pan, or two 9 inch cake pans.
2.In a large bowl, mix together the yellow cake mix, sugar, vegetable oil, pumpkin, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs. Beat until well blended. Transfer to the baking dish or cake pans.
3.Bake in the preheated oven 50 minutes.

What I liked about this recipe, was that it was easy. I mean, this is my birthday cake, but I wanted to bake a cake that was quick and delicious.

(keep on checking, as I am adding more photos to this post)

War of The Roses

I had a tough time in Level 1 today. My roses just weren't working out for me.

But I persevere. Luckily, I had the day off from the REAL job and today and it was all about R-O-S-E-S! I found this video to assist.

Prepping for Last Class Level 1

I baked a yellow cake over the weekend. I smoothed burgundy icing on it. I am going to sign off now, as I will have alot more to say, once it is completed in the last class for Wilton Course 1.

Goodnight!

My Dream Oven is Ordered

SWEET! Picked out a new stove.

We went with a convection oven. Convection ovens use a fan to circulate heated air throughout the oven cavity. The result is faster and more even cooking. If you find yourself doing a lot of baking or roasting, spending a bit extra to get convection is a smart choice that will save you time and give you better results.

I expect I will be using Mom's a couple more times til' delivery.

Loving the large dials. They give this appliance a vintage feel.

Oven

A Star Studded Event!

What can I say... I am a bit flashy with my post titles. Actually, I am showcasing my first cake. Here, I am using the open star tip with #13 and #16.

My focus on my next cake is to keep a firm hand. Some of the stars are slanted, or a bit heavy handed. I think these colours are cute for a baby shower.

I will try to get in to work early, and leave it in my co-workers lunchroom.