Sunday, September 30, 2012

Color Me Rad Cake: Happy Dirty 30!

My wonderful sister-in-law just celebrated her 30th birthday! To celebrate, we all decided to run (ok...walk) the "Color Me Rad" 5K run. The weather was perfect, and we had fun getting wild and wacky in the race that throws colors at you while you pass by! After we ended the morning a bit more colorful than we started, we began preparations for a surprise party for Mindy at our house. Being the baker/cake decorator of the family, I wanted to do something fun and colorful to match the theme of our day! So, I decided to decorate the cake JUST like the volunteers decorated us runners (ok, ok...walkers!) What did I do? I threw powdered sugar at the cake! AND IT WAS AWESOME!

 Happy "Dirty 30" Mindy!


I dyed powdered sugar by hand (boy was that a labor of love), let it dry, and then sifted it to remove an extra lumps. I iced the cake in a plain white buttercream, took the whole deal outside, and the lobbed handfuls of colorful sugar on to the cake! IT WAS FUN! I'll be posting a video of my endeavors soon!

The cake was already busy on its own, so I didn't want to add even more by writing on the cake. AND, in keeping with the race theme, I thought it would be fun to make a banner with the written sentiments on it rather than writing in icing! (Like a finish line...get it?) So, I set to work making a little colorful banner. It was easy! Here's how!

Step 1: Cut the number of triangles you need (in the colors you desire) using one triangle as the template for all the others.
   
Step 2: Gather an appropriate surface (I used a bulletin board) to push a push pin in to the top two corners of each triangle. 
 Step 3: Gather string and needle to string the triangles on in the order you desire.
Step 4: Add written sentiment!
 Step 5: Attach ends to bamboo skewers or anything similar, leaving a little room so the banner hangs! 
Step 6: Insert in to cake!

With an outside looking wildly colorful, I knew I couldn't make the inside boring and blah! So, what did I do? I spruced it up a little!


 Ok...maybe a LOT!

WHOO! I don't think I've ever seen such a colorful cake!
And it's easy to make such a colorful, tye-dye creation!

Step 1: Make yellow cake according to normal directions.
Step 2: Divide batter evenly in to as many different bowls as you desire colors.
Step 3: Color each bowl with the color of your choice.
Step 4: Layer batter color by color. Pour your first color into the middle of a 9" round pan. Tap pan on the counter a little to spread the batter out. Repeat over and over with various colors until you have rings of color...like this!
 Step 5: Bake according to normal directions! You'll end up with a lovely, colorful cake!


I don't think I've ever had so much fun making a cake! How often does a baker get to throw powdered sugar at a cake? haha