POP WORKS BIRTHDAY CAKE POPCORN RECIPES

Steps:

• For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (This Recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.) Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch round pans. In the bowl of your mixer add the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl, add the eggs, orange juice concentrate, milk, orange extract and zest. With the mixer on low speed, add the slices of butter a few pieces at a time to the dry ingredients. Increase the mixer to medium speed and beat until the dry ingredients look crumbly and moistened. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. SLOWLY add 1/2 of the egg mixture, increasing to medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes, the batter will become thick and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add a small amount of Orange Coloring Gel to the bowl if you would like the batter to be orange. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out. Works well for cupcakes. Makes 6 cups batter. For the Orange Cream Filling: Combine the pudding mix and heavy cream and orange extract in a mixing bowl. I prefer to mix with a hand held mixer, but a whisk is just fine too. If using a mixer, start on low speed until well combined. Then, switch to high speed and whip the pudding until thick and fluffy. If mousse is too thick, mix in small amounts of heavy cream to reach desired consistency. If mixing by hand, simply whisk rapidly for a couple of minutes or until mixture is nice and thick. Refrigerate until ready to use. Cakes with this filling should be chilled until close to serving time. For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting: Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth. Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. Add the vanilla and orange flavorings. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar. Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat. This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix. Will frost a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake. When decorating our Dreamsicle Cake, we frosted our cake and then went back in with swirls of lightly tinted orange frosting for a pretty effect.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour three 8x2 inch round cake pans. Place a piece of parchment in the bottom of each pan.
• Put the first 5 ingredients into the bowl of your mixer. Mix on low speed for at least 30 seconds to combine.
• Add the softened butter (cut into pieces) mix on low speed just until it looks like coarse sand. The dry ingredients will be moistened/coated by the butter and will stick to together if you press some between two fingers. Don't over-mix or it will turn into a large dough-like ball.
• Add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing until blended. 
• Add the vanilla to the 1 cup buttermilk. With the mixer on lowest speed gradually pour into the mixer. Increase the speed to #2 or # 3 (on a KitchenAid mixer). Mix for 2 minutes. Batter will be fluffy and smooth. If you are using a hand mixer rather than a stand mixer, you will need to mix a bit longer.
•    Divide batter evenly between your three prepared (8 inch) pans.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and turn out of pans. 
• Add butter and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter. Add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.
• Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed so you won't have a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen.
• Continue to mix adding remaining milk as needed. It may take 5 to 6 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. It will take longer if using a hand mixer. As you mix the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.