In The Kitchen With Kat: An Atypical Graduation Comestible Edition
A Rainbow Glitter Dragon German Chocolate Cake
Now, as most of you know, I like to create things in the kitchen, but in all honesty I am not the bestest at food presentation. Most of my edible concoctions are more than a bit beyond passable in the tasty department, but when it comes to garnishment and flair I am no kitchen Liberace. It's just the way it is.
That said, I do love to give food blessings to my pals, in fact, yesterday I was cornered by a bunch of twenty-somethings and grilled as to why I had not brought Brownie Surprise with me. Apparently that dish is a legend among that batch of millennials. Heh. Anyway, one of my dear friends finished her master's program, and as I knew that German chocolate cake is her favorite dish, I decided to craft her a graduation cake.
Most graduation cakes are these beautiful and tasty shrines to cake decorating skill and flair. I'm always impressed with the level of piping and flower making skill utilized when I behold an edible graduation celebration food shrine. The cake that I made my friend was a little bit different.
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I started with two 9X13 German chocolate cakes that I baked the night previous. I wanted to craft an edible that was guaranteed to put one into an insulin overload, so I whipped up some homemade toasted pecan coconut frosting, a bowl of chocolate fudge mousse, and a batch of milk chocolate buttercream frosting.
To start with, I covered one of my cookie sheets with some foil, because nothing says frugal fancy like not paying for a cake tray! YAY! After I placed one of the cakes on the bottom, I lined the outer edges with a dam-layer of buttercream. This element is needed to keep the filling at bay. Nothing is worse that a bunch of filling on the loose, everyone would be sticking their fingers in the cake and stuff. Not good.
Next I decided that I wanted to reinforce the buttercream dam with an additional layer of toasted coconut pecan frosting. On it went. And yes, I tasted some, quality control is important...
After my filling holding structuring was complete, I plunked almost two full cups of chocolate fudge mousse filling onto the bottom cake. Just look at that caloric laden pile!
After I was satisfied with the middle of my cake creation, I carefully set the other cake on top of the filling slathered bottom cake. Happiness bloomed in my frosting smattered form as I beheld the progressing food sculpture.
Next, I slathered some chocolate buttercream frosting on the sides, glueing the structure together so to speak. This part of the operation was done to music. I have been digging this song lately:
The top of the cake was to be crowned with my homemade toasted coconut pecan frosting. It takes twelve minutes of stirring to cook, but it tastes so good that it's totally worth all the triceps effort!
My frosting piping skills are about as good as my hair coiffuring skills, but I did take my time and added some stars and swirls to make the cake look a bit pro-fesh-ee-nail.
Then came the fun part. I had some cream cheese frosting leftover from another cake creation project. I had pulled it from the freezer to thaw yesterday morning, and dyed the sweet stuff as vivid of a shade of red as I could achieve with liquid food coloring. This of course meant that my frosting was about the same shade as a Sockeye salmon's flesh, but I kind of liked it. My friend loves dragons, so I free hand drew a dragon on the cake and just for fun I made it a glitter sprinkle dragon because I could. This amused me for some reason. Oh, and they weren't really sprinkles, they are actually called nonpareils, but I find that everything that gets sprinkled out of a can is called a sprinkle round here.
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And here we have it, the end result. It is by no means fancy, refined, or even close to masterful, but oh my lands did it taste good. I'm still full! And happy, kind of like that pink, er, red glitter dragon on the surface...
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I am sure insulin overload was achieved no doubt!!! Mmmm!!
Oh tasting along the way is the mandatory job of the chef!
I would say that is a certified confectionery masterpiece in my book!
I am digging Clove's voice! Its like a cross between Lorde's, Adele's and Dorothy's:
LOL! I had not one but two slices, it was definitely a carb coma evening!
Thank you so much for you kind words of cake approval OGP, tis appreciated, and so is your sharing of yet another delectably-voiced chanteuse, yay Dorothy!!!
Cake decorating is not really my thing, either, although both of my girls are pretty good at it. Around here, people are lucky if a cake ever gets baked, let alone decorated! I like your fill-holding dam. Great idea!
Ha! Good thing you have a couple of creative daughters! Mine is far better at cake adorning than I am, and let me tell you I am thankful for that, she can take the baton of cake decoration any time she wants too:)
Aww your little corgi is so absolutely adorable! Oh and killer dragon cake! My mouth is watering from looking at pictures alone. Damn, you got some serious cooking skills, Kat! ^^
Yay! M! I have missed you and so hope that you are doing well? Thank you for the cake and corgi compliments, I am rather fond of them both, especially the pup, she's a doll!
I'm pretty sure few animalia in the kingdom can relax and do leisure quite like a puppy. OK, maybe a kitten. But they don't get into it with as much full-on fiber of their being as a short, budding pooch. Think they feel they are a bit more refined or sophisticate. Now if only I could learn to nap like that.
Your cake looks divine. I love that whole 'fill the swimming pool with good stuff' idea. More to dive into. I'm pretty sure I could get into that cake. If only!
I'm impressed with your dragon too. Do you practice on paper first (w/pencil, not your precious, salmon-pink icing.) Wouldn't want to waste a DROP of that. How's does that saying go? "What's a cake without frosting?" -Still darn good!
Whelp, I hope your day is going along well, and the weather is doing it's thing in a positive direction. Been raining here, how bout there? You know it's time to get going on here, when I start discussing the weather. Or whether we can weather the weather, whether we want to or not.
All rain aside, which we call a real blow, I hope your day goes well.
Sincerely, or something approaching it in small increments,
-the round flat pan of renown*
PS. Is that a dedicated puppy slipper-shoe, or one she(?) just found and then fell asleep next to once chewing was complete? Things I just gotta know on a Sunday in June...
P.P.S. - *Renown for WHAT, I have NO idea ( :
I have often wished that I could languish-lounge like some of the mammalia kingdom. They can achieve maximum comfort in a way that I only dream of:)
Thank ye kindly for the cake compliments! I just freehand drew the dragon, I just sometimes wish that things turned out in real life what they look like in Kat-brain. Maybe someday....
You have made my day by adding your addendum of renown whatfore. There are so many dd things of renown to choose from. Oberserver of the discarded holiday shrubbery or Capturer of the randomly appearing athletic footwear are just a couple of gems of renown that I can think of to attach to your personage. There are still others but I am about leeched of all creative and positive thought at this juncture.
However, I did learn how to properly coiffure and set a steer's tail for show tonight, courtesy of one of my amazing beeflings. I truly didn't know there was an art to backcombing a steers tail hair, I just thought one needed to remove the manure and give it a brush, apparently pageant cow prep is a thing. Egads!
I love it when you wax poetic about the weather. Well, type poetic is probably more accurate, but I am always happy to happen upon your climatic thoughts.
Ooh. I am rambling more than a prophetic dissertation on a Sunday afternoon in Kentucky. Too sorry me matey. Bed is calling, going to flop on in.
Also, that is the puppy's very own shoe of chewing. So sorry it took me a bit to clarify that for you:)
Night hard anodized metal comestible cookery!!!
I think your dragon looked pretty awesome, Kat. Certainly better than I could have done. Celene is a lucky millennial:) And loads of icing ... my favorite part:)
Thank you Pryde! There was definitely a surplus of icing, I think I am still in a sugar coma, LOL LOL!
Good icing is worth it:):):)
It looks great ... As you say it is not refined but wow it makes you eat it !!
Exactly!
STOPWOW
I love cakes so much. Wish I could have some
hopefully it was so delicious!!i think this cake looking good and testy!!
Delicious! Chocolate cake to enjoy this Sunday!