My friend Jen gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Maya. That was a year ago and the little nugget of joy just turned one! I was given the honor of being hired for her birthday and was asked to create four dozen cupcakes (flavors of MY choosing) and her smash cake! For those of you that don’t know what a smash cake is, it is a miniature cake made for the child to… well, smash!
From the second I was hired for said gig, I had been texting Jen non-stop about different flavors we should go with. She had only one request: the smash cake MUST be in the shape of a turtle. I had a total Steel Magnolias moment and wondered how morbid it would be to make the cake out of red velvet to creep the kids out as Maya hacked and ate away at it. But of course, I would NEVER do such a thing! I opted for rainbow colors instead!
Being a September birthday party outdoors, of course I was worried about the heat and whether or not the buttercream would hold up. I thought about making the smash cake from marshmallow fondant but I didn't want Maya to have trouble eating it, so I decided an all-buttercream cake was the way to go! After a couple of emotional breakdowns, I'm happy to say the cake was a complete success. Maya happily ripped the leg off and nibbled away! Poor turtle didn't stand a chance.
Now, for the cupcakes. After much deliberation, we decided on the following flavors: red velvet with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with Callebaut chocolate buttercream, banana with caramel buttercream and vanilla with vanilla bean buttercream... and sprinkles!
Tips for the perfect buttercream!
A tbsp or 2 of cream goes a long way. Whip it in at the end if your buttercream is too sweet, too stiff, or you just want to make it fluffy and creamy. It will work wonders and will spread/pipe nicely.
Sift your powdered sugar! If not, it will clump up quite easily. Once you have lumps in your buttercream, you will have a very difficult time trying to get them out.
1 to 2 sticks of unsalted butter should be the norm for buttercream. I have come across some recipes which call for up to a pound (4 sticks) of butter. In my opinion, it ends up tasting like whipped butter.
Stay away from buttercream "fillers" like shortening. It will produce a heavy and greasy buttercream. Keep it simple.
If you are going to be on a time crunch, you can make your buttercream ahead of time and store it in the fridge but don't forget to rewhip it before putting it to use.
From the second I was hired for said gig, I had been texting Jen non-stop about different flavors we should go with. She had only one request: the smash cake MUST be in the shape of a turtle. I had a total Steel Magnolias moment and wondered how morbid it would be to make the cake out of red velvet to creep the kids out as Maya hacked and ate away at it. But of course, I would NEVER do such a thing! I opted for rainbow colors instead!
Being a September birthday party outdoors, of course I was worried about the heat and whether or not the buttercream would hold up. I thought about making the smash cake from marshmallow fondant but I didn't want Maya to have trouble eating it, so I decided an all-buttercream cake was the way to go! After a couple of emotional breakdowns, I'm happy to say the cake was a complete success. Maya happily ripped the leg off and nibbled away! Poor turtle didn't stand a chance.
Now, for the cupcakes. After much deliberation, we decided on the following flavors: red velvet with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with Callebaut chocolate buttercream, banana with caramel buttercream and vanilla with vanilla bean buttercream... and sprinkles!
Tips for the perfect buttercream!
A tbsp or 2 of cream goes a long way. Whip it in at the end if your buttercream is too sweet, too stiff, or you just want to make it fluffy and creamy. It will work wonders and will spread/pipe nicely.
Sift your powdered sugar! If not, it will clump up quite easily. Once you have lumps in your buttercream, you will have a very difficult time trying to get them out.
1 to 2 sticks of unsalted butter should be the norm for buttercream. I have come across some recipes which call for up to a pound (4 sticks) of butter. In my opinion, it ends up tasting like whipped butter.
Stay away from buttercream "fillers" like shortening. It will produce a heavy and greasy buttercream. Keep it simple.
If you are going to be on a time crunch, you can make your buttercream ahead of time and store it in the fridge but don't forget to rewhip it before putting it to use.
I loved the banana one!!! I loved all of them!!
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