A new idea

I am so excited. I have come up with a new idea for Grayers birthday cake! I'm still going to make the miniature tractors... I'm just going to make an entire farm to go along with it! (I know... what am I thinking?!) I think it's going to be great - and I'll be posting each little practice portion too.  In addition to the farm... I decided my little Fuzzy needs his own cake to dive into - and what better cake than a cow cake to go along with the farm.  So here it is... I'll start with my ingredients! :)

   I used Betty Crocker Yellow cake because I think its a universal flavor... most people like yellow cake.

I know it seems strange to post a picture of my mixed batter... but I had to give some credit to my red KitchenAid Mixer because I am in LOVE with it and it is so easy to use and clean up!

So I divided the batter into 3 dishes - a medium round for the base of the cow, a small oval pyrex for the face of the cow, and 4 cupcakes - 1 for the ears, 2 for the feet, and 1 just in case I messed up one of the other 3 (since we all know I am a work in progress with this baking thing!).

                                    

I baked them all three at once... the cupcakes out first, then the pyrex, then the medium round.

                            (Sidenote: Don't forget to clip your boxtops for the kiddos!!)

Okay... so the cake is done.  Next step - level it! It won't sit on your plate very well with a round base!

                           

Once leveled... I simply flipped it over onto the sheet I planned to display it on. Man... I almost look skilled here. lol.

Okay... now to the fun part!! I put a little icing on top of the medium round cake and then put the small cake from the pyrex (after leveling it too of course) on top of the medium round for the face.  Then I went on icing the rest of the cake.

Tip - Crumb Coating:

First - ice a thin layer around any loose edges to seal in crumbs and let set 10-15 min

Then - ice completely - this prevents crumbs from ending up in your final layer.

(I did a LOT of baking before ever knowing what crumb coating was - I was so happy when i discovered it)

Once it was completely covered, I took 2 cupcakes for feet and iced them mostly white with a couple of brown spots (cow spots).  In these pictures I didn't peel off the cupcake wrapping but will for the real thing and I will ice the base of the cupcake feet too.

For the ears of the cow I took 1 cupcake and cut it down the middle. Then I iced them white too.

Hint: Buy 2 tubs of white icing - I only bought one and ran out right before the ears.  This is my explanation for yellow ears in the pictures... the only icing I had in the pantry was yellow. :)

After placing the ears I picked random places and added a few brown cow spots.

The base of the cow is done... now onto decorating it!

I used pink "Fruit Slices" for the ears and nose. 

I cut each end off of one "fruit slice" and then put them back together for the nose.

I used 1 wedge each for the ears (next time I will cut them in half long ways so they aren't so thick).

For the nostrils I used 1 orange stick, cut each end off and stuck the cut end down into the cake.

For the eyes I used Milk Duds.

Then I filled a ziplock baggie with a little brown icing and pushed all that icing down to one corner.

I cut off a very small piece of that corner and used that to pipe on some hooves and eyelashes. :) 

And last but not least... I added some grass!!! :)

I absolutely LOVE the finished product! I was so proud of it!!

It may not be the best thing ever... but it certainly wasn't a disaster!! lol. Thats all one can hope for in these practice rounds.

I'm excited about letting Grayer dive into one of these cakes at his bday party!

This seems like it will be a boring blog to send out... but maybe one of you other moms out there will enjoy it... and maybe even take a tip or two with you!! :)

Happy Baking!