Sunday, June 10, 2012

4 Dozen Cupcakes and a 60th Birthday Cake!

Whewie, was this week a busy one!  Just moved into a new apartment, went camping with a team from the middle school, and had a BBQ with my own team.  Oh yes, and I also had to make over four dozen cupcakes and a gluten-free 60th birthday cake.

So, this is what my Wednesday started out as (following 1 trip to the store to find gluten-free flour and 1 more, different trip to the store to find strawberries and good butter for buttercream).

You've already seen the chocolate chip cookie dough-filled cupcakes before, but after my students heard about them, I think I would've been run out of town if I didn't show up with them.  "You must bring the cupcakes, Ms. Kovaliv."  "Did you remember to make the cupcakes Ms. Kovaliv?"  "I have to talk to you about cupcakes.  [Enter brief anticipatory pause.]  You're bringing them, right?"  Well, I had no choice.  So, I made 53 cupcakes.  This, after another trip to the store, because I needed 7 cups of powdered sugar, and lo and behold, I only had about 2.  Oh, and vanilla.  I'd run out of vanilla.  (3 store trips, thus far.)

Then, when that was all done, I tried my hand at my first ever gluten-free cake.  My dad keeps telling me that I shouldn't "experiment" when I'm baking on a deadline.  But, I haven't learned my lesson, and I had a minor panic attack when my strawberry gluten-free cakes turned out of the pan like this:

Yes.  That's approximately 3/4" high.  Some cake to celebrate a fabulous 60th birthday, eh?  So, store trip number 4 to buy more gluten-free flour mix.  I usually am a little Martha Stewart in my use of store-bought mixes (i.e. I am admittedly unnecessarily snobbish about my desire to make things from scratch), but when it comes to gluten-free, I trust those mixes more than myself.

Hooray!  A much more acceptable cake structure.  Time to frost and decorate!  But no!  I've run out of eggs!  Store trip #5, ladies and gentlemen.
But here it is!  An entirely gluten-free strawberry and vanilla cake with lemon buttercream frosting and a dark chocolate butterfly to top it all off.

2 comments:

  1. You are such an awesome teacher Ms. Kovaliv! And your cake turned out so pretty!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the cake, Anna. The butterfly was a perfect addition, too. How clever you become when in a panic!!!!! Love you. Mom

    ReplyDelete