Dark & Stormy Birthday Cake

I was stumped for awhile on what to do for a birthday cake but on Valentine's Day hubs ordered a dark and stormy and it got me thinking. It was really well recieved and I thought it turned out delicious. Also felt a little grown up :)

I made a ginger-molasses, lime cake for 1 layer, a rum vanilla cake for the other layer
and frosted it with a rum buttercream and candied a few lime slices to decorate the top.

I made the cakes 2 days in advance and just had them wrapped in plastic wrap, so when I iced them they were completely cool, I think that's a first for me. My patience never makes it that long, but wow what a difference it made. I think it's my most beatifully frosted cake to date.

And of course we sang to him, which he hated :) But I found cute sparkler candles which I loved.

Dark & Stormy Cake

Ginger-Molasses Layer:

about 1/2 cup freshly grated ginger

1 cup molasses

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly ground cloves

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 cup water

2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

preheat oven 350 degrees F

1     grease and flour cake pan

2     in a large bowl whisk together molasses, sugar and oil

3     in a medium bowl sift together flour, cinnamon, cloves and pepper

4     in a small saucepan bring water to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda

5     pour hot water mixture into molasses mixture, add ginger, stir together

6     mix in the dry ingredients slowly and only until incorporated

7     mix in the eggs 1 at a time

8     pour batter into cake pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, unitl a toothpick comes out clean

Rum Layer:

3/4 cup butter; room temp

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 tbs lime and/or lemon zest

3/8 cup spiced rum

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

preheat oven 350 degrees F

grease and flour cake pan

1     beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy

2     mix in the eggs and vanilla

3     then add in zest, rum and mix

(it will look a little curdled, don't worry it is supposed to)

4     sift together flour, powder, soda, salt

5     alternate pouring in flour mixture with whipping cream and mixing in, start

       and end with flour mixture

6     pour into cake pan and bake 25-30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean

Rum Sauce:

for rum cake layer

4 tbs butter

3/8 cup sugar

1/3 cup spiced rum

1    heat ingredients in saucepan over medium heat

2    when it has all melted together set aside to cool

Assemble Rum Cake:

1     poke holes in the rum cake with the tongs of a fork, all over

2     pour the run sauce all over the cake

3      wrap in plastic wrap and let sit overnight so it soaks in

Rum Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup butter; room temp

1 vanilla bean; split and seeded

2-3 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tbs rum

2-3 tbs cold milk

1    beat butter until light and fluffy 3-5 minutes

2    beat in the vanilla

3    slowly beat in 2 cups of powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time

4    then beat in 2 tbs rum and 2 tbs milk

5    add in more powdered sugar, rum or milk as it requires

Assemble:

1     start with ginger-molasses cake, cut off of cake so it is level

2     frost top of cake generously

3     level off rum cake and place on top

4     frost cake beginning with sides

5     to smooth off the edges and top put cake knife under hot water, wipe dry and frost

(this is the key to getting the frosting smooth)

I candied some limes like here

and made some chocolate numbers using this technique

Last year's birthday cake here