Orange Happiness

Yesterday, we celebrated my Confirmation. I was bored out of my mind all day and thought, why not bake a cake? Sure, we were going to have cheesecake and chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert, but cake would just give more variety;) For the longest time, I've been wanting to make an ombre cake after seeing some real cool ones on Pinterest. I went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for white cake and cream cheese frosting, but while passing the produce, the oranges just seemed to pop out to me. Orange represents "Enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, and encouragement." You could say I was in an orangey mood, plus I had orange juice and toast with orange marmalade for breakfast and chose to wear my bright orange dress.  So I went home, put on my apron, and started to make my orange cake!

Simple ingredients to make a beautiful cake!

Dying the batter was an art of precision without a doubt. I wanted to make sure each layer was clearly a darker shade than the previous. To give a slight orange flavor, I squeezed in some juice and fresh zest.

I baked each layer in 8-inch round pans. They were thin, but substantial. While each layer baked, I did my least favorite thing- washing the dishes and one of my favorite things- making the frosting. The cake ended up with a slight orange taste, but my goal was to make the cream cheese frosting perfectly orange. I added orange zest, fresh juice, a splash of vanilla, and then a bit of lemon zest and juice to provide an ample citrus flavor.

So much flavor!

Once the cakes were cool, I put them together, something I usually struggle with but boy, I did good this time! To decorate the outside, I thinly sliced some oranges and stuck them around the outside.

Isn't it gorgeous?!

I was so proud! ;)

But the beauty of the cake was definitely the inside!

I will certainly be making ombre cakes in the future!

An excellent ombre!

And what would a party be without friends?! These girls and I partied it up on the trampoline and playing Just Dance 2- dancing to our favorite song Rasputin! I'm the worst of them all, but I don't plan on being a dancer in the future ;)

Kylee, me, Mack, Jessica

Goofing off

We were up until 1am making a very funny video, but proceeded out to the tramp to sleep under the stars at 1:30. It was beautiful out! We talked for a while until eventually we were silent, trying to not collide and sleep in our own corners. 

Staying warm!

This morning though, I woke up to Kylee spooning me and Mackenzie right next to me on the other side. We were all cuddled and close trying to keep warm! The morning dew dampened our pillows and sleeping bags and the cool night temperatures crowded us together, but we still had a great time! 

xo
Hannah