The neverending winter
of snow, frozen tundra, and prolonged sub zero temps. That about sums 2014 so
far. This is the longest short month
EVER. Last year I joked about the things
that winter does to a person in the Midwest.
Little did I know what we were in store for this year. Crikey. I’m just going to get in line with the dodos.
To beat
the winter blues, I fancied up another cake on Friday to celebrate
Valentine’s. I am happy to report that I
survived the encounter. Y’all know I
love to cook but baking is just not my jam.
Too precise for this cavalier cook.
But I love a good challenge so I keep torturing myself. Icing is Public Enemy numero uno. Outside of catching the oven on fire with
overflowing batter on more than a few occasions, icing almost always gets me
down. Too many fails to chronicle. And don’t even get me started on royal icing. Middle
finger to royal icing. Those
decorated Martha cookies of my dreams will remain squarely in the land of nod.
Any who
– this time worked out just fine using a few tricks that I employed last year
for my Cupid’s Arrow cake. Tip one: box
cake is your friend. Tip Two: use
smaller pans to give the cake a boutique bakery look. Tip Three: make
your cake the day before - after cooling completely, wrap your layers tightly
with cling wrap and refrigerate. Tip Four: homemade
frosting will go a long way toward fooling your guests into thinking you spent hours in the
kitchen whipping up the cake from scratch.
Click
here for specifics from my Cupid cake last year including an easy buttercream recipe
that I used for both cakes. This year I
split the icing into 3rds to create a loose ombre effect using gel food coloring. I don’t remember the exact amounts but I used
about 15 drops of red gel to get the dark fuschia and 5 drops of red gel + 2 drops of yellow gel to get
the lighter pink.
This
cake would also be perfect for a shower, Easter, or Mother’s day, tinted
accordingly. Now go do your best Martha impression and get your box cake on. Oh, and please excuse my tarnished
silver, Momma. I couldn't find my way to the polish.
Do you ever cheat and use box cake?
All photos and styling by mrs. V.
kisses, mrs. V
I wish I had these skills. This looks amazing and perfectly level (mine are always slanted). It snowed again today. It looks like we might be getting a lot of rain, so the snow will melt and flood. Oh yeah.
ReplyDeleteI think you could take Martha any day. And if spring doesn't come soon I may just stick my face in that cake and never wake up.
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious and so pretty too!
ReplyDeleteIt looks fantastic. I love to bake and the shit I make is delicious, but it doesn't always look perfect. As long as it tastes good I'm happy. Yours looks beautiful though.
ReplyDeletePretty cake! I always use a boxed cake. I don't think scratch cakes are all that good and they are a pain to make. I do make our family recipe homemade icing. Yum.
ReplyDeleteI love to bake, but had to quit. I was eating it all!! But you may just be inspiring me to get back on the train, at least for special occasions!! xo
ReplyDeleteWow, what a beautiful cake! And thank you for sharing your secrets... such great tips!
ReplyDeleteXOXO,
The Glam Pad
Omigosh shut the front door!!! I just dropped $100 on an ombre cake for a baby shower I threw over the weekend! A day late and a dollar short! Shoulda found you first! ahhhhh great inspiration!...K next event for sure!
ReplyDeleteHope you'll stop by to see how I designed the baby shower...complete with ombre on ombre decor :D
xo-Julie
Peace. Love. LOL!
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