birthday – Audrey's 74 A blog by Giulia Doyle Tue, 31 Jan 2017 21:28:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.16 Happy Birthday /2014/10/15/happy-birthday/ Wed, 15 Oct 2014 12:47:45 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=3276 Giulia Cake 3

clockwise from top left: unknown, Molly Yeh,  Chic Vintage Brides, Sweetapolita

It’s my birthday today! And it’s a big milestone one. I’m a little torn about birthdays these days. I can take them or leave them. I’m not particularly panicked about this milestone one that I’m having right now, but to be honest, I think I wouldn’t mind being 39 a while longer ;). It is crazy to look back at my thirties tough – so many things changed, big life changes, grown-up decisions – lot’s of happy moments and reaching a place where I feel secure in who I am and what’s important to me.

In order to celebrate, I decided to share 40 cakes made by a bunch of other talented people today. There are so many amazing cakes to be found, many of them have inspired cakes I’ve made myself, such as this, this, this and this. Enjoy!

]]> Rich Chocolate Birthday Cake /2014/07/09/rich-chocolate-birthday-cake/ Wed, 09 Jul 2014 13:22:54 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=3019 Audrey's Chocolate CakeMy little girl turned seven this past Sunday! How did this happen? Often I want time to move faster, to get past some of the obstacles of having small children, and then I look up and think to myself – stop! – don’t go there yet! I am very proud of how she’s growing up, how mature she is (most of the time), how smart, independent, kind and happy. I know that my husband and I only have a small play in how she’s developing – we try hard to support her and provide an environment where she can thrive.

Since we are on vacation during her actual birthday, we decided to host a birthday party with her friends before we left. We had a few big planning hick-ups, last minute changes to our plans – but she took it with stride and truly enjoyed her time with her group of friends. That’s all that really matters. It’s not about the perfect theme or the perfect decor – all that counts is that she spent 2 hours with her friends – they laughed, squealed, ran around like tornadoes and ate cake. This is the cake – a dark, moist chocolate cake with Swiss Meringue Frosting – perfectly decadent and pretty to look at. That’s all you really need to celebrate, right?

Audrey's Chocolate CakeThis cake is very similar to my other chocolate cake I usually make. I decided to try something new for a change. They are almost interchangeable, both are super moist and super easy to make. Next time I’d make my mascarpone frosting again though (strawberry one and chocolate one) – I find it’s the easiest to make and I like it better than butter based frosting.

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Rich Chocolate Birthday Cake

Yield: Makes 3 - 8 inch layers and 5 cups of frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup strong, hot black coffee or espresso
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • For the Frosting:
  • 5 large egg whites )
  • 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 pound unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 3 x 8" cake pans with butter and flour or parchment paper.
  2. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift all dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients to mixture and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed.
  3. Divide among prepared pans. Batter will be liquid.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Cakes are done when toothpick or skewer comes clean, about 35 minutes. Try not to over bake.
  5. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes then gently invert onto racks until completely cool.
  6. For the Frosting:
  7. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with paper towel and vinegar, to remove any trace of grease. Add egg whites and sugar, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly, until temperature reaches 140°F, or if you don't have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
  8. With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the mixture is thick, glossy, and cool. Switch over to paddle attachment and, while mixing on medium speed, gradually add softened butter in chunks until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth).
  9. Add vanilla and salt and mix well.
  10. Keep in airtight container in refrigerator for up to one week, leaving out at room temperature when needed, rewhipping in mixer for 5 minutes.
  11. Can freeze for up to 6-8 weeks

Notes

Recipe from Sweetapolita. This can also make two 9 inch layers that will be thicker.

/2014/07/09/rich-chocolate-birthday-cake/
Audrey's Chocolate Cake

 

 

]]> Four Colour Checkerboard Birthday Cake /2014/03/03/four-colour-checkerboard-birthday-cake/ Mon, 03 Mar 2014 10:31:52 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=2677 Checkerboard Birthday Cake Audrey'sToday’s post is not one of pretty pictures, but rather one to share how I made the checkerboard birthday cake you see above. We celebrated Desmond’s 5th birthday the other weekend. It was a science party, with a bunch of experiments, crazy glasses and a ton of fun running around bouncing giant balloons.

As I’ve mentioned before I always have a hard time photographing my kid’s birthday parties – everything comes together so quickly, kids are running around like crazy and I’m lucky if I get a couple of snap shots of the event. Plus I never make cakes just for the blog – they always are made for actual events, so photographing this one properly was impossible.Checkerboard Cake Audrey'sI wanted a tasty and fun cake – one that would surprise the kids (and adults as well). I decided to make a checkerboard cake using the colours I had at the party. I got so many questions on how I made it, that I decided to illustrate it quickly for you.

Checkerboard Birthday Cake Audrey'sBake four cakes in the colours you want to use. I used blue, red and orange gel colour and left one cake white. I made mine in 9 inch pans. Once cakes are cooled, use a bowl to trace and cut a circle out of each cake, making sure the outer ring is thick enough to be solid. Then use a smaller bowl or cookie cutter to cut out an additional circle out of each cake. Carefully take each piece apart and lay on your work surface.

last stepNext, take a little bit of your icing and spread it on the edges of each of the pieces. Carefully reassemble each of the four cakes, alternating the colours. None of the four cakes will have the same colour twice. The icing will help keep the pieces together. Then carefully stack each layer, making sure to add enough frosting between each layer. Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting (crumb coat), add a skewer in the middle for stability (it is four layers after all) and put the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes. Add a final layer of frosting and decorate the outside as you want.

I made this cake recipe and made it with a lemon mascarpone frosting. It was delicious. People will ask how you managed to get all the little squares into the cake!

*next time I would straighten each layer a bit with a knife to get more even squares – but I’m quite pleased with this first try.

A few pictures of the party below. It was a wonderful day – we went to our local field house, which was perfect with 15 four and five year old kids – they could run around like crazy and my house didn’t get messed up!Checkerboard Birthday Cake Audrey'sHow to make a checkerboard cakeHow to make a checkerboard cake

]]> A Birthday filled with Rainbows /2013/07/15/a-rainbow-party/ Mon, 15 Jul 2013 10:11:01 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=1270 Audrey's RainbowWe celebrated a birthday recently – my little girl turned six! Six! She wanted to celebrate at our neighbourhood splash pad and she requested rainbows! While many have incorporated rainbows into their party decor and it seemed like every second party in 2011 was dressed in rainbow colours, I was happy to oblige. It’s just a happy theme and the added water was a welcome relief on a hot and humid day.
Audrey's Birthday Party Both my kids dressed in swimsuits. Maëlle added a sparkly skirt and a rainbow lei. We handed out squirt guns and applied a bunch of fun Tattly tattoos.

A week or so before the party, we made Rainbow cookies. I was inspired by these, but I decided not to make them from scratch as I was already dealing with the rainbow layers and that might have been too much to tackle at once. I find sugar cookies challenging, so I buy the Betty Crocker mix and it all turned out perfectly (see instructions below).Audrey's Birthday PartyWe gave every guest a coloured sand bucket, which we lined up on the picnic table. Each bucket was filled with a few water related favours that the kids got to play with during the party.  I made sure to label each bucket with their name – that way they had something to catch all the pinata candy later that afternoon.

Audrey's Birthday 3

Along with the cookies, we served a rainbow of fruit and vegetables and instead of a cake or cupcakes, the birthday girl requested a doughnut tower. The gourmet doughnuts from SuzyQ were very popular – the adults loved them as well.Audrey's Birthday 5

Audrey's Birthday 6I never seem to manage to get a picture of the finished food table. I’m usually getting the food there last minute, and this time the day was so hot we only brought out the doughnuts minutes before serving them. But you can see the gist of what I was going for. A simple rainbow/chevron table runner, stacked rainbow coloured plastic cups and drink dispensers. I used IKEA kids plates and cups, since they come in a rainbow of colours and are heavy enough not to blow away.

Having the party at the local park made clean-up a breeze. We had a great day and everyone enjoyed the party!Audrey's Birthday Party

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How to make Rainbow Cookies

Ingredients

  • your favourite sugar cookie recipe or sugar cookie mix from the grocery store
  • liquid or gel food colouring in red, yellow, blue and green

Instructions

  1. Make your cookie dough and separate into six separate servings in a bowl
  2. Add food colouring to each serving and mix well. When mixing colours to get purple and orange, make sure to mix the colours in a spoon ahead of time to get an even coloured dough
  3. Chill your dough in the fridge for 30 minutes and then roll each serving out to about 1/4 inch thickness on a piece of plastic wrap. Make sure each piece is about the same size.
  4. Layer each piece on top of each other in the proper order (purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red) and put in freezer for a couple of hours.
  5. Once solid, remove from freezer and slice dough into 1/4 inch slices with a large sharp knife. Depending on the size of your 'loaf' you can half each cookie - make sure every cookie is about the same size.
  6. Place cookies carefully on parchment lined cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart (my dough spread from a small rectangle into 2.5 inch round cookies). Bake according to instructions until edges turn just golden.
  7. Let cool completely.

Notes

If you are worried the layers won't stick, you can brush a little egg white between each layer when you assemble the cookies.

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]]> Circus Birthday and a Three-Tier Chocolate Cake /2013/02/25/circus-birthday-and-a-three-tier-chocolate-cake/ Mon, 25 Feb 2013 06:08:08 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=404 Audrey's 3 tier Chocolate CakeThis past weekend we celebrated Desmond’s fourth birthday. We had a Circus/Carnival theme in mind, so I adapted our favourite chocolate cake to reflect the theme. We host our birthday parties at home, but this time around I think we might have taken on a little too much for our small house. Let’s just say that 14 kids under the age of six running around your house creates a lot of chaos and a high level of noise. Both hubby and I were exhausted and our house still looks like a bomb exploded! Hosting a winter birthday is always tricky, so next time we might have to consider a community centre.

But, the cake didn’t disappoint. It’s my recurring favourite – light and fluffy, deep chocolate flavour and adaptable to any icing you like. We opted for vanilla icing to accommodate the circus train and circus animals.Audrey's 3 tier Chocolate CakeAlong with the cake we served popcorn, animal crackers, sugar cookies, red Kool-Aid, licorice and each kid got a foam clown nose. Decorations were simple: a bunch of balloons, bunting and a table cloth.I had intended to ice my cake with scallops all along the side, but I ran out of icing twice, so I opted for a simple design.Audrey's 3 tier Chocolate CakeAudrey's 3 tier Chocolate CakeAudrey's 3 tier Chocolate CakeAudrey's 3 tier Chocolate Cake

Print
Three Tier Chocolate Cake (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Yield: 3 layers if using 8 inch pans

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups hot water

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter paper. Dust the pans with cocoa; tap out extra.
  2. Sift cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar into bowl. Beat in oil, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and hot water one at a time, using a mixer set at low. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be quite liquid.
  3. Pour batter into pans. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.
  4. Let cakes cool in pans on wire racks, 20 minutes, before inverting to remove. Discard paper. Cool completely on racks, top side up..
  5. Frost with icing of choice
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