The only thing that makes a retirement/birthday party filled with cured meat, cheese, and an open bar better is surprising the guest of honor with a cake. A cake which was carried across town on my lap, in an Uber, over bumps, in the middle of winter in Minnesota and delivered intact on a simple marble stand. Not sure which is more impressive: retirement or not destroying the cake.
Peppa Pig Birthday Cake
A special someone turned three-years old, so I made her a cake. A Peppa Pig cake. A three-layer Peppa Pig cake. A s'mores inspired three-layer Peppa Pig cake with chocolate and graham cracker cake layers filled with chocolate frosting and homemade marshmallow fluff.
In true three-year old form, the birthday girl loved the outside of the cake and could not have cared less about the inside. But the adults sure did. So while the kids were running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth on the sidewalk, the adults were enjoying the cake. One marshmallow fluff bite at a time.
S'mores Cake
adapted from liv for cake
Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup strong brewed coffee, warm
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Graham Cracker Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
Marshmallow Fluff
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
3 large egg whites room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting
Batch of this chocolate frosting
Make the chocolate cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 6" round cake pans and line with parchment. Place dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
In a second bowl, whisk all wet ingredients together. Slowly pour the coffee into ingredients making sure to not cook the eggs. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 3 mins.
Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the graham cracker cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 6" round cake pans and line with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add sugars and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Make sure the batter is fully mixed but make sure it is not over-mixed. Spread batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the marshmallow fluff: Place water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Stir to combine.
Insert a candy thermometer into the pot and heat over medium-high heat. Do not stir from this point on.
While the sugar syrup is cooking, ensure that the mixer bowl is completely clean and dry. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of the stand mixer.
When the sugar syrup reaches 225°F, start whipping the egg whites to soft peaks (~4 minutes). When the whites are ready, the sugar syrup should be at 240°F. Remove from the heat, turn mixer to medium and very slowly pour the sugar syrup into the whites in a thin, steady stream.
Once all of the syrup poured, set mixer to medium-high and continue whipping. The whites may deflate at first but they will thicken up. Continue to whip for 8-10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and glossy. Add vanilla and whip until the fluff has cooled.
