Trailer Trash Party Cake

I thought I'd share with you the cake I brought to the "Trailer Trash" party that I talked about in my last post!  When I told Bonnie I'd bring a dessert, I began to wonder what I could bring that would blend with the theme - then it hit me! I could make a trailer cake!  I love watching the program "Ace of Cakes" so it would a fun challenge. I didn't have time to make a cake from scratch so I mixed up a box of white cake mix and mixed some rainbow sprinkles into the dough so the cake itself would look trashy on the inside.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures so I'll describe how I made the cake as best I can!

I poured the batter into a 9 x 13" glass cake pan that I had sprayed with "Baking Pam" - this product is great because the flour is already in the spray so it is way less messy to "grease and flour" your baking pan!  I choose this pan because the corners were really rounded which I was going to need to shape the trailer.

TIP: Always hold your pan low in your sink when you spray it so the over spray is in your sink instead of all over your counter! So simple - but I didn't learn this trick for years! (Sorry - I needed a third hand if I was going to get a shot of my spraying the Pam while taking the picture!)  

When the cake was done cooking, I set it out .  

to cool for ten minutes and then flipped the cake out of the pan onto a cooling rack

While the cake was cooling, I covered a piece of cardboard with some foil to make a base for the cake. When the cake was completely cool, I cut the cake in half across the width. I spread canned vanilla frosting over the bottom of one half of the cake, and then stood the cut- end of the half up on the foil covered board. I then grabbed the other half and pressed the bottom against the frosted side make a cake sandwich that was standing up with cut sides on the bottom, and the frosting in the middle.  The round corners of the pan help form the top rounded 'trailer shape'.

I wanted to make it look like the 'trailer cake' was sitting in a dirt lot.  I spread a then layer of the vanilla frosting around the cake on the foil covered board.  Some caramel corn was perfect for the dirt - I just crushed it and then sprinkled it over the frosting covered board.

Next step - make the frosting gray to match the outside color of Bonnie's Streamline trailer.  They make black food coloring now!  It comes in the regular liquid like the tall cox here or in paste form, like the little containers here. You can buy food coloring in this 'paste' form at Michael's, Sur La Table, and Hobby Lobby.  Using a paste coloring, instead of liquid, gives you the benefit of getting a more saturated color to your frosting,without changing the texture of your frosting.  In this case, I used the liquid black because I needed only a smidgen to make my vanilla frosting turn light gray to simulate the silver Streamline trailer.  I spread the gray frosting over the entire exterior of my cake.

Next I googled "vintage airstream trailer" in Google Images so I would have a visual reference.  My cake trailer needed some windows, so I cut down some squares of candy foil wrap and stuck my "windows and door" directly onto the frosting with the shiny foil side out.  Wrapped Hershey's Nugget candies were perfect for the air conditioner that was on top of the trailer.

I needed a roll out awning to make it look more like a real trailer so I grabbed a bamboo skewer and broke it in half.  I cut a small square of waxed paper out and rolled it around a pencil.  The wax paper held the curl after I took the pencil back out so I placed it on the cake with the two pieces of skewer on either side - the awning looked great!

 I decided to write " Bonnie's or Bust!" on top of the cake and I had some pink squeeze tube frosting which worked perfectly.  I also outlined all the foil pieces and added some other details.

I poked around my baking cupboard to see what else I had that would add some finishing touches - a flamingo candle and a drink umbrella were just what I needed!  What trailer would be complete without a pink flamingo?!

 I used chocolate marshmallows for the tires.  If you have never tried these marshmallows from Williams-Sonoma try them sometime - they take marshmallows to a whole new level!  They are a seasonal item so watch for them. The mallows are individually packaged so they stay fresh for a long time and they are huge! Each mallow is about a 1.5" square cube - I cut two mallows into circles and attached them for my tires.

Voila! My "Trailer Trash Party Cake"!  Bonnie liked it so much she froze it to share at her next party! Whenever I see party goods or baking decorations on sale, like the pink flamingo candle and drink umbrella,  I grab them because you never know creation will need to be made next!

Fun 4th of July Cupcakes!

Looking for something new for dessert to surprise your 4th of July guests? Here's a easy, fun, quick idea! Remember those Pop Rocks candies you would eat straight from the little envelope that came in, that exploded in your mouth?

How about using them for your "sprinkle" decorations on some cupcakes? 

Just bake some cupcakes . . 

Frost them with your favorite frosting and put in the refrigerator 

or set them aside until ready to serve.

                                                           

Then right before serving - sprinkle the "pop rock candies" on to the top of each cupcake . . .

. . . add an American Flag pick to each cupcake and serve!  

 Your guests will get a mini-explosion in their mouths with each bite!  Pop Rocks come in many different flavors which are different colors.  I used Cherry flavored here so I had red sprinkles.  Some of the pop rock candies will pop right when you put them on the frosting so the 'sizzle'  and the 'popping explosion' both add to the fun of the 4th! 

Enjoy and Happy Fourth of July!

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Spring Break Cupcakes!

It's that time of year again - Spring Break!  A time all college kids cherish!  After the long winter months holed up in the campus library studying, college students make plans to unwind and relax - and most head for sunshine somewhere!  My youngest son, Alex,  is studying Architectural Engineering and spent many long hours in labs this past quarter.  His spring break destination - Hawaii!  Alex was all set to visit his brother, Sam, my second son, who is living in Kaneohe, Oahu.  While Sam was at work, Alex made arrangements to take classes to become a certified scuba diver. Needless to say, Alex sounded elated when he called to say he was on his way home.   I wanted to surprise him with a Bon Voyage treat and decided on cupcakes! After watching back to back episodes of "Cupcakes Wars" on the Food Network I was inspired!    The packaging on this mix caught my eye as it just shouted 'tropical' and the flavor - pineapple with pina-colada frosting - was perfect for a send-off to Hawaii.    But how was I going to decorate these to really create the "Aloha spirit"?!  I had some finely shredded coconut so I decided to toast it to a golden brown.  I had some blue rock candy I had picked up at "Urban Outfitters" on clearance - it reminded me of the crystal blue waters.  I remembered I had found some miniature palm tree picks on clearance somewhere. I think they were supposed to be used like those little umbrellas that you put in exotic drinks, but why not use them for cupcakes?  

My vision started to come together - but I needed cupcake liners.  I searched my stash and nothing I had on hand even came close to looking tropical.  What to do?  I decided to make my own cupcake liners out of brown lunch sacks to resemble raffia hula skirts.  I started by tracing around one of the cupcake liners I had for size, adding about a half inch to the diameter to be sure I had enough extra to make the fringe. I cut out my pattern and then traced and cut out twelve circles. (The mix made twelve cupcakes)  Next, I folded circles in half three times to make a wedge, just like when you make paper snowflakes at Christmas.  Little cuts in the arched side of the wedge created the fringe and then I folded the tip of the wedge inward about 3/4 of an inch.  I unfolded the whole thing and voila!  I had my grass skirt cupcakes liners.  I placed the brown fringed liners in each of the tin cups of the cupcake pan and then put a plain liner inside. I wasn't sure if the cupcake batter would stick to the brown lunch sack paper so I thought it would be best to add a regular liner inside the homemade one! 
  I filled the liners with batter and put them in the oven.  The batter cooked up beautifully and filled out the liners.  Next, I whipped up the frosting mix, included in the bag, with the suggested cream cheese, and frosted the cooled cupcakes. I sprinkled some toasted coconut on one half of each cupcake and some of the blue rock candy on the other half.
 
  One palm tree pick placed in each cupcake was the finishing touch!  I grouped the dozen cupcakes on a green pedestal plate and left it on the counter in the kitchen.  Alex has a five hour drive from San Luis Obispo to Sacramento so he was ready for a treat when he got home!
   While enjoying the delicious cupcakes, we chatted about the past quarter and the adventure Alex was about to embark on. No matter how old your kids are, they always love a special treat.Each time one of my three sons walks in my door is a moment I cherish.  Alex arrived in Oahu the next day and was a certified scuba diver two days later! 
 
I'm pretty sure it was a Spring Break he will always cherish!

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