Finally, a Cake Success!

Last weekend my sister asked me to make a cake for her fiancé's birthday. Obviously from the last few birthday cakes I've made (mine and my husband's), I have been having bad luck with cakes. So I was determined to do whatever it took to make this cake right! And oh man, was it ever right.

It did start off with my favorite cake recipe, but I made a full cake instead of halving it like I tried previously. I made it the day before, and it was still very very moist- so moist that it would have crumbled like the others. So unlike last time, where I covered the cake in saran wrap and put it in the fridge overnight, I left this cake out overnight with just some saran wrap mostly covering it. I don't know if that helped, or if it was just the fact that I didn't have to unwrap plastic wrap that was stuck to a crumbly cake, but it stayed together!

(The chocolate buttercream from Savory Sweet Life. So delicious and easy to work with!)

For the frosting, I used my favorite chocolate buttercream from Savory Sweet Life. (Am I allowed to have a favorite if I have only tried one recipe? :D) I was very careful to make it whipped frosting and super spreadable, so it wouldn't tear the crumbly cake. For the filling, I just searched for different cake filling ideas, since I knew I wanted something that wasn't plain chocolate frosting. I ended up making a regular buttercream, and then adding half a packet of vanilla pudding mix so it tasted like vanilla. The filling was a little gritty because of the pudding mix, so maybe next time I will mix it with milk and make it actual pudding first. But it was still delicous!

(My cake. Not the best picture, but the best cake I've made yet!)

Overall, this cake was a huge success. It was rich, moist, chocolate-y, and a small piece was just enough! I don't think I will ever make another cake recipe- this one is just too good! Oh, and even though this cake was cooked through, it was still so crumbly. So I might try baking it even longer and see if it becomes more stable without overbaking. We'll see!

Oh, here are some pictures of our new apartment too. I love how open and big it is! 

(I made those two wall paintings on the right. They were a labor of love, and although they're a little bright for the room, I think I'll add more touches that will make it all work together!)

(I also made these blackout curtains. They're a little....stiff. Okay, really really stiff. But it's nice to have curtains that completely block out our neighbors at night!)