A couple of weeks ago my dad celebrated the big 5-0. I thought of some things I could get him, but thought it would be more meaningful if we surprised him with an impromptu birthday party. I couldn't come empty handed so I thought of something as equally surprising and meaningful to bring. A homemade cake, made by yours truly, in the shape of a guitar. The longest relationship he's ever had (excluding those with his brother/sister/mom&dad of course) is with his music. And for as long as I can remember music was not music without the strumming of a guitar.
It was a Thursday and we were leaving for Bend to pick up my brother and surprise my dad on Friday night. I had a whole day to get this cake whipped up. I started with making a homemade batter... turned out to be a beyond terrible idea. So, no big deal, I just ran to the store (I literally ran, the grocery store is like 40 steps from my front door) and bought a few boxes of cake mix... A few boxes too few, actually.
Here are the templates I free handed-ly cut out to fit into the baking pans. YES, the one on the left is a turkey baking pan.... I ended up needing 6 boxes of cake and 4 icing.. tubes.. containers.. jars? .. whatever they're called. The first layer was no problem. The second layer was a s-t-r-u-g-g-l-e. It worked out that I was the only one in the house because I couldn't hold back in the outbursts of frustration that came with lining up the second layer perfectly without breakage, etc.
First Layer.
Second Layer.
I made platforms out of cardboard and covered them in foil. Mostly because I didn't have platters that proved large enough to hold the massiveness.
After a ton of patience (this is why I enjoy cooking so much more, simply because it isn't a waiting game as much as baking is) and a cooled double layer cake it was time to cut.
i. was. so. scared.
It ended up turning out ok! As luck would have it, the white chocolate chips that I added to the batter, acted as glue to firmly hold the batter together while I was cutting the guitar shape out. I just thought it would add to the flavor, whadyaknow?
Next step, icing. yikes. It didn't go well. At this point, the intent was all that mattered. I was okay with it being destroyed and ruined. It sort of turned from frustrating to a joke. Like, who on earth was I, to be attempting something like this?? really! But I thought if I heated the icing that I could just pour it over the cake instead of spreading it and getting a choppy ice job.
Just a teence better than I thought it was going to be.
Finished product.
He enjoyed it, which ultimately was the goal.
HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY, POPPA!!!
You Don't Look A Day Over 35!
It was a Thursday and we were leaving for Bend to pick up my brother and surprise my dad on Friday night. I had a whole day to get this cake whipped up. I started with making a homemade batter... turned out to be a beyond terrible idea. So, no big deal, I just ran to the store (I literally ran, the grocery store is like 40 steps from my front door) and bought a few boxes of cake mix... A few boxes too few, actually.
Here are the templates I free handed-ly cut out to fit into the baking pans. YES, the one on the left is a turkey baking pan.... I ended up needing 6 boxes of cake and 4 icing.. tubes.. containers.. jars? .. whatever they're called. The first layer was no problem. The second layer was a s-t-r-u-g-g-l-e. It worked out that I was the only one in the house because I couldn't hold back in the outbursts of frustration that came with lining up the second layer perfectly without breakage, etc.
First Layer.
Second Layer.I made platforms out of cardboard and covered them in foil. Mostly because I didn't have platters that proved large enough to hold the massiveness.
After a ton of patience (this is why I enjoy cooking so much more, simply because it isn't a waiting game as much as baking is) and a cooled double layer cake it was time to cut.
i. was. so. scared.
It ended up turning out ok! As luck would have it, the white chocolate chips that I added to the batter, acted as glue to firmly hold the batter together while I was cutting the guitar shape out. I just thought it would add to the flavor, whadyaknow?Next step, icing. yikes. It didn't go well. At this point, the intent was all that mattered. I was okay with it being destroyed and ruined. It sort of turned from frustrating to a joke. Like, who on earth was I, to be attempting something like this?? really! But I thought if I heated the icing that I could just pour it over the cake instead of spreading it and getting a choppy ice job.
Just a teence better than I thought it was going to be.
Finished product.
He enjoyed it, which ultimately was the goal.HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY, POPPA!!!
You Don't Look A Day Over 35!
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