My baby will be turning 21 this week. I wanted to make him a very special cake, but he is not exactly co-operative that way. Every year he wants the exact same cake; chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing. For a food blogger that is quite sad. How am I supposed to have new things to blog about if he requests the same cake every year?
I was dying to create a rainbow cake like this one, or this stunning jellybean cake from one of my favourite bloggers, the amazingly talented Steph at raspberricupcakes. However, I knew that if I showed up without a chocolate cake, disapointment would surely ensue. Steph’s jellybean cake got me thinking and I decided to decorate the outside of the cake in Smarties. When my son was 2 years old, I was a bit concerned that he might be colour blind. Every time I quizzed him about the colour of something was he always answered green. He said it with a little glint in his eye and then laughed, so I just wasn’t sure. His dad is colour blind, so it was a distinct possibility.
I decided to test him. I bought a box of Smarties, put a pink one in my hand and dangled it in front of him. As he went to grab it i snatched my hand back and said, “Tell mommy what colour this is and you can have it.” “Pink” he squealed. He named every colour in the box correctly. Turns out he just liked to play mind games with his mom. So in honour of his 21st birthday I made him this cake.
The cake and icing are simple to make. This is a quick chocolate cake recipe (adapted from Noreen Gilletz’s chocolate cake recipe in Pleasures of Your Food Processor) that comes together in minutes in the food processor. Vegetable oil in the batter makes it super moist. I add about a 1/4 cup of espresso to the milk because coffee and chocolate are a supreme combo. The icing is a simple buttercream made with cocoa powder, butter, icing sugar, a bit of espresso and a hit of vanilla extract. I just discovered Cacao Barry’s extra brut cocoa powder and it is deep, dark and intensely chocolatey. The vanilla extract in the photo below is homemade by my neighbour Holly. She made it using Madagascar vanilla beans steeped in bourbon. Who knew you could do that?
The most time consuming part of making this cake was sorting the Smarties by colour (I used 6 200 gram bags) and getting them on the cake in nice straight (well almost straight) lines. It’s times like this that I really miss my sister Jody and wish we still lived in the same city. Her rows would have been perfect!
I made a double recipe of the cake (each recipe makes 2 layers), and used 3 layers, since this was the perfect height to get one row of each colour of the rainbow. I froze the extra 4th layer. I also made a double recipe of the icing. The flags, stick on letters and straws were from Michaels.
Jamie was thrilled with the cake, so thrilled that he asked if I would make another one exactly like it, for when his friends come over this weekend. I told him I’d think about it!
Click here to print recipe for Jamie’s Chocolate Birthday Cake.
Wow…yum….looks beautiful….You have made me hungry at 12:25am! Happy 21st birthday to Jamie!
So beautiful and it looks delicious. The perfect combo of soft and crunch!!! I can’t believe he’s 21!!! Happy 21st Birthday Jamie!!! Xoxoxo
Thanks Faith, what a perfect description. I may have to steal it.
Jamie’s usual was pretty good, but I’m sure this will be a new favourite! Looks great Cindy!
Thanks Curtis! Hope all is well with you.
Nice cake Cind! Wishing Jamie a very HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY, he certainly had a colourful one! May all his birthday wishes come true! Crazy how fast the years have gone. Our babies are 21! Wow!
This is so, so beautiful Cindy! I’m going to make it for my daughter’s birthday who’s turning 8 next weekend. Not sure it will look so beautiful but I will try. Sending my best wishes to Jamie for a great 21st year! LM
Thanks Linda,
Making the cake is not difficult, just time consuming. For the sides of the cake I laid the Smarties flat. For the top of the cake, I angled them slightly. Take a picture of the cake and your daughter, and send it to me!
They get older but will forever be our babies! I loved your Smarties story! Smart boy, Jamie. Pretend everything is green and mom will give you candy! 🙂 One of your first posts I read was about Jamie’s 20th birthday cake and contained a retrospective of several wonderful cakes you had baked for your kids over the years. This 21st birthday celebration cake gets added to all of the other fabulous cakes you have created! Happy birthday to Jamie! (As you know,Cindy, my baby also turned 21 this year. Its a wee bit mind boggling! 🙂 )
p.s. That rainbow wedding cake you linked is beyond inspirational! I don’t know if I dare share it with my daughter who will definitely pin it to her “some day” board!
Thanks so much Wendy. Somehow I don’t quite feel old enough for my baby to be 21! It went too fast.
You aren’t old enough, Cindy. They get older (way too fast), we don’t. 🙂 …….That’s what I like to pretend, anyway. 🙂
I made a birthday cake this week, and although it was well recieved, it cannnot compare!
Thanks Rachel! Any homemade birthday cake is a thing of beauty.
Pingback: Torte di compleanno al cioccolato facili e veloci : Blogmamma.it
Pingback: Come fare un torta di compleanno al cioccolato con gli smarties | Feste e compleanni