Make a Delicious Shamrock Cake

A festive shamrock cake makes the perfect centerpiece for your St. Patrick's Day celebration. On St. Patrick's Day, green food and shamrock food shapes are the way to go. A shamrock cake is not hard to make, and will certainly draw attention and appreciation from your dinner crowd. This recipe uses a white cake that you tint with green food coloring for a holiday-themed look.

The Cake
The white cake will be divided into three heart-shaped pans for baking. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ C milk
• green food coloring

Directions

1. Grease and flour your cake pans. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to preheat it.
2. Cream the sugar and butter together in a bowl. Slowly beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the baking powder and flour, gradually adding them to the mixture. Stir in the milk until you have an even consistency.
3. Drop in the green food coloring until the desired shade of green is achieved.
4. Divide the batter into three small (6" or 9") heart pans.
5. Bake the cakes for 30 minutes, or until each springs back when you press them.

Decorating the Shamrock Cake

Ingredients:

• ½ cup softened butter
• 4 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk

Directions:

1. Cream the butter, beating in the sugar and vanilla.
2. Add milk until the frosting is the consistency you want.
3. Divide the frosting into two batches.
4. Add drops of green food coloring to one batch of frosting until the desired shade is achieved.

Assembling the Shamrock Cake
Put all three hearts together on a platter, with the triangular tips of the hearts touching. Frost over the three hearts with the green frosting so that they all look like one cake. Use the white frosting to outline the top edge of the cake. Alternately, you can cover the cake in white frosting and use the green for decoration.