Buggy Gal Birthday Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Cake: In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla., Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream., Spread batter into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing the cakes from pans to wire racks to cool completely., From one cake, cut out and remove one-fourth of the cake in one wedge, creating the buggy shape. Set wedge aside. Place buggy on covered board., From the rounded side of the reserved wedge, cut a 3-1/2-in. long x 1-1/4-in. wide slight curved shape for the handle. Set aside., From the second round cake, cut two 3-3/4-in. circles for the wheels. Position the cake handle and wheels next to the cake buggy on the covered board. Save cake scraps for another use., Frosting: In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and vanilla. Add the confectioner's sugar and milk. Mix well. Place 1/3 cup of frosting in each of two bowls. Tint one pink and the other blue., Frost the cakes white., Cut a hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag. Insert the basket weave pastry tip and remaining white frosting. To begin the pattern on buggy's bottom section, pipe one vertical line, then pipe several short horizontal lines that overlap the vertical line. Repeat this process, making the horizontal lines alternate and connect the vertical lines, until the entire bottom section has a basket weave pattern., Cut a hole in another bag. Insert star tip and pink frosting. Pipe a rope border around the handle, wheels and hood. Pipe two dividing lines on hood., Replace star tip with flower tip. Pipe three pink flowers in the center of buggy's bottom section. Set aside remaining pink frosting., Cut a hole in remaining bag. Insert the star tip and blue frosting. Pipe a rope border around buggy's bottom section. , Replace star tip with flower tip. Pipe three blue flowers among the pink ones on the buggy., Replace flower tip with round tip. Pipe two blue spokes on each wheel and add the center on each pink flower., With pink frosting, pipe two more spokes and add the blue flower centers.

Steps:

• Bake the Easy vanilla cake in a greased, lined deep 20cm cake tin as in the basic recipe; drench with syrup and leave to cool. Leave the oven on.
• Break the white chocolate into cubes into a microwaveable bowl, and heat on High for 1 min (or melt over a pan of simmering water). Stir, then leave any remaining lumps to melt in the warm liquid chocolate. Once just-warm, beat the chocolate into the buttercream.
• Start the butterflies. Put the whole giant buttons on a flat baking tray on non-stick baking paper, then put into the oven for 20-30 secs or until the chocolate looks shiny. Take out, scatter with hundreds and thousands, then leave to set completely before cutting in half with a large non-serrated knife. For the ladybirds, pipe dots of icing all over the already cut giant button halves, then leave aside to dry.
• Spread the buttercream over the cake, then start to arrange the butterflies. Cut each Matchmaker into 3 - these will make the bodies. Press onto the cake, then stick four giant button halves around each body to make 'wings'. For the ladybirds, place two spotty button halves together, then use a small button for the head. Scatter more hundreds and thousands all over the cake, then poke in the candles.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour bottom of 8-inch round cake pan. Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups.
• Make cake batter as directed on box--except add almond extract and 2 drops blue or red food color with the water. Spread half of the batter in round pan; spoon remaining batter into muffin cups. Bake as directed on box for 8-inch round and cupcakes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• On serving platter, place cake layer bottom side up. Frost top and side of cake and 2 of the cupcakes with white frosting. (Frost remaining cupcakes, and serve on the side.)
• To make baby buggy, pipe half of top side of cake with blue or pink cupcake icing, using basket-weave tip. For buggy hood, pipe one-quarter of top side of cake with blue or pink cupcake icing, using star tip. Pipe around edge with white decorating icing. Pipe white lines on buggy hood. Add baby face as desired.
• To make buggy wheels, pipe blue or pink cupcake icing for spokes on each of 2 cupcakes and around edge of each cupcake. Place cupcakes at bottom of cake for wheels. Add straw for buggy handle. Store loosely covered at room temperature.