Mini Easter Strawberry Layer Cake

Ah Easter. Where you have more eggs than you know what to do with (well, not me. I use so many eggs regardless. Today was garbage day, there were 4 cartons of empty dozen egg containers in my recycling bin.) But there are also those chocolate eggs that you have to take into account. But I never forget about anything chocolate.

Here we go. Egg-tastic. There is a little place in my heart for mini eggs. Anything mini actually. As you can see with my change purse:

I could spend the whole day in the baby shoe section. They are just too cute! Whenever anyone I know has a birthday party for their baby kid, I just go wild and buy a whole bunch of little shoes. If ever I’m in a bad mood, just show me a little shoe and I will forget about everything. It cheers me up to the extreme.

Anyways, apart from my weird obsession with little things, these personalized cakes are really great. Pretty easy to make, and perfect for me, since no one in my house will eat cake because it’s too big. This way, since it’s small, it will be eaten by all, and I won’t have to eat the whole thing. Yay (maybe yay. Maybe I would want to eat the whole thing..) I made a weird addition of brandy to the white icing. Adds a sort of je ne sais quoi. Even my little addition seemed too much for me. It made the others happy though. Maybe it got to their heads..

What you’ll need:

For the cake:
-2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tablespoon baking powder
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1 1/2 cups white sugar
-1/2 cup olive oil
-2 eggs
-1 1/2 cups milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the strawberry filling:
-1 cup frozen strawberries
-1 tablespoon Splenda

For the icing
-1/4 cup shortening
-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/4 teaspoon brandy
-2 tablespoons water
-2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Extras:
-Mini eggs (The more, the merrier)
–Whipping cream 

Directions:

For the cake:
    1.   Preheat the oven to 350˚F
    2.   In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
    3.   Add the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla, mixing with an electric mixer until fully combined
    4.   Pour the batter into lightly sprayed large muffin pans.
    5.   Bake for around 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the strawberry filling:
    1.   In a blender, mix the strawberries and the Splenda until desired consistancy.

For the white icing:
    1.   Sift the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl
    2.   Add the shortening, water, vanilla and brandy, mixing with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Assemble cakes, and enjoy! Don’t forget to top with whipping cream and the mini eggs (the best part!)