If you missed post #1 today: click here to see my Pantry Journal from last week.
~*~ Yellow Butter Cake with Maple Frosting!! ~*~
On Friday I baked a cake for my hubby’s 40th birthday. Whenever a birthday comes around I bake a favorite cake of the birthday person. How we celebrate the day is also the choice of the birthday boy or girl as well as what to have for dinner. For the boys, I usually cook their favorite meals, but Cory and I usually choose to GO OUT. We had dinner this time at our favorite Thai restaurant and then went to see a movie: Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol. It was very good and the whole family enjoyed it.
Everyone in my family has different favorites. Both of my boys love anything chocolate (I raised them right!) but Cory is a maple or caramel-loving kind of guy. He loves coconut cake, apple cake or pear cake (a recipe given to me by a friend and awesome cook. I will have to share that some day.) with caramel icing. But when I introduced him to my love of maple frosted donuts many, many moons ago, he has ever since been a maple fan. The recipe I used is old and printed off the internet. Basically, I don’t know the source, but here is my official disclaimer that it is not my original recipe nor am I trying to claim it as mine.
I used a Betty Crocker Yellow Butter Cake Mix and baked the cake according to package directions.
Two rounds fresh out of the oven, making the kitchen smell super yummy!
This icing is not as thick as store-bought, so icing the sides doesn’t really work. It has great flavor but is messy. Basically I ice between cake layers and then pour over the top, allowing it to ooze down the sides. Leftover icing can be served separately for those who want to pour more on their slice of cake. It is very sweet, though, and for those who don’t like a lot of frosting should like this.
Maple Icing
1/4 c. Crisco (I use regular butter)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c. maple blend syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 c. confectioners sugar (I used about 4)
1/4 c. milk
Combine Crisco, salt, syrup and 1 cup of sugar. Add milk and remaining sugar alternately. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add more sugar to thicken or milk to thin, if needed for good spreading consistency. Frosts 2 (8″ or 9″) layers or a 13×9 cake.
* I refrigerated the icing for 2 hours before applying it to the cake, just to see if it would stay thickened. It is something you need to play with to get it right the way you like it. I have never been very successful with homemade icing they always drip like this. I also keep the frosted cake in the fridge. I also sprinkled coconut on the top of the cake for a little something extra.
Hmm...what's in here?
For the coffee lover.
Happy 40th, hubby-o-mine!
The Home Heart 