What a Day for a Cake!

Happy Birthday Charlie Kirk! Unless you live under a rock somewhere or ignore the push on Social Media to flood the world with Red Shirts today, you already know it’s Charlie’s 32 birthday. To celebrate this, his first heavenly birthday, I thought we might bake a cake.

God works is such amazing ways. It was God who brought Charlie and Erica together, no doubt. What they did with that was up to them, God’s initial role ended with the introduction. He knew what He was doing, no doubt. Just look at the way this brave woman has stepped up. There are those who are critical of Erica for taking the helm of Turning Point after her husband’s assassination. They claim it is hypocritical. Charlie talked about the importance of a woman’s role in the home. They missed the point. When Charlie talked about a woman staying home to care for the children, he was talking about choices and not necessity. For Erica to take over Turning Point was a necessity. I think we can all agree, if given the choice between filling Charlie’s shoes or standing beside her husband, she would rather have him at her side. What Erica is doing is brave. We should all pray for her, that the Lord continue to strengthen and guide her.

I don’t think any true Christian man sees women as weak or simple minded. Do we want the love and protection of a husband? Of course. Wanting to be protected, to be sheltered in the arms of our husbands is not a sign of weakness. Just as submission is not a display of weakness. Women are strong, silent pillars. I am proud to be a woman. I am proud to be a wife. It is a partnership designed by God, through faith.

So often Ephesians 5 is taken out of context, meant to somehow belittle what God intended. Often verses 25 through 30 are left out, which changes the tone completely.

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subject to their husbands as they are to the Lord, for the husband is his wife’s head just as Christ is the head of the church, and is himself the Savior of the body. But just as the church is subject to Christ, so too wives should be subject to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:21-24

Its important that we do not stop here. There is so much more.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the bath of water and the word. In this way he’ll be able to present the church to himself in its glory, having neither stain nor wrinkle nor anything of that sort, but instead holy and unblemished. In the same way husbands should love their wives just as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself for no one ever hates his own flesh. On the contrary, he nourishes and cares for it just as Christ does for the church, because we’re parts of his body. Ephesians 5:25-30

Husbands and wives have different roles within the marriage, neither is above the other, but rather subject to one another through love and respect. It’s all part of His divine plan. The key is to pick a partner who is worthy of you, and you of him.

And that’s my lecture for today. Happy Birthday Charlie!

Red, White and Blue Birthday
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Water
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 box French Vanilla Cake Mix
1/2 cup Milk

Heat oven 325-degrees. Grease bottoms and sides of two 8- or 9-inch round dark; non-stick cake pans with shortening or margarine. While the oven reaches temperature, let the eggs come to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat water with oil until foamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add cake mix and milk. Blend batter until moist, about 30 seconds.

Increase speed to medium, beat for 2 minutes. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake on the middle rack in the heated oven for about 23 minutes or until cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cake cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting
1 cup Butter
1 cup Shortening
2 teaspoon Vanilla
8 cups Powdered Sugar
Milk or Heavy Cream as needed
Tasteless Red Food Coloring as desired

White the cake is baking and cooling, let the butter sit on the counter to soften. Once the cakes are completely cooled and ready to frost, make the buttercream.

Cream vegetable shortening and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, sift powdered sugar. Add sifted sugar to the creamed butter mixture 1 cup at a time, incorporating fully before adding the next cup. Whip frosting, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary until all the sugar has been added. AT this point the frosting will appear dry and stiff.

Add milk or heavy creamy, whip. Add corn syrup, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired piping, spreadable consistency of the frosting is reached.

Place 1-1/2 cups of frosting in a separate bowl. Tint to desired depth of red with a tasteless coloring. Set aside.

Decorate Cake
1 cup Strawberries
Handful Blueberries
1 cup Strawberry Jam or Preserves

Clean berries, pat dry. Stem, hull and slice strawberries, set aside. Once the cakes are fully cooled and ready to decorate, remove domes (if any) from the top for even cake tops.

On a cake plate place the bottom layer of cake, cut side down. Spread jam over the top of the cake almost to the edge. Lay strawberries over the jam.

Place the top layer of cake over the bottom, cut side down. Spread white buttercream frosting all around the sides of the cake. Place remaining white frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip.

In the upper left of the cake, arrange blueberries with small spaces between. Pipe white stars between and around the blueberries. Next pipe strips of white stars across the top of the cake, leaving room for red strips between.

Place red frosting in another pastry bag fitted with a small star tip. Pepe red strips of stars between the white stripes of stars. If there is enough red remaining, pipe small stars around the bottom or alternate between red and white.

Cover cake, chill for about an hour for everything to set firmly in place. Remove cake from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before slicing.

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His master said to him,
‘Well done, good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful over a little;
I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master.’