For all of you looking for the perfect yellow cake recipe, Cook's Illustrated has found it for you. This cake really is all its cracked up to be. As tasty and perfectly moist as a box cake but without all the chemical additives. It can be a bit much in the bowl department, as I think I ended up using 4 different bowls, but trust me its worth it. Not only is the cake delicious, but it makes perfect cupcakes as well. My only modification to the original recipe was to use slightly less butter. (it was accidental, as I ended up not leaving myself quite enough after making the frosting, but worked out great. When I make it again, I will probably do the same thing as I found it to be just slightly on the greasy side when I took it out the pan.) 

I hadn't really decided what I wanted the cake to look like. I had originally wanted something kind of art deco-ish but with time usually not running in my favor before a party, I didn't want to give myself something too complicated. I was inspired by the candle ring holder I used as a cake topper because it looked like a vine of flowers ready to bloom and thought it would fit in nicely with the theme. With time running out the day of the party, I slapped some vines onto the side that would coordinate with the topper and this is what I ended up with. Not exactly what I was looking for...but what do I expect considering I really don't have the steadiest hands. I did want them to be twisted and curly like grape vines...but still not exactly what I wanted. Also, I worked on this green for ages trying to get it the color I wanted before I gave up and realized how much will it really matter anyway? Its my cake, and at that point I really couldn't care what shade of green it was!