What's Great About a KitchenAid Stand Mixer? Everything!

The KitchenAid Stand Mixer is a must for every kitchen! Without it, no kitchen is complete. I should know, I just recently bought one and now my kitchen is complete and my countertop looks so much better with my mixer sitting there. KitchenAid mixers are the best residential mixers out there because of their versatility, innovative design, and great attachment options.

stand mixers have tilt heads for easy access to the bowl and beaters making your job a lot easier. Your recipe choices are endless when you use a . You can make homemade pasta, cake icing, bread dough, whip up ice cream, and whip up cake batter in no time. Those aren’t the only things your mixer will let you do. Your possibilities are endless.

There are many attachments for your to allow you to broaden your range of recipe ideas and make mixing so much more fun and interesting. Some of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer attachments are wire whips, dough hooks, ravioli makers, meat grinders, flat beaters, and more.

• The wire whip attachment is great for whipping up egg whites, whipped cream, and ensuring you’ll get a fluffy cake batter.
• The dough hook attachment mixes and kneads yeast dough, which keeps you from having to hand-knead the dough.
• The ravioli maker attachment makes perfect rows of ravioli for you. Just add meat, cheese or any other filling and it does the work for you.
• The flat beater attachment is great for mixing up cake icing, cake mixes, and cookie dough. The flat beater is designed to move easily and effortlessly to perfectly mix your creations.

If you’re looking for a tasty and creative idea for using your , here’s a fun elephant cake with intricate icing designs sure to “wow” your friends and family.

Pound Cake Recipe

• 3 cups sugar
• ½ lb softened butter
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt

In your KitchenAid Stand Mixer, combine sugar, softened butter and shortening. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture. Stir until thoroughly combined. Pour into 14 in cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour until golden brown, or until when a toothpick is inserted it comes out clean.

Buttercream Icing Recipe

• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 tsp clear vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar

In your , cream shortening and butter. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all of the sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

When cake is completely cooled, ice the entire cake with icing, and spread until evenly distributed and smooth. For the elephant, this part relies on your artistic abilities. You can make the elephant look however you want. Here’s the way I did it: I drew an elephant on a piece of paper that would fit into the center of the cake. I cut it out, placed it on top of the cake and outlined it with an edible color marker.

Then, I set out all of the colors of food coloring I wanted to use, and all of the pastry bags and tips I would be using. In my , I took the remaining icing and separated it into equal amounts for mixing in the coloring. One at a time I placed a portion of icing into the mixer and added a drop or two of the food coloring I was going to use. When that batch of colored icing was done I placed it into a pastry bag and completed all of the piping I wanted to do of that color. Next I put another batch of icing in the mixer, added food coloring and so on. I think you probably get the picture. I just worked with one color at a time to make sure I wasn’t getting jumbled with all of the different colors of icing. You’re elephant doesn’t have to look like mine. Maybe you prefer a different kind of elephant. Let your creativity flow and make your own personal elephant masterpiece.