Lamb Cake & Random Wednesday

With Easter coming up I thought I would show you a lamb cake that I made. It's super easy and really fun for the kids.

No, it's not actual bits of lamb, so don't worry, keep reading.

You can get the mold here. I got mine at Micheal's, they should have them in stock because it's Easter time.

The directions said to use a heavier cake like pound cake, but I wanted to use a red velet cake, cause I'm a tad weird like that. Cutting open a lamb cake to find red cake in it, nothing beats that family reaction!

I didn't have this tutorial when I was making mine, but it's pretty much everything that I did. It's also in the instruction book that comes with the cake pan.

Basically you just fill one side of the cake pan to the top, basically one cake mix fills the entire thing. Then put the top half on, and tie it closed.

When the cake rises, it rises into the other half, so you end up with something that looks like this:

I made some butter cream frosting, the Wilton's recipe, you're going to need two batches of this:

Yields 3 cups


1 cup vegetable shortening
1 tsp Wilton Flavor (vanillia), this is a clear vanilla, so you get a true white color
2 Tablespoons water
1 lb. pure can confectioners' sugar (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder (this helps with decorating and makes it a little stiffer then it would be without it

Cream shortening, flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend and additional minute or so, until creamy.

This is the basic recipe for a STIFF consistency icing.  For the base layer of icing you need to make the above recipe THIN consistency.

Thin Consistency: You'll need to add 2 teaspoons of water per cup of frosting (so you'll need to add 6 teaspoons of water to the above recipe.) I added some food gel coloring to make it slightly pink, I thought a white face was totally weird.

For the "fur" and face you'll need to make another batch of frosting with a MEDIUM consistency.

Medium Consistency: You'll need to add 1 teaspoon of water per cup of frosting (so you'll need to add 3 teaspoons of water to the above recipe).

I used this decorating tip, it's a triple tip, so I could get more coverage and wasn't deocrating for 5 hours...you can however do it one at a time, but your hand will get tired, I tried that the first time. Then remembered I had that triple decorating star tip.

Put aside some of the frosting to make the face, I used black gel coloring, but you can buy the already made black frosting from the baking isle in the grocery store, since black is a hard color to get. (that's why mine is gray)

Back view, the reason we have the bamboo skewers in there, was that we had to drive 40 miles to our destination and since we didn't use a dense cake it was a little wobbly. We took the front sticks out as soon as we got to our destination.

I colored some coconut green, and bam you have a lamb sitting on grass.

My family's reaction when we cut open the lamb and saw the red velvet cake inside.

Now onto some random things:

Last night I had a dream that I was in another 1/2 marathon. My knee problem was gone, my ankle problem was gone and I was feeling good. Is this my minds way of telling me to get that MRI and figure out what's wrong with my knee...I think so. I know Baby Fox will be happy to have the wind in his face again. Every time we got out in the jogging stroller he yells out "run Mama, run!"

My hair is at that really awkward point, where it's just annoying and laying on my back weird. It's taking everything in me not to just chop it off again. But I keep reminding myself, I'm growing it out so I can do this awesome sock bun that I've been hearing so much about. I want it...

I have exactly 27 days to finish my photo album book that I bought from Photobook America last July...I thought..April, I can do it by April, and here we are 5 days from April and I still have a long way to go. I can do this...bottom line, I need to stop taking naps on the weekend while Baby Fox takes his nap...but bed always sounds so much better than staring at a computer.

Linking up with Shanna today

Spritz Cookies

With cookies of course! Remember all those cookies I made last weekend? Well I'm making more this weekend and I'm sharing the recipe this time . Remember this recipe? Where I explained America's Test Kitchen? Well that's where this recipe is from, so if you want the full explaination, go there, see the "*" note.

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.

Okay onto the recipe.

Spritz Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Large Egg Yolk
1 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 cup Unsalted Butter (2 sticks), softened (about 70°)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt (but if you salted butter, omit this)
2 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Cookie Press (this one is highly rated, but on the expensive side, this one is half the price and well rated, this one is electric but my is it expensive)
Various cookie press shapes

What you do with it:

Sidenote: The recipe below has been doubled from above. I find that it's not worth my time to just make 1 batch at a time, as one batch only yields 2 cookie sheets worth of cookies. If you've ever had these cookies you eat at least 5 at a time...so they go pretty quickly.

Step 1: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375°.

Step 2: In a small bowl, beat yolk, cream and vanilla with a fork until combined, set aside.

Step 3: In standing mixer put butter and sugar

Mix until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula (I did't add that tidbit the reciepe did).

Of course Baby Fox had to get in on the action, as soon as he heard the mixer turn on he runs up to me and says "doing?"

Step 4: With mixer running at medium speed, add yolk/cream mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl.

Step 4: With mixer running at low speed gradually beat in flour until combined. Scrape down bowl and give final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that there are no flour pockets.

sidenote: If you don't have these bowls you need to get them stat! They look like a bowl, but then you can fold them for easy dumping into your standing mixer

See the pinching action? Totally easy way to get your flour in the bowl without spilling everywhere, you're welcome!

Step 5: Using cookie press to form cookies, follow manufacturers instructions to fill. If you don't have cookie press you can use a pastry bag with a large tip on the end to form cookies.

Step 6: Press or pipe cookies onto ungreased baking sheet

Yet another side note. My cookie press is electric, which you can find here, or here. I have not tried either one of these, so use at your own risk. Mine is older than me and was passed down from my Grandma.

Step 7: No cookie is complete without some sprinkles right? Pour them on! I was being stingy because I didn't want to go to the store to get more sprinkles, but after I took this picture my Dad went and got some more, so later cookies have way more sprinkles.

Step 8: I do two cookie sheets at a time, and rotate the cookie sheets (top goes to the bottom rack, and vice versa), makes baking go a lot quicker and I'm not in the kitchen for so long. So yes I own a lot of cookie sheets for this reason.

Once you start eating these, you'll never want to stop. Seriously, they are so good, and they are small enough that you can pop them in your mouth...it's dangerous I tell ya!

Here is what 595 cookies look like all bagged up.

And there you have it. So go out and make some cookies for your friends and family! Hope you all have a great weekend and get all your last minute shopping done, I know I have some stuff to still find, hoping I get it today, so all I have to do is, wrap, wrap wrap!