Tristan's Birthday Cake

Tristan's Birthday Hamburger Cake

I know I am a little late on posting this because Tristan's birthday was last month, so I am sorry. Last month, was a busy month. Tristan ( my 11 yr old) was undecided about his birthday cake until a week before his birthday. I am glad to say he picked Shrimp Pasta for his dinner, and a chocolate flavored hamburger cake. They were both excellent choice. A simple dinner, that was very tasty.

Now, I made his hamburger cake with a delicious recipe I found in Martha Stewart Cookbook. It is called One Bowl Chocolate Cake. I like this recipe because it is more sturdy than cake mixes out of the box. And the flavor is great. I have done a cake test on my own. I had six people each was given a piece of chocolate cake from the mix and a piece that was made from scratch. Each liked the cake from scratch better.

Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/4 cups milk

1 1/4 unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cups vegetable oil plus 2 tablespoons

2 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/4 cup warm water

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 salt

2 large whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and mix. Grease and flour pans. Fill about 1/2 ways. This is such a simple cake. And it taste great.

Things needed for this cake:

9 inch round cake 1 1/2 inch high

8 inch round cake 3 inches high

1 stainless steel bowl

sharp knife

Serrated knife ( or you can buy the gadget from Wilton's to torte a cake)

Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 cup butter

1/2 shortening

16 oz of powdered sugar ( 1 box of confectioner sugar or 2 cups)

3 tablespoons of water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

Blend the butter, water, vanilla and shortening until creamy (about 3 minutes). Add half of the sugar, blend for about 3 minutes. Add the other half of the sugar, blend for another 5 minutes. Butter Cream will become fluffy after being blended for a while. This will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for six weeks. You will need to have enough to cover the cakes and make the ketchup and mustard.

Marshmallow Fondant:

16 0z of small marshmallows

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla( if you are coloring a light color use clear vanilla)

2 lb bag of confectioner sugar

shortening ( Crisco)

I needed to double the marshmallow fondant recipe in order to have enough, but I had to make it one at a time because my mixer is not big enough.

Rub shortening in microwavable bowl then add marshmallows. My microwave has a special button to melt marshmallows, but if yours doesn't use the defrost button to melt them. You might try in increments of 3 minutes. When using defrost you do not need to stir them. While these are in the microwave rub shortening on your mixer bowl use dough attachment. If you do not have one you are going to knead the sugar into it. Add marshmallow to mixer bowl. Add 1/2 of the sugar to bowl mix on low speed. Once incorporated add other half of sugar. Be sure not to over heat your mixer. Stop mixer put fondant on greased surface and knead. Once, kneaded make into a ball and rub shortening all over. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a plastic bag. Let sit for awhile. It is better if it sits overnight. But if you need to use it, it should be fine. It's best to have your fondant colored before you start with your cake. Otherwise, it's a huge mess. For the color of the hamburger bun I used copper and brown. For the patty I added 1/3 cup of unsweetened chocolate powder to half of the fondant and added brown food gel to get the appropriate color.

I doubled the mix in order to have enough for all the cakes. For the 9 inch pan it should be done in 35 minutes. The 8 inch will take about 1 hour. The The pans should take about 45 minutes for the 9 inch. The bowl was filled about 1/3 of the way. I can't give you the exact baking time because your bowl size might be bigger or smaller. It took about 80 minutes for mine to cook. You just have to keep checking it.

Let the cakes cool in pans for about 8 minutes. Then transfer to cooling rack. Once cooled completely level the top of each cake.

First, you need to cover the bottom bun. Make sure you have it frosted in Butter Cream. Next, roll out fondant about 1/8 inch thick( make sure it is already colored)enough to cover the sides of the bun. Cover cake and smooth out any wrinkles. Put a dab of Butter Cream on cake board to keep from moving. Once covered put on cake board, make sure the uncovered part is facing up. As shown on picture. Get patty ready. I pinched out little pieces from around the sides to give it a patty look. Roll out chocolate fondant and cover patty. Place on top of bottom bun. Next, you want to roll out lettuce , tomatoes, pickles, and onions. Place on cake. Now prepare your Butter Cream and color so it looks like mustard and ketchup. Now squeeze it over the cake. Frost the top bun. Roll out fondant and cover. Make sure to smooth out wrinkles. Once this is done place on top of other cakes. Next, all you need to do is put the sesame seeds on the bun using Butter Cream.

Now you should have a hamburger cake like mine.

Lisa