A Christmas Cake

Posted by Vanessa in Cooking, December 9, 2011

I don’t think I could take another day looking at that chicken tetrazzini.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a yummy dish, but enough is enough.  I haven’t exactly been making the time to blog, obviously, but I still use the site as my recipe book almost daily and I just needed something else to look at.  Amen.

I made this cake earlier in the week for our small group and it was a hit.  Mostly because of the frosting.  And I’m not gonna lie.  It’s awesome.  We don’t eat cake with anything but it, and we’re more than stoked to know we get to have it two more times this month for my birthday and then for Jesus’ too.  Sweet.

The frosting is light, with just the right amount of sweetness, and, well, pretty much perfect.  It’s best on chocolate cake, but any will do.  I liked the red velvet for the Christmas season.

For the cake I used a box mix (Duncan Hines, people.  It’s the best.) and baked it in a sheet pan for about 18 minutes.  Then I cut it into thirds.  Okay, that’s not entirely true.  It may have started out as fourths, but we needed to do a little QC, so the cake ended up with only three layers.  If you have more self-control, a four layer cake would be even prettier.  Then layer on a platter with the frosting (recipe below) and finish with red and white sugar (not shown because I didn’t get that idea until after I took pictures) but don’t skip that step because the little added crunch was a great finishing touch to the cake.

Give this a try over the Christmas season.  It’ll be a hit with your guests, I promise!

Best Frosting Ever

recipe from Tasty Kitchen
Details
  • Ready in 0 Minute.
  • Makes: 2 Cups
Ingredients
  • 5 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup butter (cannot sub margarine here, it will NOT work)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered sugar!)
Directions
  • In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I am in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.
  • While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.
  • Spread it on a cooled chocolate cake.

One Response to “A Christmas Cake”

  1. Lizzie Pease says:

    I can almost taste this luscious cake.
    Beautiful presentation.
    I too, was ready for a new recipe and picture. Ha ha
    Love, Mom

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