Nicholas turned nine! Time sure is flying on by. When we talked about his birthday I requested a non-character cake, those are way too specific and last year just about broke me. He's decided his new favorite animal of the moment is a sea turtle so we looked at cakes with sea turtles. We decided on a beach/ocean theme and got to work. Together we made a turtle to go on top and with the help of Bronwyn too we made shells, seaweed, and other critters to keep our sea turtle company. He requested a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting - easy to do. He even promised to eat some of it, which he did not. I made the cakes in my 6 inch rounds and used a box yellow cake mix and added one box of vanilla pudding mix to it. That was always my old standby. I tried a few others along the way - but why try to fix something that is not broken. We did blue frosting - much to my dismay. I do not eat blue food. Bronwyn and I made sand out of graham crackers and added all our seaweed, shells, and other sea critters. Thankfully Nicholas loved it. Yay for that! Did he eat any? Of course not. Someday... someday I'll make him a birthday something he'll eat... some day.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle or whisk attachment whip butter on medium-high speed (if using whisk attachment whip on high speed) until nearly white and very fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Immediately spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.
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