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Start Your Engines for this Racing Cake!!

***Last weekend, we got to help Brad's cousin, Justin, celebrate his 33rd birthday.  Justin's parents surprised him with 6 laps at the Talladega Superspeedway...It was such an exciting day!  His top speed was over 168 mph...can you imagine going that fast?!?

Of course, Brad and I were the photographers for the day.  We had a blast capturing every moment...Check out our fusion slideshow below!  It combines photography, video and audio from the day!


Justin Races to 33! from Celeste Ward on Vimeo.



I was thrilled to make this racecar-themed cake.  I started coming up with different decorating ideas for it a few weeks in advance.  I was really proud of the final result...It came out even better than I imagined!


I originally planned to use black and white fondant squares to form a race flag design all around the outer edges of the cake, and to stick two actual little racing flags into the top of the cake.  Well, I couldn't find the flags anywhere, but I did find these "spiral yo-yos" at the party supply store.  They worked out perfectly...I simply used that for the outside of the cake.  I had to trim about an inch off of the bottom, so that it would fit perfectly.

I used THIS MARSHMALLOW FONDANT recipe, and colored it with red food coloring.  For the race track, I made the outline of the road with candy buttons.  Then, I spread a thin layer of chocolate icing to form the actual road.  That way, the black candy sprinkles had something to stick to and stayed in place.  I topped everything off with 3 little Hot Wheels race cars.

Isn't it cute??  I had so much fun making this cake.  For the cake itself, I made a Coconut-Chocolate Cake that was to-die-for.  The coconut extract was the perfect match for the coffee-infused chocolate cake....YUM!  This is definitely one of my favorite cake recipes.  It's not complicated to make, always turns out perfectly moist, and the flavors are incredible (It doesn't hurt that coconut and chocolate is probably my favorite flavor combo).  It impresses every time!

Bon Appetit!***

Coconut-Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I prefer Ghirardelli)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 cup freshly brewed coffee


Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.


In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a different bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and coconut extract; Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in hot coffee...the batter will be very thin!


Pour batter into the prepared pans.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely and add icing.
 
Coconut-Chocolate Icing
Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp coconut extract


Directions:
Melt the butter. Stir in cocoa. Add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency.


Makes about 2 cups.

Comments

That is super impressive! You should make cakes for a living!!
Evette said…
I converted this recipe into cupcakes and they turned out AMAZING! Thank you!

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