2011.12.15 - French Dip, Sweet Potato Fries, The Burger Cake!

Thursday was A's birthday!  I wanted to make a meal of some of his favorites + a surprise cake!

Deviled Eggs

I despise deviled eggs, but A loves them.  I tried to keep things simple and not gag when mixing up the egg/mayo mixture.

Modifications: I left out the shallot and substituted a dash of cayenne pepper for the tabasco. 

French Dip Sandwiches

Slow cooked meats are one of A's favorites.  I stuck with my tried and true french dip recipe, which I've made before.  Served on french bread with melted provolone and dipping sauce on the side -- pretty good!

Sweet Potato Fries

Amazingly enough, I did not use a recipe.  I sliced up sweet potatoes (skin on) and sprinkled with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I cooked at 425 for about 30 minutes.  Unfortunately, my potatoes were more mushy than crispy.  Maybe cook at a higher temperature next time?
 
The Burger Cake

When I was taking cake decorating, there was a cake in the instruction book that had a piped hamburger on it.  This cracked A up to no end and he demanded a hamburger cake.  I told him I would make him one someday - and that day was Thursday, his birthday.  I decided to make a cake that looked like a hamburger, rather than a cake with a hamburger on it. 

I used this cake and this one as my inspiration.  Both types of cake used were gluten free -- a chocolate cake for the "burger" and a pumpkin spice cake for the "bun".  I glued the layers together with store bought chocolate icing.  The lettuce, cheese, tomato, and onion were all made of colored fondant.  I built the cake by putting a bit of frosting on the cake plate, then placing the bottom bun, then adding a layer of frosting, then placing the burger layer, frosting the burger layer, putting the fondant decorations in place, then placing the top bun.

• Lettuce - I mixed some green and white fondant together and rolled it to about 1/8th inch thick.  I cut strips with a tool with wavy edges.  I then used ruffling tools to make the edges more ruffly.
• Cheese - I mixed some yellow and white fondant together and rolled it to about 1/16th inch thick.  I cut triangles and placed them around the cake.
• Tomato - I rolled out some red fondant to about 1/8th inch thick and cut out circles.
• Onion - I rolled out some white fondant to about 1/16th inch thick and then cut out circles.  I used a slightly smaller cutter to cut out the inner circle, so I ended up with rings.  I stretched them a bit and draped them around the cake.

I then glued on some rice krispies with piping gel for the seeds on the bun.

I think the cake came out great!  I found it much easier to make a great looking fun cake when there was little frosting involved.  My frosting efforts still come out a bit messy and lopsided :)  Using the fondant was easy, although I did recommend that people pick it off the cake before eating.  A was surprised and pretty happy with the cake :)