Pink Almond Party Cake Food

PINK ALMOND PARTY CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom and sides of two 9- or 8-inch round cake pans with baking spray with flour. In large bowl, beat cake ingredients on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans.
• Bake and cool as directed on box for 9- or 8-inch rounds.
• Meanwhile, in small microwavable bowl, microwave candy coating uncovered on High 1 minute, stirring twice, until melted and smooth. Stir in 2 teaspoons oil. Spoon about half the melted coating into another bowl; stir in 2 or 3 drops food color to tint light pink.
• Line 6-oz custard cup or other small bowl with foil. Pour half of the untinted coating into foil-lined bowl. Drop half of the pink coating on top; pull a knife through coatings to make marbled design. Repeat with remaining untinted and tinted coatings, adding on top of marbled coatings. Refrigerate about 20 minutes or until set; remove from refrigerator. (If refrigerated longer, let stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften.)
• In large bowl, beat butter, shortening, 1 teaspoon almond extract, the powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons of the milk with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Beat on medium speed, adding enough of the remaining 1 tablespoon milk until fluffy and spreadable.
• Place 1 cake layer, rounded side down, on serving plate; frost top. Top with second layer, rounded side up. Frost side and top of cake.
• Remove coating from bowl; peel off foil. With vegetable peeler, make curls by pulling peeler around outside edge of block of coating. Place curls on top of cake. Store loosely covered.

PINK LEMONADE CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
• Add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed to combine.
• Next, slowly add in the butter slices and allow to mix until the flour resembles coarse crumbs.
• While the butter mixes, in a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, pink lemonade, milk, lemon extract and vanilla extract.
• With the mixer still on low speed, add the egg mixture in three batches, allowing the liquid to combine into the dry ingredients until fully incorporated. If desired, stir in a few drops of pink or red food coloring to create a light pink color.
• Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack until room temperature. While cooling, prepare the frosting.
• For the frosting: Combine the butter and salt in the stand mixer on low speed. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar in small amounts until all is added, and then turn the speed to medium-high to combine. Add the pink lemonade concentrate and lemon extract and mix until fluffy. Add in the food coloring at this point if desired.
• Once the cake is fully cooled, ice with the frosting and decorate with lemon slices and straws, if desired.

PINK ALMOND PARTY CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom and sides of 2 (9- or 8-inch) round cake pans with baking spray with flour. In large bowl, beat cake ingredients, including 2 teaspoons almond extract and 6 drops food color, as directed on box. Pour into pans.
• Bake as directed on box for 9- or 8-inch rounds pans or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, in small microwavable bowl, microwave candy coating uncovered on High 1 minute, stirring twice, until melted and smooth. Stir in 2 teaspoons oil. Spoon about half the melted coating into another bowl; stir in 2 or 3 drops food color to tint it light pink.
• Line 6-ounce custard cup or other small bowl with foil. Pour half of the untinted coating into foil-lined bowl. Drop half of the pink coating on top; pull a knife through coatings to make marbled design. Repeat with remaining untinted and tinted coatings, adding on top of marbled coatings. Refrigerate about 20 minutes or until set; remove from refrigerator. (If refrigerated longer, let stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften.).
• In large bowl, beat butter, shortening, 1 teaspoon almond extract, the powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons of the milk with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Beat on medium speed, adding enough of the remaining 1 tablespoon milk until fluffy and spreadable.
• Place 1 cake layer, rounded side down, on serving plate; frost top. Top with second layer, rounded side up. Frost side and top of cake.
• Remove coating from bowl; peel off foil. With vegetable peeler, make urls by pulling peeler around the outside edge of block of coating. Place curls on top of cake.

THE PINK CAKE

Steps:

• Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Put the unsweetened chocolate and the cocoa into a small bowl. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and allow it to steep for 1 minute. Whisk the mixture together. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla. Set aside.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then whisk the mixture by hand to ensure that the ingredients are well mixed.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. As you make the batter, stop the mixer frequently and scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed, drizzle the oil into the mixture until blended. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the batter is fluffy, about 3 more minutes. Blend in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the chocolate mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure you do not overbeat the batter.
• Divide the thick batter equally among the prepared pans (there will be approximately 1 pound 2 ounces per pan). Smooth the tops and tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter and eliminate any large air bubbles. Bake in the middle of the oven until the centers spring back when lightly touched, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Flip the cakes out of the pans, leaving on the parchment paper until you assemble the cake. Let them continue to cool on the rack, top sides up, until they reach room temperature.
• To assemble the cake, lay one of the cakes top side up on a cake plate. Using a metal spatula, frost the top with 3/4 cup of buttercream, spreading it out to the edge of the cake (the filling will be about 1/4 inch thick). Stack the second cake top side up on top of the frosted cake and spread another 3/4 cup of buttercream on top of it. Stack the last layer of cake top side up on top. Look for any frosting that may have oozed out beween the layers and spread it along the sides of the cake. Apply a thin layer of frosting all over the cake to create a "crumb coat." Place the cake in the refrigerator until the frosting is firm, about 10 minutes. Take it out and frost the cake with the remaining buttercream, using your spatula to make decorative swirls.
• Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.