For those who love cake...

Hello all,

Hope you've had a nice weekend. I went to another bridal shower today, which was a nice end to my relaxing but productive weekend. An example of my productivity: I finally made my cake stand! I actually bought the materials a few months ago but kept forgetting to make it. One of the things holding me back was that I knew I wanted to paint something on the plate I bought (which is plain white), so that requires more thought and work... But a couple weeks ago I went craft shopping and bought a black paint pen (best invention ever), so that got things going.

Cake Stand Tutorial

As it turns out, cake stands are really easy to make - all you need is a plate, a candlestick and some hot glue! Even better - it's cheap. I bought my plate and candlestick from a thrift store for a total of about $5, and I got my glue gun from the Dollar Store. I decided to paint a monogram on my plate (surprised much?), mostly because it's easier than trying to replicate some intricate design. I recommend it for those who aren't painters or those who want to add something but don't have a ton of time. :) And I highly recommend paint pens!

Here are some photos:

To attach the candlestick to the plate, just run a line of hot glue around the top rim of the candlestick and then flip it over and press it into the middle of your overturned plate. Hold firmly in place until attached and then, after a minute or so, flip the stand over (carefully!) so that the plate can weigh it down. I tried using super glue, but all it did was make the candlestick slide around; it never stuck. I'm no glue expert, but if it doesn't stick, it doesn't work, so I moved on. Hot glue wins yet again.

If you paint your plate, I highly recommend buying a glaze to protect the paint since cake stands are meant to be used. :) I bought Delta air-dry PermEnamel satin glaze (from Michael's). Time will tell if it's a good one or not, but if you buy it I do recommend buying a large brush to use with it because it tends to show brush strokes. It supposedly takes 10 days to dry as well, so definitely paint the glaze after attaching the candlestick to avoid messing it up. Side Note: it also smells really bad.

And now for the next cake topic - Mr. G's birthday banana cake recipe!

Banana Cake Recipe

old man ;)

For those of you who followed my previous blog, you'll remember this recipe from when I made it for Mr. G's birthday last year. However, I have added a couple ingredients, so maybe it's worth posting again. Regardless, it's a delicious cake, so that alone makes it worth the repost. So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe, mashed bananas
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup shortening or softened, melted butter
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (3 tbsp lemon juice + milk)
• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp (ish) vanilla extract - I added this and didn't measure... 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Grease 9x13 pan.
• Mash bananas while oven preheats. 
• Mix liquid ingredients. 
• Mix dry ingredients then add to liquid mixture and pour in pan.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Frosting:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbsp milk
• Pinches of cinnamon - my other addition, and it was a good one!
• Mix together and frost onto cake when cooled.
• Enjoy! This is a really good cake. :)

That's all for now. Inspired to eat some cake yet? ;) I just had some cake batter ice cream, so apparently I was... I never said this blog was for dieters.

Have a good week!

<3 Mrs. G