Blessings From My Kitchen: Spice Cake

Three penguins made of fondant is actually kind of easy.
Three penguins made of fondant, perched one on top of another, is not.

But when you're mad about a particular spice cake you've come up with, that's unfussy and beams Christmas like no other, you have to dream up a theme.

Furthermore, the drive it took to get each of these guys snug, top on top the other, is kind of what's prompting me to let you in on the whole star perching scene.

It's not a lot of work. I promise. I made two in two weeks. I can vouch that's it worth the one hour putting the cake together and the essential ~~three~~ four hours fashioning a sugar dough balancing act.

The cake, itself is moist, fragranced in the terrific air scenting way that it could rival your best oil diffuser. Notes of ginger and cloves sing with cinnamon making each crumb drunk in enough Christmas spirit, you possibly wouldn't need the additional brandy used to soak a 9 inch item such as this, like tradition could demand in similar situations (though it wouldn't be counted against you , if you did).

That being said, I'll leave you to bask and enjoy in what's left of our decade's last holiday.

And have my fondant fellow trio show you how to reach and keep a neverending joyful spirit.

Merry Christmas, friends!

(Fondant penguin tutorial: Sweet K)

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp orange zest
½ cup salted butter, softened
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup plain fat free yoghurt
½ cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Grease two 9-inch round baking pans well with melted butter, then lightly dust with flour. Shake out excess.
In a bowl whisk together flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and orange zest well. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together, butter, dark brown sugar and sugar until light and creamy.
Add eggs. Beat for about 4 minutes at high speed.
In a measuring cup, whisk together. yoghurt and water.
With mixer on low speed, beat in flour mixture to the batter, in two additions, alternating with the yoghurt mixture, until combined. Scrape the bowl in between while mixing.
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans.
Bake in preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes.
Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.
Frost with cream cheese frosting.
Decorate as desired.