Owen’s 3rd Birthday: The Big Cupcake

Shannon asked me if I would make “a few dozen cupcakes” for Owen’s birthday and pleaseprettyplease could I do them with yellow and green frosting to go along with the John Deere theme?  And would it be possible for me to also make a small cake or one of those cupcake cakes?

Did I mention she asked me on Thursday and the party was Saturday?

But I was up to the challenge.  I got some colored gels for dyeing the frosting, and I bought some yellow and white cupcake liners.

Luckily, the McHusband had gone to VIR for the weekend so I had all Friday night to do nothing but bake.  And it’s a good thing because I started as soon as I got home from Walmart, which I hit on my way home from work, and I didn’t finish until just after midnight.

Vickie had one of those cupcake pans from Zachary’s first birthday so I borrowed it for Owen’s special cake.  I used a Funfetti cake mix for this one and saved my from-scratch and sorta-from-scratch baking for the cupcakes.

I cut off the domed parts so that the two halves would sit flush against each other.  Those parts made a cake sandwich that I saved for the McHusband.  Hey, I wasn’t about to throw away perfectly good cake!

So my green frosting wasn’t exactly John Deere green.  Turns out those gel dyes I thought I bought were just gel icings for writing and decorating.  Luckily, we have a few St. Patrick’s Day parties under our belts so I have green food coloring in my cabinet. 

I “glued” the two halves of the Big Kahuna together with frosting then followed along with those perfect swirls to cover the rest of the top in frosting.

Not the prettiest frosting job, but it was almost midnight and I was running out of steam by this time.  I realized later that there was some malt powder blocking my tip and that’s why the frosting was coming out funny.

I had to use my cake carrier to get the oversized confection to Statesville, but it made it safe and sound and found its way to the cake stand I also brought.

Owen didn’t seem to mind the not-John-Deere-Green, less-than-perfect frosting on his cupcake.

Save some calories, more cupcakes and some cookies coming up!