If Lori Michelle Noto Were a Cake…

On Saturday night the crew came out in full force to celebrate our amazing friend Lori’s 30th birthday in style.  It was all things Notorious: bright colors, dim lights, cameras flashing, drinks flaming and lots of skin on the dance floor.  And although it was an all hands on deck effort, Eric pulled off the true challenge of arranging all of this behind Lori’s back.

I think she might have been surprised.

Just slightly.

Eric posed a slightly lesser challenge on me: make a dessert that will rock Lori’s world.  So I thought about Lori’s personality: colorful, sparkly, fun.  I can make a cake that is all of those things.

Then I thought about what Lori likes.

Lori likes champagne.  So I managed to put an entire bottle of it in her cake.

Lori likes nerds.  Unfortunately Eric is too damn big to put in a cake.  So I went with the candy version instead.

Lori likes sugar-free Red Bull.  Whoops, so do I.  I drank the Red Bull, and used the can to hold her “candles”.

I’m quite certain Lori also likes sexy gentlemen serving her while shirtless.  Got that covered.

Tie-Dyed Champagne Cake with Nerdy Funfetti Frosting

Had it not been for the tie-dying, this cake was really quite simple.  However the champagne makes it phenomenally dense and delicious.  It also gives the frosting excellent flavor.  I will definitely pull this one out of the bag again, in some shape or form.

For the Cake:

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 egg whites
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 ½ cup sugar
• 2 ½ cup champagne (I used peach)
• Red, blue and yellow food coloring

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
2. Sift the flour, powder, soda, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine the egg whites and vanilla.  Gradually add to the butter and sugar.
5. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the champagne to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
6. Evenly divide the batter into six bowls.  Dye the first bowl red, the second bowl orange, the third yellow, the forth green, the fifth blue and the sixth purple.  I recommend adding drops of food coloring gradually to be sure you get the shade you want.
7. a.  For cake: Pour half of the purple batter in the center of the pan.  (While I used an angel food cake pan, that was just because I wanted to put a Red Bull in the center.  I recommend using regular cake pans). Next pour half of the blue patter into the center of the purple batter.  Continue to pour half of each color into the center in rainbow order.  As you add each color, it will push the other colors towards the edge of the pan.  If you are doing a two layer cake, repeat in the second pan in the opposite order.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
   
   b. For cupcakes: Cupcakes are simpler.  Simply spoon each color in layers into cupcake papers in rainbow order, filling each about 3/4 of the way.  Reverse the order on half of them to change up the look. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
   

For the Nerdy Funfetti Frosting:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 4-5 cups powdered sugar
• 3-5 tbsp champagne (I used peach)
• 1 cup Nerds candy

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium high-speed until smooth and fluffy, about three minutes.  Add vanilla extract and about four cups of powdered sugar.  Mix on low-speed to combine.  Add in 4 tablespoons champagne and mix on low to incorporate.  Increase speed to medium and beat about one minute to whip frosting.  Add additional powdered sugar or champagne, as necessary, until you reach desired consistency.  Stir in the Nerds.

A closer look at the tie-dyed center

Johanna