Homemade Birthday Cakes

If you ask anyone to name the one thing that is synonymous with birthdays, the answer will be, without a doubt, cakes. A birthday party without a cake is unimaginable. So, baking a cake for your child's birthday party is an obvious thing to do. To bake a cake you don't have to be an ace. Homemade birthday cakes are very easy to make. It is the decorating part that requires a little imagination and effort. Baking a cake at home is a great idea for saving a few bucks too.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• Boiling water, 1 cup
• Vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons
• Vegetable oil, ½ cup
• Milk, 1 cup
• Eggs, 2
• Salt, 1 teaspoon
• Baking soda, 1½ teaspoons
• Baking powder, 1½ teaspoons
• Hershey's cocoa, ¾ cup
• All-purpose flour, 1¾ cups
• Sugar, 2 cups

Method

• Heat the oven to 350°F.
• Grease the baking dish or pan with oil and flour, lightly.
• In a large bowl mix sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whip all these ingredients.
• Now add the eggs, milk and vanilla to the same mixture and beat it for around 2 minutes. Add some boiling water and whip it well.
• Pour the batter in the greased pans and let it bake for 30 - 40 minutes. You will know the cake is baked by poking it with a knife. If the knife comes out clean, it's baked.

For the Icing

Ingredients

• Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
• Evaporated milk, 5 tablespoons
• Butter, 6 tablespoons
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, 6 tablespoons
• Confectioners' sugar, 2¾ cups

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat them until the sugar dissolves completely. All the ingredients must blend well. Adjust the consistency by adding more milk or sugar. Once the cake cools spread this icing on the top of the cake with a spatula.

Heart-shaped Cake

Ingredients

• Red or pink candies
• Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
• Powdered sugar, 3½ cups
• Butter, softened, 1 cup
• Frozen thawed strawberries, sliced and drained, 16 ounce package
• Strawberry-flavored jell-O, 3 ounce box
• White cake mix, 18¼ ounce box
• Eggs, 2
• Water, 1 cup
• Butter, 1 tablespoon

Method

• Heat the oven to 350°F.
• Grease the baking dish or pan with oil and flour, lightly.
• In a large bowl mix all the ingredients and whip them well.
• Pour in half the strawberries in the mixture.
• Once again whip the mixture so that the strawberries are crushed.
• Pour the batter in the baking pans and let it bake for about 30 - 40 minutes.
• You will know the cake is baked by poking it with a knife. If the knife comes out clean, it's baked.

Make the frosting as mentioned earlier. Spread it on the cake once it cools down. Decorate the cake with pink candies.

Now that you have an idea about how the cake is to be baked, you can experiment with flavors. With practice I am sure you will be able to bake the perfect birthday cake. Have fun!