Moon Landing Cake
THE MOON IS EARTH'S ORIGINAL SATELLITE. It orbits our little home, reflecting the light of the sun and the shadow of Earth in what are called lunar phases. Some people say that the moon is made of cheese, but I've always thought it was something sweeter. Cake, maybe? Looks like an astronaut even traveled there to grab a bite!
Yield: Makes one moon cake
Things you'll need
Ingredients- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (4 ounces) salted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup solid vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 5 large egg whites
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 16 ounces buttercream frosting
- Black food coloring
- Miniature Astronaut figurine (optional)
- Miniature Flag (optional)
Equipment
- 2 ½ quart ovenproof glass bowl (Pyrex)
- Different size ice cream scoops
Let's get started!
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the glass bowl completely.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and shortening until softened. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Add the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
- Pour the batter into the bowl and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300F and slow-bake until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
- Let the cake cool completely and then remove it from the bowl. Level with a serrated knife.
Time to decorate!
- Using different sizes of ice cream scoops, scoop out pieces of the cake to create moon craters.
- Tint the buttercream frosting with black food coloring until you reach the desired shade of gray.
- Frost the moon cake, carefully filling the insides of the craters. Leave some texture in the frosting to make the cake resemble the surface of the moon.
- Add an astronaut figurine and flag on top for fun.
Written By Rosanna Pansino
