~Happy Birthday to my dear sister, Mihae!
(We had no idea what this strange pose was...)
A while back, Mihae and I had a sleepover at her house in Brooklyn and learned that one of her favorite flowers were daffodils. When I moved into my new house, she gave me a framed picture of a daffodil! So for her birthday, I created a cake and the perfect thing to put on the cake was... daffodils of course! Daffodils are a flower symbolizing friendship and if you need a good way to remember these cheery flowers, tap into your imagination and imagine a little teacup in the middle of a saucer like this:
So as I was making the cake this time, I tried to make a denser cake since the cake usually crumbles a little when applying the first layer of frosting. The below recipe is pretty much what I used aside from a "secret" alteration that my husband taught me. This really worked well. I had fewer crumbs get into the initial layer of icing.
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How to Make a Box Cake Denser
Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly coat the bottom of the cake pan with oil.
Combine cake mix and instant pudding mix in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup water, 1/3 cup oil, and 4 eggs into mixture. Most box cake recipes call for 1/2 or 1/3 cup oil, so the amount of oil is slightly less or around the same. But the amount of water is greatly reduced in this recipe. Most box cake recipes instruct you to use 1 and 1/4 cups of water, and this recipe calls only for 1/2 cup. Whole milk is a recommended substitute for water because it has a thickening effect, but water will still work. The pudding mix and extra egg also produce firmer results.
Blend all ingredients together in the bowl, using either a stirring utensil or a mixer. It will be thicker than most box cake mixes.
Pour the mixture into your greased or floured pan.
Bake. Check on the cake periodically after 25 minutes of bake time. Use a toothpick or fork to poke the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready to come out of the oven. If not, let it continue to bake and keep checking on it.
When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven, let it cool, and decorate with icing
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Once I baked the cake, and after some practice with my new decorating tips , this is what Mihae's Birthday Daffodil Cake came out like:
Strawberry cake inside.
And to bring the cake to life, the e in "Mihae" was turned into a little lady bug! Afterwards, Mihae told me that she actually had a lot of lady bugs by her new place so when the cake was cut she got the slice with the lady bug. Hopefully, she will not mistake those lady bugs around her house for the sugar lady bug after this cake!
Ladybugs are supposed to be a sign of goodluck so goodluck to you during 28, Mihae!
Here is a poem for you that reminds me of you, particularly the last line since you like to sleep (with a soft towel).
One little Ladybug
With spots on its wings
Landed right beside me
As I played on the swings
Two little Ladybugs
Flew around a flower
Then crawled beneath a leaf
To nap for half an hour!
Y
