Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cake, cowabunga!
Today was a pre-birthday celebration for one of my friends, and he loves orange and green, and so when I mentioned to him I'd like to make a cake with orange and green frosting in his honor, he exclaimed, "Ooh, can ya make a Ninja Turtle? Michelangelo's my favorite!"
Dubiously, I looked into it. I figured if I could find a stencil (the kind you find to carve on pumpkins), then I could probably do a simplistic version of it. I'm not the best artist in the world, let me tell you. This was the simplest I could find:
Most pictures were from the live-action movie, or from little action figures, or from some bad-ass version of the cartoons, so they look really buff and angry but also drawn with too much detail for me.
So I printed out the picture above, cut out the head, and blew it up a bit on my photocopier to make it roughly the right size to trim from two 9-inch diameter cakes.
And here, I'm proud to present, is my Ninja Turtle cake:
I am sooooooo happy with how this cake turned out! I was really not sure how it would look and I was afraid I'd have to scrap it half way through and show up with a cake with brown icing...
The cake was made from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread (did I mention that I liked this book enough to acquire it, rather than copy recipes from it?). It is called "Simply Delicious Yellow Cake," and it is a bit sweet, but moist and tender and quite wonderful. Michael says the cake is very delicate and fluffy. Definitely I will be making this cake again in the future!! (Maybe as cupcakes...?! Hmm...)
The icing is "Creamy Vanilla Icing" from the More from Magnolia cookbook, and it's the icing that is supposed to be the most traditional to go with red velvet cake. I fell in love with this icing when I made red velvet cake awhile ago. It's got a butter-sugar base, but you add a mixture of milk and flour that's been boiled together until thickened (basically a white sauce), and beat it until it becomes incredibly creamy. The resultant icing is somewhere between whipped cream and buttercream, and it's not overpoweringly sweet, and went really well with this cake.
Simply Delicious Yellow Cake (adapted from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread)
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/4 cups + 3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 & 1/4 cups (2 & 1/2 sticks) + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 & 3/4 cups + 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
5 large eggs
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line with parchment paper 2 round 9x2-inch diameter cake pans. (Note: I didn't notice that my normal 9-inch cake pans are in fact 9 inches by 1.5 inch, not 9 x 2, so my cakes overflowed and dripped like crazy while baking--*cry*--so if you don't have 2 inch height cake pans, use 3 pans and reduce the baking time slightly...and make sure you put baking sheets under your cakes so if they drip, they won't drip all over the oven...sigh!)
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk them gently for even distribution. In a separate bowl, combine milk and vanilla.
Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl before adding the next one.
Lower the speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture (divide into 3 parts) alternatively with the milk mixture (2 parts), starting and ending with the flour. Mix until evenly incorporated. The texture of the batter should resemble whipped cream, very light and fluffy. There should not be any pockets or lumps of flour. If the batter looks a bit curdled, then it hasn't been mixed enough and you should keep mixing for another minute at medium speed, or until it is thick and fluffy.
Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Weighing may be the most accurate way to do this. If using two pans, each pan should weigh in at about 930 grams of batter. The pans should be about 2/3 full. Smooth the batter so it fills the pans evenly. Place the pans on the center rack, bake for 35-40 min (for two pans), or until the cake is ready to pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Rotate the pans halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking.
Cool pans on rack for 10 minutes, invert cakes onto wire rack, then carefully invert again so they are parchment-side down (this prevents crack formation in the cake while it is still cooling). Let cakes cool completely on the wire rack, then proceed to downstream application. Remember to remove parchment paper lining!
Makes 2 9x2 inch cake layers.
Creamy Vanilla Frosting (adapted from More from Magnolia)
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
Note: It is important to follow these instructions as closely as possible to ensure a good outcome...
Pour milk into a medium saucepan. Whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and stir constantly while the mixture is cooking. Cook until very thick and just bubbly, about 10-15 minutes. (Don't worry if you end up with soft lumps at this point, it will beat out later--the more you stir, the less likely lumps will occur; make sure you whisk the flour into the milk, not the milk into the flour...I've done it the 2nd way and I got lots of bad dry lumps, which I had to strain out meticulously...)
Take milk mixture off the heat and cover with waxed paper or saran wrap so a skin doesn't form while cooling. Cool for about 30 min or until the mixture is roughly room temperature.
In your electric mixer, beat butter for 3 minutes on medium-high speed, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat well.
Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat at medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy and noticeably whiter in color. It should look a lot like whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes exactly. Use immediately. (Both times I've made this icing, the frosting holds up well at room temperature for several hours before serving. If you refrigerate it, it hardens up a bit, but softens again after you let it sit a bit at room temperature.)
Makes enough to frost one 3-layer 9-inch cake.
Dubiously, I looked into it. I figured if I could find a stencil (the kind you find to carve on pumpkins), then I could probably do a simplistic version of it. I'm not the best artist in the world, let me tell you. This was the simplest I could find:
Most pictures were from the live-action movie, or from little action figures, or from some bad-ass version of the cartoons, so they look really buff and angry but also drawn with too much detail for me.
So I printed out the picture above, cut out the head, and blew it up a bit on my photocopier to make it roughly the right size to trim from two 9-inch diameter cakes.
And here, I'm proud to present, is my Ninja Turtle cake:
I am sooooooo happy with how this cake turned out! I was really not sure how it would look and I was afraid I'd have to scrap it half way through and show up with a cake with brown icing...
The cake was made from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread (did I mention that I liked this book enough to acquire it, rather than copy recipes from it?). It is called "Simply Delicious Yellow Cake," and it is a bit sweet, but moist and tender and quite wonderful. Michael says the cake is very delicate and fluffy. Definitely I will be making this cake again in the future!! (Maybe as cupcakes...?! Hmm...)
The icing is "Creamy Vanilla Icing" from the More from Magnolia cookbook, and it's the icing that is supposed to be the most traditional to go with red velvet cake. I fell in love with this icing when I made red velvet cake awhile ago. It's got a butter-sugar base, but you add a mixture of milk and flour that's been boiled together until thickened (basically a white sauce), and beat it until it becomes incredibly creamy. The resultant icing is somewhere between whipped cream and buttercream, and it's not overpoweringly sweet, and went really well with this cake.
Simply Delicious Yellow Cake (adapted from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread)
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/4 cups + 3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 & 1/4 cups (2 & 1/2 sticks) + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 & 3/4 cups + 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
5 large eggs
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line with parchment paper 2 round 9x2-inch diameter cake pans. (Note: I didn't notice that my normal 9-inch cake pans are in fact 9 inches by 1.5 inch, not 9 x 2, so my cakes overflowed and dripped like crazy while baking--*cry*--so if you don't have 2 inch height cake pans, use 3 pans and reduce the baking time slightly...and make sure you put baking sheets under your cakes so if they drip, they won't drip all over the oven...sigh!)
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk them gently for even distribution. In a separate bowl, combine milk and vanilla.
Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl before adding the next one.
Lower the speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture (divide into 3 parts) alternatively with the milk mixture (2 parts), starting and ending with the flour. Mix until evenly incorporated. The texture of the batter should resemble whipped cream, very light and fluffy. There should not be any pockets or lumps of flour. If the batter looks a bit curdled, then it hasn't been mixed enough and you should keep mixing for another minute at medium speed, or until it is thick and fluffy.
Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Weighing may be the most accurate way to do this. If using two pans, each pan should weigh in at about 930 grams of batter. The pans should be about 2/3 full. Smooth the batter so it fills the pans evenly. Place the pans on the center rack, bake for 35-40 min (for two pans), or until the cake is ready to pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Rotate the pans halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking.
Cool pans on rack for 10 minutes, invert cakes onto wire rack, then carefully invert again so they are parchment-side down (this prevents crack formation in the cake while it is still cooling). Let cakes cool completely on the wire rack, then proceed to downstream application. Remember to remove parchment paper lining!
Makes 2 9x2 inch cake layers.
Creamy Vanilla Frosting (adapted from More from Magnolia)
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
Note: It is important to follow these instructions as closely as possible to ensure a good outcome...
Pour milk into a medium saucepan. Whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and stir constantly while the mixture is cooking. Cook until very thick and just bubbly, about 10-15 minutes. (Don't worry if you end up with soft lumps at this point, it will beat out later--the more you stir, the less likely lumps will occur; make sure you whisk the flour into the milk, not the milk into the flour...I've done it the 2nd way and I got lots of bad dry lumps, which I had to strain out meticulously...)
Take milk mixture off the heat and cover with waxed paper or saran wrap so a skin doesn't form while cooling. Cool for about 30 min or until the mixture is roughly room temperature.
In your electric mixer, beat butter for 3 minutes on medium-high speed, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat well.
Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat at medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy and noticeably whiter in color. It should look a lot like whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes exactly. Use immediately. (Both times I've made this icing, the frosting holds up well at room temperature for several hours before serving. If you refrigerate it, it hardens up a bit, but softens again after you let it sit a bit at room temperature.)
Makes enough to frost one 3-layer 9-inch cake.
Turtle (cake) power!
Fantastic! I especially enjoy how the inside layer of frosting is orange. Ten points. Good job!
ReplyDeletethat is awesome Liang... I want some of that cake because it looks amazing LOL... props to u!
ReplyDelete