An excuse to celebrate...

A dear friend switched apartments in NYC and had us all over for a housewarming. The evite said there would be cake, to which I interpretted that I should bake her a cake.

I used graham crackers and royal icing to make the house perched on top of the cake. Surprisingly easier than expected. The cake consisted of yellow cake with Martha Stewart's chocolate icing. This IS my new favorite icing recipe (see below). It was a Dark Chocolate frosting, and tasted like a chocolate candy bar on cake. Thanks Martha. Delish!

I then garnished with a white chocolate fence (which could have been easier if i'd just piped on the fence, but my initial idea was to have it stand out from the bottom of the cake, but it didn't materialize), a chocolate chip driveway and some green icing shrubs. To make the fence I outlined it in pencil on wax paper, flipped it over and used a new kids paintbrush dipped in melted white chocolate to paint within my outlines. I rested it on the cake mold (to get the right bend of the cake) in the fridge for a couple of hours.

My friend was thrilled and it tasted great - and well - thats all that counts.

Martha Stewart's Dark Chocolate Frosting
1 pound semi sweet chocolate (I used to chips so I didn't have to chop)
6 tbsp Cocoa Powder
6 tbsp Boiling Water
3 sticks butter
1/2 conf sugar
Pinch of Salt (I used salted butter so I skipped this)

Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate, stir until chocolate is completely melted (about 15 mins). Let chocolate cool to room temperature (take off the stove). Combine Cocoa powder and boiling water.

In electric mixer beat butter, conf sugar, and salt until light and fluffy (3-4 mins). Add melted chocolate, beat on low (1-2 mins). Beat in cocoa mixture. Serve!