Happy 18th Anniversary to My Dear Husband!
I had so many different ideas for our anniversary cake. With Hurricane Irene leaving us without power for a few days and the 85-90 temperatures inside, I was unable to do the prep work for my original idea and had to decide on something else. Luckily, I had a back-up plan!
For cakes, I like to the pound cake from a cake mix method from
Wilton. I used this for all of my class cakes and using a box mix you can consistently get the same results and it is easy to decorate as well.
Cake Ingredients
1 box cake mix (I used Vanilla)
1 small box (4 cup size) of instant pudding (I used French Vanilla)
4 large eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil (I used Crisco Natural Blend- it came out as the winner in
America's Test Kitchen testing for baking)
Mix all ingredients in mixer for about 2 minutes. Pour into greased and floured cake pan or just use
Wilton Cake Release, like I do. Wilton cake release really minimized the amount of crumb on the outside of the cake and I have never had a problem getting a cake out of the pan with it. Cool on rack for 10-15 minutes in pan before removing to continue cooling.
Coconut Buttercream Icing
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
3-4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp butter flavoring
1 tsp coconut flavoring
2-4 tbsp milk or water
The flowers on the cake are Primrose that I had pre-made with
royal icing. I learned how to make these flowers in the
Wilton Course 2- Flowers and Cake Design. Royal Icing flowers need to be made 5 to 7 days in advance to dry fully. If they aren't dry, they will melt when they touch the buttercream. The flowers are fun and easy to make and I find it relaxing to just sit and make tons of them when all is quiet, very therapeutic. Once they are made and dried they can be stored for probably a year or even more in an airtight container and used for future decorating. That made the decorating time on this cake less than an hour! I just had to cover the cake in buttercream, pipe on the reverse shell border, place flowers and pipe on some vines and leaves with buttercream.
I do have to say that my dear husband has supported me every step of the way with my baking and decorating adventures. From late night trips to the store for baking supplies and endless trips to Michael's for decorating supplies, he has never complained once about it!
Brad & Christina- 18 Years and counting!
Also check out our
Anniversary Cupcakes!
The necklace that I am wearing in the picture above, is the one that I won from the
Sweet As Sugar Cookie giveaway that was sponsored by
Quintessential Elements! It is such a beautiful necklace, I just love it! Thank you both!
This cake is shared at:
