Red Bandanna Cake for Grandpa's Birthday (the easy way).

Red Bandanna Birthday Cake.

Our Granddaughters took over my kitchen yesterday to bake and design their Grandpa's Birthday cake.  I had a lot of shopping and errands to do but stopped home a couple of times to lend a hand should they need me.  Emily is 18 and Katie will be 14 yet this month.  I was very impressed with their creativity and dedication as it took almost all day to complete this project and clean up!  They both had tired hands after completing!

Note:  In the years before I started this blog Grandpa was a "Cowboy Shooter"  and shot in many as well as sponsored many S.A.S. sanctioned  Cowboy Shooting Matches, thus the cowboy motif.

Here is how they did it.

First they buttered and floured a 12" cake pan and 2, 9" cake pans and preheated the oven per the package directions using 2 German Chocolate cake mixes.  Next they prepared the mixes per the directions.  They used 1/2 of the batter in the 12" round pan and baked it per the 9 x13 directions and split the other half between the 9" pans and baked according to the time given on the box.

After cooling for 10 minutes they removed the layers from the pans and completely cooled on racks.

Using 4 cans of canned plain white butter cream frosting and black food color paste they colored 1 1/2  cans black and frosted the 1st layer reserving about 1/2 cup for pipping.  They placed the first 9" layer centered on the 12" layer and frosted then the second both with plain white butter cream. 

The girls had purchased all on their own a couple of cans of red spray frosting color and proceeded to spray the top 2 layers bright red.  blocking the spray from the bottom layer with waxed paper as they went.  AREN'T THEY CLEVER?  I would have never thought about this even having used the spray before to color cookies.

Next Emily pipped on the black and Katie the white in the bandanna pattern!

Needless to say Grandpa was IMPRESSED!  Thanks girls!