Cake this place up

I think birthday cakes should be homemade. Call me an old-fashioned, 1950's housewife.

For Zoe's 1st birthday, I made a vanilla cake with mango lime frosting and strawberry filling.
It was pretty delicious.

Oh, and it was in the shape of a Z.

I also made her a tiny square cake that should could touch and smash and have all to herself.

Don't let that face fool you. It was good.

That's better

I modified a cupcake recipe I found (decreased the sugar and salt) and baked it in a 8x8 pan. I cut two little squares out of one corner to make the smash cake. I didn't have a plan for the rest of the cake, but then I saw if I divided the rest into thirds, I could make a Z.

I sliced each piece horizontally so I could make it a layer cake. I wanted her smash cake to be a cube, so it was actually 3 layers in order to get the right height. I chopped up strawberries and placed strawberry and frosting in between each layer. Here are what the recipes turned out to be.



Vanilla Cake Recipe
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup cold whole milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Stir in milk. Bake about 25 minutes.

Mango Lime Buttercream

1/2  cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ataulfo mango, pureed

juice of one lime

zest of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons mild honey (I used my Aunt Tammy's tupelo)
4-5  cups powdered sugar
 

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add mango purée, lime zest and juice, and honey; mix well. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until desired spreading consistency.

(I did 3 cups and then frosted the baby's cake even though it was not a great consistency, just to have a little less sugar. Then I added another cup to get a better frosting consistency for the rest).