DORA THE EXPLORER
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This cake was made for little Emma, the niece of my friend and colleague, Linh, to celebrate her 2nd birthday on August 11, 2007 in San Jose, CA.  
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DESIGN
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At the age of two, children are just starting to recognize things.  Apparently, Dora is one of the few characters that Emma recognizes.  So it was a simple selection on the part of the parents.  
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Since Dora the Explorer is a pretty popular cartoon character these days, I was able to just buy the Wilton pan right off the shelf.  I frequent a local cake decorating supply shop called 'Barbara of Pauline's' in south San Jose.  I try to buy local as much as possible to support other cake decorators in their endevours.
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CAKE
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What else but the famous "Chocolate Blackout Cake" recipe by Margaret Braun.
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FILLING
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No filling since this is a simple sheet cake.
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ICING
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The icing is orange scented italian meringue buttercream using orange extract and colored with gel food colorings.  The brown and black icings are bittersweet chocolate italian meringue with a little gel food coloring as well.
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DECORATION
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 No special decoration, just a bunch of colored stars.  Kind of like paint-by-number with colored icings.  I love the bright colors.
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<img src=images/2007_dora1.jpg>
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<img src=images/2007_dora2.jpg>
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<img src=images/2007_dora3.jpg>
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<img src=images/2007_dora4.jpg>