sour cream cake and cream cheese frosting

Made a super cute birthday cake for Benjamin yesterday. I went looking for a recipe for a chocolate cake used a recipe that was highly rated everywhere, but honestly I was just not impressed. It used a cake mix -which I didn't care to do, but it was so highly rated that I decided to try it. Oh well. It was good enough for the 4 year old. He really just cared that I made it look like a dinosaur. The recipe I used was from Taste of Home magazine, but I saw many on allrecipes and other places varying oil amounts or changing the semisweet chocolate or omitting it altogether. It was ok, but nothing spectacular. I thought i had burned it, and it looks burned in the pictures but the toothpick wouldn't come out clean. Finally I quit sticking it in the spot that was split on the top and it came out clean, but then the middle was still super soft, nothing at all like the crumbly looking picture I had seen so who knows. The frosting was wonderful. I found that on allrecipes but changed it. I went to the store and bought all sorts of round brown candies. -reeces pieces, almond joy pieces, m & m's, and junior mints. I wouldn't suggest it. They all ended up being the same size. I ended up using chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips (upside down) for the smaller size spots. I'd just get junior mints and 1 other candy if doing it again.


Sour cream chocolate cake

• 1 package chocolate cake mix
• 1 package (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 4 oz. semisweet chocolate.

Directions
Combine all ingredients. Transfer to 2 greased and floured 9 inch round pans. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes (I baked 36) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

If you want to make a dinosaur, you can look it up on the betty crocker website (or so my magazine tells me. I changed up the tail and head from what was printed in my magazine to use more of the second cake. This is what it looked like pre-icing.

Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

• 2 8 oz. packages cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 Tablespoon milk

Directions
Beat all ingredients until smooth. I actually added another 1/2 Tablespoon of milk because I thought it was too thick with just 1/2 Tablespoon, but that made it a bit too thin for me. I wish I would have left it with just 1/2 Tablespoon. I just stuck it in the fridge to make it a little more solid.