Birthday Memories & Whipped Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

The end of April thru the month of May is birthday month in our family (check out the Rainbow ABC Cake I made at the end of April). All the boys have birthdays within a month of each other, and today my twin boys have their 9th birthday. Usually I spend the night before their birthday making a fun, themed cake for them. This year, however, I passed the torch. I am done making crazy themed cakes for my twin boys and instead I am letting them have the option of making a cake with me or whatever other dessert they choose. 

Musings of a “Twin Mom”

Having and parenting twins has been a crazy journey since day one. It has tested me like nothing else could have (except more multiples) and has made my hyper-aware of encouraging their own individuality and recognizing that they are always best-friend buddies. I have always felt it was important to celebrate each of my boys on their birthday with their own birthday cakes and singing to each one individually (not one song together…might seem weird to some but to this twin mom it’s important). 

This year, one of my boys chose an ice cream cake for his birthday. This was as simple as ordering and pulling through a drive thru to pick it up. He went with me and we enjoyed some one-on-one time in the car. My other boy wanted to make an elaborate cake with me. He started with visions of dragons and Pokemon characters and settled on a giant Neapolitan birthday cake with layers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cake, strawberry icing in between the layers and covered in chocolate frosting with Oreos. He enjoyed piping green icing all over the top and was really proud of his first homemade birthday cake.

As a mom, I am loving the extra quality time I get with my kids by involving them in the birthday cake process, but I am also mourning a little bit of the creativity that I so enjoyed making their cakes for them. So I apologize in advance for this walk down memory lane, but I’ve enjoyed looking back on all the cakes I made for my twin boys over the years. Maybe they will inspire some fun cakes for you too.

Year ONE:

We survived the first year! I am so grateful for pictures to look back on this crazy, crazy time.

Year Two:

They were obsessed with Spot, the dog, so Spot cakes it was!

Year Three:

We had a jungle themed party for our animal-loving boys, so the cakes had to match!

Year Four:

This was one of the years we lived in Japan. I had to figure out where to buy things like powdered sugar (or make my own) and these cakes were definitely a labor of love for my dinosaur loving boys.

Year Five:

X marks the spot cake. Seriously one of my favorite cakes and birthday themes. The boys went on a big treasure hunt around the neighborhood and ended up back to their cakes where they cut them open to find the “treasure” inside.

Year Six:

These Lego cakes were so much fun to create. I bought molds to make the Lego figures out of candy melts.

Year Seven:

Candy cakes were so much fun for their 7th birthday. They were also pretty easy to make…circular cake and lots of candy!

Year Eight:

Probably my favorite cakes to date were the Harry Potter ones from last year. We spent the year reading Harry Potter together and when they requested Harry Potter cakes for a Harry Potter themed birthday, I couldn’t say no!

This year:

And that brings us to this year. A store bought ice cream cake and a homemade Neopolitan birthday cake: created, baked and frosted by my boy.

And because I don’t want to leave this post without a really delicious recipe, here’s a great one for some really delicious strawberry frosting. We put this as the filling sandwiched between the layers of the Neapolitan cake but you can frost it on cupcakes, graham crackers or sandwich it between cookies…yum! 

What makes this strawberry buttercream unique is the fresh strawberries used to flavor it. You create a beautiful strawberry puree, then reduce it on the stove so the flavor is nicely concentrated. This puree is then used in the icing to give it a beautiful strawberry flavor. Right now is the perfect time to make strawberry buttercream with fresh strawberries in season.

Whipped Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Yield: 1-2 cups of strawberry frosting

Time: 15 minute puree, 1-2 hour cool, 10 minute whip

Ingredients:

• ½ lb fresh strawberries 
• 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Splash of cream or milk if needed

Directions:

1. Wash and cut the tops off of ½ pound of strawberries and put into a blender. Puree until a smooth liquid is formed. You should have about a ½ cup of puree.
2. Pour the strawberry puree in a saucepan. Heat over medium low heat until puree is reduced by about half (you will end up with about ¼ cup reduced puree). This should take 10-15 minutes. Cool strawberry puree in the refrigerator or until it reaches room temperature.
3. Once the strawberry puree has cooled, whip the butter until it is creamy. Add the powdered sugar and cream together. Mix in the ¼ cup strawberry puree and whip together. Add a teaspoon of vanilla. Whip together for about 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add a splash of cream or milk if needed for a spreadable consistency.

Please share this recipe if you enjoyed it! Post a photo and tag me @amybakesbread so I can see your bake 🙂

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