Cake Madness - Day 22

Cake of the Day: Thin Mint Cake

It was another early morning for me again. I knew I wouldn’t have enough time tonight to make the cake (it’s Ash Wednesday so there is church and then choir practice after church), so I got up early and made it before going to work to allow myself plenty of time after work to decorate it. And plenty of time I would need . . .I may have been too ambitious again.

When I first saw this recipe (Thin Mint Cake) I was interested because I really like Thin Mint cookies, but then I read the ingredients and became very intrigued: olive oil, banana, and cinnamon??? Really? I decided to try it and find out. Making the cake was relatively easy and I discovered a new trick to help keep my beater from squeaking against the sides of the bowl so badly . . .use the butter wrapper to wipe the spatula blade parts before starting to mix. (I have this Beater Blade attachment for my KitchenAid mixer and use it almost exclusively as I despise having to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl after every ingredient addition.) It doesn’t completely eliminate the squeaking, but it helps a bit, and any little bit helps when you have neighbors and you are making a cake at 6 am. 

Another thing I noticed this morning . . .I need to buy stock in dairy farms. I have gone through so much butter, heavy cream, and eggs this month, it’s crazy. (I know eggs aren’t dairy, but they still come from a farm, so you know what I mean.) Anyways, the cake went together easily, and when I got home I made the frosting and filling (I used the buttercream recipe from Just A Cake), frosted the cake, and set about on my decorations.

I didn't like the Daisy design the original recipe used, so I decided I should do something else. I wanted to try making the “pretty wedding cake squiggles” that I had in my head, but had no idea how to go about doing that. I did a little research online and eventually discovered it was called scrollwork. There were multiple ways of transferring patterns to the cakes and even some presses to help make lines to follow. I decided to stop by a few craft stores on the way home and found these (Wilton Presses) that I used as a pattern for some of them. I also found a few more patterns to copy here: Wilton Scrolls that I just practiced and then freehanded onto the cake. I used these fancy Pampered Chef squeeze bottles my mom gave me: Pampered Chef Squeeze Bottles and practiced a bit on a plate before starting on my cake. I just warmed a little chocolate frosting in the microwave and used that . . .it worked great. 

My concentration face . . .yes the clock does say 11:11 pm

Behold my masterpiece: 

It was so pretty, I couldn't bring myself to cut it. I made the cake sponsor (you may know her as the Ganache Queen) cut it . . .she did a great job. I thought the cinnamon flavor in the cake was a bit too strong, and it didn't taste as much like a Thin Mint as I would have liked, but it was still good. Here are the comments received today:

• Excellent - Very impressive decorating too. 
• Really yummy. Great chocolate and mint flavor. Plus it looked beautiful!
• I have seen curtains (technically, the reviewer wrote "curtins") that look like this cake. Guess who?
• From cupcakes with Thin Mints to a cake that is the personification of them. Magnificent. Delicious. Minty flavor very good - did you use Creme de Menthe? (Nope, peppermint extract)
• You are an awesome baker!
• Very beautiful decor. Great job.

I think this is the prettiest cake I've ever made, I'm proud of it :)