What could make two little princesses smile this big? Why a birthday party for fellow princess, Ariel! The Tiny Teen woke up yesterday and informed us that it was Ariel's birthday. Apparently, Ariel just woke up and told her. Therefore, the Tiny Teen declared a birthday party for Ariel must occur.
Lucky for the Tiny Teen, I was already planning on making a cake for dessert after dinner, so the unexpected arrival of Ariel's birthday couldn't have come at a better time.
Two weeks ago, I saw Trisha Yearwood on TV talking about her Key Lime Cake. It looked wonderfully appetizing. Since I'm a Florida girl at heart, I love everything made with key limes, so this project caught my eye and became my obsession.
Preparing the cake batter was simple. I suggest measuring everything out first, because this cake does require lime gelatin. The gelatin causes the batter to "set" a bit, so tossing all of the ingredients in rather quickly isn't a bad idea.
The recipe involves making the cake in either a 9 x 13 pan or in 3 round cake pans. I love a round cake, so that's what I chose. Below are images of my 3 cakes after they were baked. As you can see, only cake number 3 came out perfect.
I buttered and floured each pan, per the directions, however my gut kept whispering "parchment paper." Always listen to your gut. I think parchment paper would have helped my situation tremendously.
When the cake comes out of the oven, you then make a lime glaze to pour over the cake. I truly thought that this would be the thing that would send this cake from good to great. However, if I were to make it again, I personally would eliminate the glaze, or at least cut the amount of sugar in half. It was far too sugary for me. So sugary in fact, that I wanted to write an apology letter to my dentist for all of the damage that I quite possibly did.
After the cake has cooled completely, you make a yummy cream cheese frosting. Then you frost the layers and the entire cake.
Since my 3 layers were rather destroyed upon removal from the pan, frosting them was tricky. I tried, but then quickly gave up. Yes, it's quite possible that I made this cake look sad and pathetic.
Lastly, I gave the cake a good sprinkling of sprinkles! I'm sure Trisha never intended for this cake to be covered in sprinkles, but it's what Ariel and her best pals wanted. You understand.
Finally, the streamers were hung and the napkins were handed out (also lucky for the Tiny Teen, that I had left over princess napkins in my "party" drawer).
I got two candles out, one for each of my princesses to blowout.
As you can see, this cake yielded a very happy Tiny Teen and Ariel! I think the Tiny Teen was 2 parts happy. One, that she actually got us to go along with this "Ariel's Birthday" idea, and two, that I made a cake. A cake that I told her was green to match Ariel's tail.
Finally, with the song "Under the Sea" rocking in the background, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Ariel. Then the girls blew out the candles. A small bit of extra work to bring BIG smiles to 2 very sweet princesses.
If you're interested in trying Trisha's Key Lime Cake, follow the link below. It got rave reviews, but I didn't LOVE it like I thought I would. I would make it again, but with the follow changes:
- I would make the batter into cupcakes.
- I would eliminate the lime glaze all together.
The cake itself was indeed delicious! I think this has the potential to become a summer staple in our home. I just need to try the above changes. If any of you make this recipe, please come back and share! I'd love to hear how it turns out for you!!
Rach & Me
2 comments:
I saw the same interview and I was intrigued with the key lime cake as well. Sounded so yummy!
Good to know that you are interested. I keep thinking about them, and I'm ABSOLUTELY making them as cupcakes...glaze free. I know were to send the extras!!
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