If you're thinking bout my baby it doesnt matter if your black or white!

Michael Jackson taught us so many lessons, he taught us our ABC's and 123's and why 2+2 makes 4.  He taught us one of the most important dances we could have ever learned in our childhood, one that rivals all of the zombie hype of today.  And he also taught us the most important lesson, it doesnt matter if your black or white.  He himself could never really decide what color he was, so today I take a page from the King of Pop.

NOTE: Please watch the whole video as its absolutely hilarious! Go MJ! (it also took me way longer to write this blog because I immediately got distracted and had to watch more of his music videos, I recommend you do the same)

So anyways in following the footsteps of Michael I decided it was time to carry that over into all aspects of my life.  A friend of mine had asked me to make a cake and cupcakes for her baby kids birthday, so we decided on vanilla cupcakes with vanilla bean icing and a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and chocolate frosting. Because if your thinking about my cake, it doesnt matter if its black or white. (haha im so lame and i crack myself up)

So some of you may be thinking "how boring is vanilla cake and vanilla icing" You may even have a face similar to this seal who is totally bored....

But ill let you in on a little secret, he really likes my vanilla cupcakes.  He is my taste tester, his name is Jim.  So what makes these vanilla cupcakes so special?  Well the cupcakes were your typical white cake.  Its the vanilla bean icing that add that extra oomph.  The use of real vanilla beans adds character.  Now I have never used a real vanilla bean before so I really had no clue what I was doing or what to expect.  Here are some tips that might help you....

1. Cut the vanilla bean in half long ways

2. Use the back of a knife to scrape the 

seeds out of the vanilla bean.

3. Theyre sticky little buggers so try not to

get them all over your hands.

The recipe for the icing was very easy, it uses all butter, whereas typically im working with some shortening and butter.  This icing was easy to work with, but as my hands heated up the icing in the bag it started getting a little melty so try to keep you hands cold.  Dont get all clammy like these guys did...

The recipe:

3 1/4 sticks of butter, softened but be careful not to melt it.

3 C confectioners sugar (they always say to sift it but im super lazy sometimes so i dont and it always pans out for me, plus im not that great at following directions.)

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 t REAL vanilla extract

Milk as needed to get the right consistency.

All those little dots are the vanilla bean....yummy!

Now, the vanilla cupcakes were bomb diggity, no doubt, but my pride and joy was the chocolate cake.  This would have made Dr. Martin Luther King proud at the way it tore down barriers based on color and flavor and united people together for one great cause, satisfying their sweet tooth.  This cake was a master piece of epic proportions.  I have never actually made a chocolate cake before, atleast not like this.  Sure the regular box cake with canned icing in high school, but this was my first endeavor into the world of chocolate.  I felt like an oompa loompa surrounded by that rich goodness.  I decided to make a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache in the middle AND on top AND chocolate frosting.  Now I can already hear the naysayers saying ohh thats too rich, well guess what, nobody likes you.

So moving on, the cake.  I wanted to use a box cake, but wanted to make it more than just your average box cake. So I did.

The recipe:

1 box Devil's Food Cake

1 box instant chocolate pudding

1 C sour cream

1/2 C Water

1/2 C Vegetable Oil

4 Eggs

I thought that making chocolate ganache was gonna be all hard and fancy. It was actually super easy. 

The Recipe:

4 bars of chocolate (16 oz) I used 2 dark choc and 2 milk choc

2 C heavy cream

I put the chocolate in the blender and got it all crushed up and little

Heat the cream in a microwave safe bowl for 2-3 minutes, then put the chocolate in another bowl and pour the cream over it. Let it sit for a minute or two, then stir. 

You have to let it sit to get stiff, so i let mine sit overnight. I had to control myself after licking the spoon and tasting that goodness. I wanted to eat the whole bowl, i didnt, dont worry.

As if chocolate ganache wasnt enough, I had to go and get cray and add chocolate frosting too.  This chocolate frosting was amazing, it tasted just like hot chocolate.

The Recipe:

2 3/4 C confectioners sugar
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
6 T butter
5 T evaporated milk
1 T vanilla extract
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, cream butter in the mixer then alternate adding dry ingredients and the evaporated milk.  Add the vanilla, and BAM you have yourself some deliciousness.

The cake was so good.  I put the ganache between layers, realizing how important it was for the ganache to sit overnight.  Its a little slippery so you want to make sure its stiff enough not to make your cakes slide everywhere.  I was only going to put it in the middle but i have a tendency to be super excessive so i put it on top too. Yum!  Then i frosted that wholesome goodness and this was the result.....

The cake was a huge hit! Everyone loved it and most people had seconds.  I have to say it was honestly the best chocolate cake I have ever had.  I would love to have some right now....mmmm!

So take a page from Michael Jackson and be open to exploring things different from you and your norm.