Pom Pom Cake Toppers

Hello friends! Yesterday was my birthday and I wasn't really planning to have an extravagant celebration because it was also Good Friday. But I still asked my sister to bake a cake for me so I can at least blow my birthday cake on my birthday. Hehe.

And of course, my birthday cake has to have some personal touch which is why I made these yarn pom pom cake toppers.

For the cake, we just made it with regular vanilla batter with buttercream frosting. While that one's chilling in the fridge, we made the pom poms.

You can actually make yarn pom poms with a fork. If you want to learn how to make them, click here. There are tons of tutorials that you will find on Pinterest. It's very easy!

And then, you can stick your pom poms on wooden skewers with hot glue. But in my case, our bamboo skewers were too thin so I decided to use plastic drinking straws instead.

And here's a bouquet of pom poms for you! Cut the tip of the straw diagonally so you can easily insert them on the cake. Paper straws will also work if you have the thick and sturdy ones.

Take the cake out of your fridge and decorate it with your awesome pom poms! 

Your regular white frosted cake just got colorful. I like how white the birthday cake is. It's like a blank canvas. And then the cake topper is the subject of the painting. Haha.

Let me know what you guys think of this tutorial. :) Spruce up your plain birthday cake with easy DIY pom pom cake toppers.

Orange Madeira Cake

Today I decided to bake a cake and I tried the recipe of orange madeira cake from Frankie Magazine. The recipe is posted below.

Ingredients:

Cake:

- 4 eggs

- 1 1/4 cups sugar

- juice and grated rind of one orange

- 1 1/2 cups flour

- 3 tbsp milk

- 125 g butter, melted

- 2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line the base of a round 23 cm cake tin and grease the sides.

Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick (about five minutes), then add orange juice and zest, flour, milk and melted butter. Beat again for a couple of minutes. You need to get air into the mixture.

Add the baking powder and beat again for a minute.

Pour into the tin and bake for about 45-60 minutes, until a skewer plunged into the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then carefully turn out the tin and leave to cool completely on a rack. When the cake is cold, ice it with orange butter icing. Store in an airtight container in a cool place.

Frosting:

- 100 g soft butter

- 2 cups icing sugar, sifted

- 2-3 tbsp orange juice

- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

- 2 tbsp orange zest (optional)

Beat the butter until soft and creamy, then beat the sifted icing sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the orange juice and vanilla and beat again. The mixture should be a soft, spreadable consistency. Add a little more icing sugar if it's too runny. 

Dollop over the top of the cold cake and swirl it in pretty patterns with a knife. Sprinkle the top with orange zest if desired.

I used coconut sugar as substitute for confectioners/icing sugar that's why it looks darker. And to make the icing a little more zesty, I used lemon juice instead of orange juice.

If you're not a fan of icing, then you can just sprinkle confectioners sugar on top of the cake and it will still taste good.

The cake actually turned out great. My family likes it. I love it since lately I'm into citrusy flavors and scents. Hope you try them and let me know how it turns out!

Trying out Recipes for Microwavable Mug Cakes

Whoever created the concept of baking a single serving cake in the microwave is a genius. It's like you are just 5 minutes away from devouring a cake you prepared yourself. 

The first time I tried this was when I was still in the university and I was fascinated by the idea. Now I can't believe I can also make different kinds of cakes in the microwave thanks to the creative people who post recipes in the internet!

I found three different recipes and tried them all. Unfortunately while I was preparing the ingredients, I found out that our microwave is not working. It's okay to bake these in the oven at 375 F for 20-25 minutes.

And I was feeling fancy, so I used ramekins instead of mugs. 

Here are the recipe for Lemon Mug Cake, Chocolate Mug Cake, and Carrot Mug Cake:

Lemon Mug Cake

Source: be-it-ever-so-humble.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp softened butter
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp lemon extract
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp flour

Directions:
1. Cream together butter, sugar, lemon extract, vanilla, salt with a fork in a large mug.
2. Add baking powder, egg, lemon juice and mix well.
3. Add flour. Mix well.
4. Microwave for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.

I substituted lemon with calamansi, and sprinkled dayap zest and powdered sugar after baking.

I thought this cake was too... spongey or eggy? The egg flavor is overpowering the citrus flavor. 

Not my favorite cake among the three, or maybe I was expecting the cake to taste like my sister's lemon crinkles. Haha.

Chocolate Mug Cake

Source: Unknown. It's been all over the internet since 2008 or earlier, I don't know who started this recipe.

Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp cocoa powder

- 4 tbsp sugar

- 4 tbsp flour

- 1 egg

- 3 tbsp milk

- 3 tbsp oil

- splash of vanilla

Directions:

1. Place all dry ingredients in the mug and mix

2. Add the egg and mix

3. Add the vanilla essence and mix

4. Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes.

This was the first ever microwave recipe that I tried. It's better than the lemon mug cake, but still meh. I should have added more cocoa powder or melted dark chocolate to make it rich.

Carrot Mug Cake

Source: spicytreats.net

Ingredients:

- 6 tbsp flour

- 2 tbsp brown sugar

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/8 tsp cinnamon

- 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder

- 6 tbsp buttermilk

- 2 tbsp vegetable oil

- 1/4 tsp vanilla

- 3 tbsp finely grated carrot

- 1 tbsp chopped almonds

- 1 tbsp raisins

Directions:

1. Add sifted flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mix well with a fork.

2. Add buttermilk, oil, vanilla, grated carrot, mix well.

3. Add chopped almonds and raisins. Mix well

4. Microwave for 2-2 1/2 minutes.

This is my favorite among the three. And I think the big difference is that this recipe has no eggs in it. It's soft, quite moist, and not too sweet. I like it!

Since I baked them in the oven, I don't really know the difference in flavor if you cook them in the microwave. 

I'd like to try more recipes for mug cakes like red velvet, or black forest perhaps?