Swamp Party: The Cake

Good chilly morning peeps!!
It was 80 degrees last week and we were down to the upper 20's last night.  brrrrrrr

So normally Tuesday is reserved for Tuesday Tumblings where I upload my phone pics and give you the highlights of the week but because I've been so busy lately and my posts have been well rather absent I'm flooding you this week of the Bayou Bash Swamp Party photos and recipes from the Hubsters 50th birthday party.  Sorry, that was kind of a long running sentence.  Today we are featuring one of the few things I actually made for the party myself.  The cake!!!



This is it:

go ahead...ooh and aah over it

Here's the thing...it tasted as great as the decorating turned out!!!

I took a cue from the ole' Pinterest and bought a good Betty Crocker white cake mix (cause that's the Hubsters cake of choice) and I changed these things from the box instructions:

Instead of 3 egg whites I used 4

Instead of the 1/3 cup oil I used 2/3 cup melted butter (cooled)

Instead of water, I used half & half

That's it for the cake mix and then baked per the box instructions. 

WOW!!! You can seriously pump up the flavor and moistness in the box mix by doing this.

Just add 1 extra egg than it calls for

Double the amount of oil and use melted butter

Use milk instead of water

It was a Bayou Bash so there were lots of alligators.

This is how the cake was displayed.

Yet another idea I adapted from a Pinterest find.

Now the frosting.  Found on Pinterest was supposedly the "The Best Frosting".

She warns in the beginning that this frosting takes some advance planning and coordination but believe me, it's worth it. So just click on the link and follow her very awesome instructions!! Thanks Mel's Kitchen Cafe for sharing with your readers this awesomeriffic frosting!!

The Best Frosting

Now we also had to have us a King Cake because well my Louisiana man got only the best from his home state at this party.  He LOVES the King Cake's made by Paul's Pastry shop.  Since we know they ship, I got his ordered and here for the party. 

Here is the link for the bakery. You will not be disappointed, Paul's Pastry

Also inspired by Pinterest I put together this tiered serving tray out of cake pans and mason jars.

Perfect a mundo for serving these Louisiana favorites

Yep, we had chocolate, vanilla and banana moon pies.

I found lots of folks saying they'd never had a moon pie OR they hadn't had one in forever.

Either way you should get some and hey if you can find RC cola in the bottle, then you just might be accepted as a Louisiana native.

And the last item of sweets for the party, pralines.

That's prah-leans people not pray-leans.  I've been corrected numerous times.

These were from one of our favorite spots in New Orleans to get them.

Here is the link to visit their site, Southern Candy Makers

And yes, they ship.  

That was the sweet treat part of the festivities and we'll continue through the menu and decorations through the week.

I think we can tell this was yummy

and so was the cake. 

Nothing left but the licking of the forks.

Tomorrow we talk about the regular food!

Peace, Love & Yummies