A Traditional Farm Life - Teddy Bear Birthday Cake

A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends!  Green chives are tentatively poking up through the ground in my mini-herb patch outside our kitchen door.  A walk around our yard reveals buds on trees and the all-too-soon arrival of my weedy archenemy, yellow dock.  Is it really only the end of February?

 

Regardless of which calendar page we’re looking at, when the weather is nice we simply can’t stay inside.  It’s definitely too early by looking at the calendar, but I’m eagerly anticipating getting a small corner of the garden set aside for a gift I received from the folks near Genoa, Nebraska whom I consulted with recently about Native American beans. 

They sent a “three sisters” sampling of blue flour corn, Pawnee bush beans, and Pawnee watermelon.  The farmer in me is already anxious about getting a crop to maturity for next year’s seed.  Taking a cue from their difficulties that first year getting a crop of corn, I’m hoping for a planting site near the dog pen in hopes of keeping the birds, gophers, deer and mice at bay. 

Last Sunday afternoon was so beautiful we hitched up Tom and Jerry to the people hauler and took an extended tour of Enterprise.  It’s pretty amazing how the slower pace opens your eyes to your surroundings.  It turned out eyes were upon us as well.  Local resident Dave Hansen good-naturedly called out as we slowly plodded by, “How many bales to the mile do you get?”

Five years ago this week, our youngest child was born.  Those years of long, sleepless nights with an infant seem so long ago!  

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Our precocious little girl has been learning her letters and numbers almost by osmosis it seems, as she is the only one not officially in school—until next fall, that is.  While she’s learning a lot from her siblings, it has become obvious some things just come naturally.

She’s been volunteering quite a bit lately to go along with me to the restaurant when I bake.  After we got settled in that first time she came with me, she asked for a cappuccino from our cappuccino machine.  We got her this special treat and she contented herself with playing quietly for quite some time.

The next time I went she readily volunteered to be my helper, and we had barely got in the door before she innocently mentioned, “This would be a great time for some cappuccino!”

Perhaps emboldened by her previous successes, this Tuesday I had no sooner put the car in “park” in front of the restaurant before she eagerly queried, “Can I have a cappuccino?”

Surprisingly, it turns out she did not ask for a cappuccino for her birthday, but a Teddy Bear Birthday Cake instead.  We have a fancy teddy bear cake mold—naturally inaccessible in storage—so I suggested this easy alternative to our eleven-year-old daughter who was in charge of baking the cake. 

She divided the cake between two round cake pans; one significantly smaller than the other, and the rest of the batter went into cupcakes.  After baking and cooling completely, the larger 8” round was placed on the serving platter as the “tummy,” the smaller round right above it as the “head,” and four of the five cupcakes were placed as “arms” and “legs” on each side of the body.  The fifth cupcake was cut in half and placed with the cut side against the head for “ears.”  The cake was then iced and decorated as a teddy bear, much to the birthday girl’s delight.

Teddy Bear Birthday Cake

1 box cake mix (your favorite flavor)

  prepared according to box directions

1 round cake pan (8”)

1 round cake pan (5”)

cupcake/muffin pan with liners 

     (5 cupcakes will be used for cake)

chocolate and vanilla frosting,  

     purchased or homemade

candies for eyes, nose, and mouth

     if desired

1.  Prepare cake pans by cutting a circle of wax or parchment paper the same size as bottom of pan. (Trace bottom of pan on paper and cut out.)  Spray both the pans and the paper lining with non-stick spray.  Place 5 liners in muffin pan (more may be needed).

2.  Prepare cake mix according to package directions.  Fill cake pans about 2/3 full; use rest of batter to fill cupcakes 2/3 full.  Bake all according to baking time on box for cupcakes and 8” round cake.  The 5” cake will be done somewhere in between the cupcakes and cake.

3.  Cool cakes in pans 10-15 minutes, loosen outside edge with butter knife, and invert.  Remove parchment paper and invert back onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

4.  To assemble, prepare large platter, cookie sheet or covered cardboard.  The 8” cake becomes the teddy bear’s tummy.  Place the 5” cake above it as the head.  Remove cupcake liner from 1 cupcake, cut in half, and place cut side next to cake as “ears” on top of “head.”  The other four cupcakes are placed next to the “tummy” to become the “hands” and “feet.” 

5.  Frost with chocolate icing.  Vanilla icing can be used as well, as desired.  Candy can be used for eyes, nose and mouth; or vanilla frosting can be tinted to desired color and piped on.

Yield:  1 Teddy Bear Cake

Copyright © 2016 by Shasta Hamilton

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas.  She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children.  You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com .  

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