Finish off a baby shower with a pretty baby-themed cake that you can personalize for the mom-to-be. To serve, remove the top block and cut it vertically into five slices, then repeat with remaining blocks. For a more colourful finish, you can pipe different colour borders on some of the blocks, as in our photo.
- Portion size 20 servings
- Credits : Canadian Living Magazine, May 2002
Ingredients
Icing:
Method
Grease bottoms and sides of two 8-inch (2 L) square metal cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment or waxed paper; set aside.In bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/3 cup (75 mL) of the milk and vanilla; set aside. In separate large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat in butter and remaining milk until fluffy. Beat in egg mixture in 3 additions, beating well and scraping down side of bowl after each addition.
Scrape batter into prepared pans, smoothing tops. Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until golden, top springs back when lightly touched and cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes.
Run knife around edge of each cake; invert onto baking sheet and peel off paper. Reinvert cakes onto racks; let cool completely. (Make-ahead: Cover with plastic wrap; store at room temperature for up to 1 day or overwrap with heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks.)
Icing: In bowl, beat butter until light. Alternately beat in sugar and cream, making 3 additions of sugar and 2 of cream. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Let come to room temperature; beat again before using.)
Trim each cake top flat; cut each into 4 squares. Spread 1/4 cup (50 mL) of the icing over tops of 4 of the squares. Top with remaining squares to make 4 blocks. Place each block on waxed paper–lined plate. Spread very thin layer of remaining icing on tops and sides of blocks. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Using 1 cup (250 mL) remaining icing per block, spread evenly over top and sides.
In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup (175 mL) of the remaining icing with enough food colouring to make pastel colour. Using piping bag fitted with star tip, pipe pastel icing along top and side edges of all blocks and bottom edges of 1 block. Reserve remaining pastel icing.
Divide remaining uncoloured icing into 2 small bowls; add enough food colouring to make 2 other pastel colours. Using piping bag fitted with plain tip, pipe letters in second colour on half of the block sides. Repeat in third colour on remaining sides. Refrigerate blocks until firm, about 1 hour.
Using wide spatula and supporting block sides with hand, carefully lift 3 blocks without bottom edges piped off waxed paper and place in triangle formation on cake board or foil-lined baking sheet. Using remaining first coloured icing, pipe along bottom edges of blocks.
Carefully lift last block off waxed paper, keeping bottom piping intact. Centre on top of other blocks. (Make-ahead: Cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day.)
Nechama Dahan from Montreal sent us her Block Cake she made for her son Chana's second birthday, adapted in Hebrew. Great job Nechama!
Nutritional facts Per serving: about
- Sodium 440 mg
- Protein 4 g
- Calories 575.0
- Total fat 29 g
- Cholesterol 116 mg
- Saturated fat 17 g
- Total carbohydrate 78 g
%RDI
- Iron 11.0
- Folate 14.0
- Calcium 6.0
- Vitamin A 28.0
