When Cakes Are Deemed Clinically Insane

What a weekend. Saturday my husband and I played in my sister's friend's fundraiser DODGEBALL tournament. 5 hours of 80's themed dress-up dodgeball, "dodge, dive and duck"... followed by an 80's themed dance party in which I had to dance 3 hours straight because the music was so good! Needless to say I hobbled home in my heels after that one, and my arms are STILL in pain and it's now Monday! But... I had to soldier on like any good member of the Obsessed With Baking army... Sunday was my sister's birthday party, so I had to make a very special cake for a very special sis. I call this cake... "CLINICALLY INSANE TRIPLE LAYER CAKE." A layer of fragrant coconut cake, followed by raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream, followed by a layer of dark chocolate cake, followed by more jam and frosting, followed by a layer of vanilla cake, with raspberry jam... and a shiny, drippy layer of my favorite friend, chocolate ganache! Topped off with fresh raspberries, it really was a personal piece de resistance, and now the kitchen appears as if it was hit by a flour and icing sugar tornado.

Above is a picture of my wonderful heavy-duty pale pink gadget, Kitchen Aid, with its sweet and thick friend, Vanilla Buttercream. I was very pleased with how the cake turned out-- each layer was moist and flavorful; I adored the raspberry jam, but next time I will make my cake layers in more similar flavors! I just loved cutting into it and seeing the layers in full action. It took many hours to create but all was worth it, to provide a memorable and crazy cake for my sis. My new obsession, though, is... raspberry jam-filled coconut cupcakes!