The finished cake 
Just four ingredients
The first cake layer sitting on the pieces of parchment paper. 
The iced cake before the pieces of parchment paper were pulled out. 
All that was left that night - not much!Keith’s birthday was a few days ago and I made a butter cake from a box mix. My preferred brand is Duncan Hines and they also make really good brownie mixes.
Yes you could make a cake from scratch but why bother when there are delicious box mixes which are so easy to make. The frostings however, I made from scratch: cream cheese frosting for the middle and a plain buttercream to ice the whole cake. The end result was that the two of us plus the four friends who were at dinner almost polished off the whole cake! Everyone had at least two slices and one of our friends actually had seven slices, albeit some of the slices were really thin. I think he would have liked to finish it off but maybe out of politeness though it better to leave at least a little something on the cake stand! Both frostings were delicious, but I think the next time I would just make it all cream cheese frosting.
In one of the pictures you see how I kept the cake plate frosting free. I saw this on TV when the 'Barefoot Contessa' Ina Garten was frosting a coffee cake she was making for a friend (she always seems to be cooking for her friends on that show!) Cut parchment paper into about six strips of approximately 3" x 6" and place under the cake. Ice the cake and then when done, carefully remove the pieces of paper leaving a clean cake plate.
So here’s the recipe for cream cheese frosting which would be excellent on carrot cake or on cupcakes. The amount to ice a round 9 inch cake is given and then in parenthesis [] is the amount if you are making just enough as filling.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
For one 9” round cake
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened [4 ounces]
½ cup butter, softened [2 ounces]
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar [1/2 cup]
1 tsp vanilla extract [1/4 tsp]
4 tbsp milk [1 tbsp]
Yes you could make a cake from scratch but why bother when there are delicious box mixes which are so easy to make. The frostings however, I made from scratch: cream cheese frosting for the middle and a plain buttercream to ice the whole cake. The end result was that the two of us plus the four friends who were at dinner almost polished off the whole cake! Everyone had at least two slices and one of our friends actually had seven slices, albeit some of the slices were really thin. I think he would have liked to finish it off but maybe out of politeness though it better to leave at least a little something on the cake stand! Both frostings were delicious, but I think the next time I would just make it all cream cheese frosting.
In one of the pictures you see how I kept the cake plate frosting free. I saw this on TV when the 'Barefoot Contessa' Ina Garten was frosting a coffee cake she was making for a friend (she always seems to be cooking for her friends on that show!) Cut parchment paper into about six strips of approximately 3" x 6" and place under the cake. Ice the cake and then when done, carefully remove the pieces of paper leaving a clean cake plate.
So here’s the recipe for cream cheese frosting which would be excellent on carrot cake or on cupcakes. The amount to ice a round 9 inch cake is given and then in parenthesis [] is the amount if you are making just enough as filling.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
For one 9” round cake
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened [4 ounces]
½ cup butter, softened [2 ounces]
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar [1/2 cup]
1 tsp vanilla extract [1/4 tsp]
4 tbsp milk [1 tbsp]
- In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Mix in the milk until desired consistency is reached.
The cake looks really good! And that ? candle is a good idea. Will need to use one like it on my next birthday...
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