baking
ideas for
puppy party dog cake
mix
Once upon a time, our favorite bone-shaped cake pan was out of stock at
the manufacturer. So we decided
to find more baking options for
puppy party, our all-natural
dog cake mix.
We checked out Wilton cake pans (http://www.wilton.com),
then went shopping at a Michael's Craft Store. We found just the pan,
from Wilton---round, 6" across, 2" deep, at $5.99.
Perhaps designed to make the top layer of multi-tier cakes, we thought
it would be cute for dog parties. We bought 2, since there would
be too much puppy party batter for one 6" pan.
Wilton recommends coating the inside of this pan with their Cake Release
product or with shortening lightly dusted with flour, but we used the
Spectrum canola oil baking spray we had on hand. Our cake mix
makes about 2 cups of batter, and we used half for each layer.
We set both pans on one cookie sheet in
the top third of the oven. Baking time was
35 minutes at 350 degrees. Each layer would have probably taken
longer than 35 minutes, baked one at a time. After cooling, the cakes
had to be "nudged" to leave their pans, but came out intact.
easy &
cute
dog cake decorations
There are 2 frosting recipes on packages
of
puppy party
dog cake mix. We put peanut butter
frosting on one layer, banana on the
other. For decorations, we added dog treats, with small kibble
around the edge of one layer.
Of course, we like to use our bone-shaped candle, but a treat at the
center of these cakes looks cute, too.
Since we're writing this page during Carnival season in Louisiana, just
a few days before Fat Tuesday, we couldn't resist making a Mardi Gras
dog cake, decorated with well-washed parade throws. Of course,
plastic beads and medallions, candles and other non-edible decorations have to be
removed and put safely out of dog-reach before serving, so that no one
gets a bite of something they shouldn't.
about those
aluminum cake pans.....
A brief caveat: this is an aluminum pan, and some people have concerns
about the impact of that cookware material on health. In our
kitchens, we limit the use of aluminum to items we don't use so often,
like our stove-top popcorn popper and this little pan. As with
everything else, it's a personal decision.....
another puppy party idea
While developing
party dog
all-natural premium frosting mix,
we decided to see how it would look on petite muffins---called
bite-size muffins for people---that were made with
our cake mix.
The cavities in petite muffin pans are very small, and
puppy party
batter more than doubles in volume during baking, requiring room for
expansion. We found that 1 teaspoon of batter produced the size we
liked best, yielding 3 dozen petite muffins per package of
puppy party.
Though using a non-stick pan, cooking spray helped remove
the finished muffins more easily. We set the muffin pan on a cookie
sheet in the top third of the oven, and baking time was about 18
minutes at 350 degrees.
We think
party dog
frosting makes these little muffins look a lot like candies when
finished. Really pretty! Because
party dog
hardens and becomes non-sticky, these goodies are practical for gift
baskets or tins at Christmas, Easter, Halloween and other holidays.
