My 30th birthday was memorable, but not for
the usual reasons that most people might think of. My second niece had just been born 3 days
before, so with my sister still in the hospital, there was no party, no
bar-hopping downtown, no night out with friends. Instead we had dessert and a few presents
with our parents and her in-laws, all crowded into her hospital room. The focus was kind of on the baby, though,
which was okay. A new life is more
important than my 30 years. But It
didn’t really feel like my birthday, and I definitely didn’t feel 30.
The very next year I met Jamie, and lucky for me, he
likes to celebrate birthdays as much as I do, and always comes up with weekend
adventures to mark the occasion, like wine tasting in the vineyards in
southwest Colorado. Since birthdays are
usually a bigger deal for kids, it’s nice to still get a special day every year
as an adult.
This week, a friend turned 30, so to celebrate, a group
of us all went to see Jon Lovitz at Comedy Works in Denver, followed by a party
in the lounge next door. Her husband
commissioned me to make her birthday cake, asking only if I could do something
with Starbursts and Skittles – her favorite candy.
At first I had no idea what I was going to do, but then
thought that a few square cakes, stacked and frosted different candy colors,
would resemble giant Starbursts. To
actually incorporate the flavor of the candy into the cake, I melted some of
the candy with water, then boiled it down into a syrup. After cooling and straining the syrup (there
is fat in the candy which will float to the top and solidify after boiling and
cooling it), I added the syrup to the frosting for color and flavor.
For more color, I dyed the cake batter 6 different colors
for a tie-dye effect; this technique is all over the internet, so I can’t take
credit for this idea. In retrospect, I
would have used a darker color than yellow for the middle color, since when you
cut it, the middle will be the most prevalent color, with all the other colors
showing as stripes around the edges. The only photo I was able to get of the cake after it was cut was in the bar, and it wasn't a great photo, but you get the idea!
And other than a crazy lady in the bar who thought that
that my offer of Would you like some
cake? meant Go away because I think you’re trying to steal my boyfriend,
and a guy obsessed with my expandable/collapsible cake carrier (I eventually
had to tell him it wasn’t a toy and take it away from him after he opened and
closed it at least 15 times), it was a really fun night.
Happy 30th Birthday, Tani!
Tie-Dye Starburst Skittle Birthday Cake
printable recipe
- Assorted Starbursts and Skittles
- 3 square cake pans for the cake as pictured here, one 9-inch pan, one 6-inch pan and one 4-inch pan – NOTE: You will probably not be able to use all the batter between these 3 pans, so have another extra pan handy to bake the rest of the cake batter for either a spare cake for yourself, or to crumble and make cake truffles. And if you don’t have the right sized pans, just bake the cakes in the pans you have and cut the cakes to the right proportions, keeping in mind, though, that a cut edge is more difficult to frost since it’s more crumbly.
- 2 white cake mixes, plus oil, eggs and water (I use whole milk, though, instead of water, or sour cream, and add vanilla extract) called for on the box
- Gel Food Coloring
- 6 cups Vanilla Buttercream
Starburst
Frosting:
If you want to incorporate the candy into the frosting
like I did, then you’ll need to do this step a day in advance. Separate all the candy by color/flavor. You’ll need to select 3 different colors
(about 20 pieces of each color) to make your syrup. Unwrap the candy and place each color in a
separate saucepan. Add water so the
candy is covered by about an inch of water.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, then boil over medium low, stirring
occasionally, until syrupy and reduced, about 30 minutes. Pour into heat-proof containers and cool on
the kitchen counter overnight.
The next morning, you should see a layer of fat on top of
the surface that separates from the syrup as it cools. Scrape the fat solids off, and pour the syrup
through a fine mesh strainer to remove the rest of the solids. The syrups are now ready to use.
For this cake, I made about 6 cups of vanilla
buttercream, and whipped in the syrup in place of the milk. I was able to add a lot of syrup, but just
start with a little and keep adding it to achieve the flavor and color you
want. If you like, you can enhance the
color with some more food coloring as well, if it’s not dark enough. Plan on making about 3 cups of 1 color for
the bottom layer, 2 cups of a second color for the middle layer and 1 cup of
the 3rd color for the top layer.
If you don’t want to make the Starburst syrup, then you
can make other flavors like Lemon, Lime and Raspberry, using the tips in my Buttercream
post.
Tie-Dye Cake:
Making a tie-dye cake is really simple, and it’s an idea
that’s been around for a while. First,
mix up your cake batter according to the instructions on the box. I like to substitute milk or sour cream, and
add vanilla, which greatly improves the flavor of boxed mixes. Divide the batter between 6 bowls.
Tint each bowl of batter with a different color of food
coloring. Take one bowl of batter and
spoon it into the center of the pans.
Take the second color and spoon it directly on top of the first; the
batter you add on top will spread out the batter underneath, so there’s no need
for you to try to spread it out.
Continue with all the colors, noting that the last color you add in the
middle will be the most prevalent.
Bake the cakes and cool completely.
Assembly:
Level the cakes with a sharp knife or leveler. Place the 9-inch cake on a 12-inch cake
board. Frost all over with one color of
buttercream. Place the 6-inch cake on
top, at a diagonal. Frost with the 2nd
color of buttercream, being careful not to mix with the color on the bottom
layer. Repeat with the 4-inch cake on
top.
Use any extra buttercream to pipe decorative edges on the
cakes, then decorate with candy.
Yields 25-30 servings.
Recipe and Design
from Curly Girl Kitchen
