Candy Cane Cake

Candy Cane Cake

As a child I used to love eating candy canes. I loved the peppermint flavor. However, as I got older, I didn't like it as much. I wasn't too convinced about this Candy Cane Cake recipe, but the minute I thought about pairing it up with homemade cream cheese frosting I thought... of course it'll be AWESOME!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Every year since my husband and I were married my mom and I would swap Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas dinner. This year my husband and I are hosting the Christmas Eve dinner. What's for dinner?

New England Clam Chowder (recipe courtesy of my dear friend Jen)

some brothy soup (my husband probably doesn't know which one he'll be making yet)

fresh dinner rolls

Candy Cane Cake

I decided to share the Candy Cane recipe on my blog, since it's Christmas (time for sharing) and I absolutely LOVED the cream cheese frosting.

Oh, by the way... as much as I LOVE "Nothing Bundt Cake," I couldn't bring myself to spending almost $40 for a cake. My husband probably would've frieked.

Candy Cane Bundt Cake

from Betty Crocker

Cake Ingredients

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix

ingredients for box recipe

1/2 teaspoon red food color

1/2 teaspoon pepppermint extract

Frosting Ingredients

1/2 cup of butter at room temperature

8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature

3 cups of powder sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Decoration Ingredients

crushed candy canes or peppermint red swirl candies

Cake Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Using shortening, grease the fluted tube cake pan really well. I used a silicone brush to get into all the crevices really well, and it saved me from a lot of mess. Dust the entire pan with flour and shake off the excess.

Make the cake batter according to the directions on the cake box.

Pour 2 cups of the batter into the pan.

Take about 3/4 cup of the remaining batter and add the peppermint extract and red food coloring to it. Mix well.

You'll have a pink batter!

Pour the pink batter carefully on top of the white batter in the pan.

Pour the remaining white batter on top of the pink batter and bake according to the box. Mine baked for 42 minutes. Check with a toothpick!

While it bakes, crush up some candy canes and/or peppermint swirly candy. You could crush them by hand or by food processor.

I would probably crush it by hand next time. It was uneven.

Let your bundt cake cool for 10 minutes and then transfer it to a cooling rack. Let it fully cool for about an hour before you frost it. I love my cooling racks! It was an early Christmas present from my best friend, Meredith!

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and powder sugar and mix well. I piped it onto the bundt cake by using a Ziploc bag. I started piping from the bottom up. It was pure luck that I started that way. I guess watching all those cake challenge shows on the Food Network paid off!

Lastly, sprinkle your crushed up candies on top, and you have yourself a Candy Cane Cake!

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year!

Come back soon! I'll be posting what the inside of the cake looks like!

Tip Junkie Swap Projects

I had so much fun shopping for and making stuff for my Tip Junkie SWAP partner.

Album Explosion Box, Cupcake cards, birthday and cupcake stickers, and star-shaped sprinkles

I made a couple of things for her as well as shopped for some fun stuff. My partner loves cupcakes. How could I resist a cupcake theme for this swap?

I made her these cupcake cards.

How I Made the Cupcake Cards
(I'm really sorry about the pictures. The flash was too much!)

1. 
   
   First, I folded (3) pieces of 8.5" x 11" pink card stock in half "hamburger style." That's the portrait way if you don't know "teacher to kid talk." haha.
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Next, I drew the cupcake on white card stock and cut out the "frosting" and the "cupcake liner" separately.
   
   
   
3. 
   
   I glued the "frosting" part onto pretty scrapbooking paper to make it look like it had sprinkles and added a cute brad on the top.
   
   
   
4. 
   
   I used a scallop pair of Fiskars scissors to give the edges of the pink cards a more interesting look.
   
   
   
5. 
   
   I stuck 4 foam sticky mounts onto the back of the "frosting" and stuck it onto the front of the pink card and glued the "cupcake liner" to the bottom of it.
   
   
   
6. 
   
   You're done! I made 3 cards and included envelopes.
   
   
   

I also made her an Album Explosion Box.

How I Made it

I must give credit to Chiaki Haverstick. She's a crafting expert whose website was given to me by my friend Meredith. Here is the link to the tutorial. I think she does a great job explaining how I made mine. I've made several of these for family and friends for Christmas. They're great for birthdays, highlighting vacations, and even as a "brag" gift for grandparents.

I made Racquel's explosion box with the cupcake theme in mind.

I hope she enjoys all of her stuff.

This Blogger is VERY Sorry and Promises to...

What have I been up to?

Well... Thanksgiving, sewing, and crafting, of course!

I apologize with all of my heart to my followers that I have been absent.

I'm back, and I've got some super fun tutorials for you!

Since I missed the December giveaway, I'll be giving away a very fabulous piece of jewelry in January.

That's right!

A piece of jewelry!

With sparkle!

So stay tuned!

Meanwhile... everything is as scheduled.

Thanks!