Thursday,05th March 2009

Happy Birthday, Darling!

Yesterday the most important day of the year took place. It was the 6th birthday of our little lady. Naturally, she invited all her friends for this “very important event” and she had been so excited for weeks that she could not even sleep. And suddenly I had the similar problem, I could not sleep either. Every night she woke me up telling me enthusiastically that she was so much excited as her birthday was coming soon.
One day when she continued this strange behaviour I told her: “Look girl, if you do not stop waking me up every night I will be too tired to arrange the birthday party of yours at all” .
The next night passed by without any interruption. I was really lucky as I thought she had understood. But the night after, approximately at 3.20 hours she called me again telling me whiningly that she had an awful nightmare. As I tried to sooth her she whispered suddenly: “Oh, Mama, and I am so excited as my birthday is coming so soon!”

And the day came. Yesterday the big party started. A lots of little girls and boys showed up to celebrate with her. It was really obvious how she enjoyed to be in the centre of her small world.
For this party she requested me to bake for her a marzipan cake and “something with vanilla”.

I kept it not so simple. The cake was a marvellous creation made out of chocolate and marzipan, well decorated with beautiful tiny marzipan roses and the “something with vanilla” were mellow vanilla muffins with coloured icing.

Marzipan covered Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200° C.
2. Seperate eggs and beat eggwhites until stiff. Add vanilla sugar and beat again.
3. Melt butter and chocolate in a pot (low heat).
4. Beat egg yolks and sugar until fluffy.
5. Add chocolatebutter, flour and almonds/hazelnuts.
6. Fold in egg whites.
7. Grease baking pan (ø 26 cm).
8. Bake cake for 20 min. Cake has a melted core!
9. Dye 200 g marzipan with red food colouring an knead it.
10. Put some flour on the worktop and roll out marzipan.
11. Cut out a circle and lay the marzipan over the cake
12. Mix icing sugar and lemon juice. Then fix marzipan roses and leaves on the cake.
13. Instaed of using marzipan you can ice the cake with Baileys oder Advocaat icing
    (mix icing powder with Baileys or Advocaat). Or just sprinkle cake with icing powder.

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Vanilla Muffins with Coloured Icing

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175° C and grease  muffin tins.
2. Seperate eggs and beat eggwhites and salt until stiff.
3. Beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar until fluffy.
4. Add butter and beat another two minutes.
5. Add sour cream and vanilla flavouring and stir it.
6. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, custard powder and cornflour and fold it into the cream.
7. Then spoon mixture into muffin tins and bake for 25 min.
8. Icing: Mix icing sugar and lemon juice. Then add food colouring and stir it. Then add food colouring and stir it. Please note: it has to be a semifluid, because the icing has to cover the muffin.
9. If you like Muffins in different colours, you have to portion it an add different food colouring in each portion.
10. Then sprinkle icing with chocolate beans.