Rainbow Cake Topper (Using Paper Straws!)

Cute rainbow cake topper. And a bucketload of rainbow sprinkles.

The colors for this spring have been white and various shades of grey. Blah Blah Blah.  I made this cake for St. Patrick's day/celebration of my sister's 11/12th birthday (yes, she likes to remind me every month how long until her next birthday).

This is an easy type of "banner" to make. Simply cut colorful paper straws into smaller sections. String your straw "beads" onto a length of embroidery floss or twine. The heart is made from some sparkly glitter paper with a little "tag" that is folded over to string it on. The side supports are more straws slipped over wooden skewers for extra support. I couldn't find any tape so I tied the thread to the side supports. Tape (or cool washi tape) would be much easier.

You could make the cake white or blue for a rainbow-themed party! There are so many types and patterns of paper straws available. I got mine from Target! There are a ton of options of these websites:

http://www.fancyflours.com/category/paper-straws

http://heyyoyo.com/category/Pretty-Paper-Straws/c15

http://www.shopsweetlulu.com/category/Pretty-Paper-Straws/c1

(Not Just) Another Carrot Cake!

 Do you like my squirrel banner? I was inspired by a more elaborate banner I saw on Pinterest. I wanted to do something autumnal and simple for decoration. I think I like this carrot cake better than the last one I posted. That one was good but this one doesn't feel quite as dense. The orange and the coconut are subtle but add a nice depth of flavor. I frosted this with whipped cream sweetened with maple syrup and a little vanilla extract.

Carrot Cake (adapted from Carrot Cake III from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 4 eggs (room temp)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp maple extract
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 cups grated carrot
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray two 8" baking pans with cooking spray and place parchment circles in bottoms. Alternatively, spray (or grease) pans and dust evenly with flour. Carrot cake is sticky.
2. Combine first seven ingredients (up to the flour) in a mixing bowl. Beat together on low speed until combined.
3. Sift together dry ingredients and then add to wet mixture. Or, if you hate sifting, put the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk them together vigorously. Beat wet and dry on low to medium speed until just combined (no dry spots but there could still be lumps)
4. Fold/stir carrots and coconut into the batter using a spatula or rubber spoon, making sure that the carrots 'n' coconut mix is evenly distributed throughout.
5. Immediately pour batter into pans. Bake about 30-40 minutes, rotating pan about halfway through. Check for doneness with a toothpick in center.