Friday, January 22, 2010

Day 11-What a Process




I woke up to dried gum paste flowers that had (much to my excitement) maintained their shape. I decided that I would try to make a chocolate cake from scratch today. I had to make one emergency trip to the store while my cocoa powder, oil, and butter waited patiently next to a stove burner because I didn't think that using expired buttermilk seemed like the best idea. The cake smelled a little like pumpkin bread once it got into the oven because the recipe called for cinnamon, which also made my whole apartment smell great for the rest of the day.

I decided to make a layered cake because my online class lesson was on wedding cakes. I learned that the current trend is to have different patterns on different layers of the cake, and that couples are opting for non-traditional colors and patterns.

After the cakes cooled, I trimmed and torted the layers to make them stronger so that they could hold up against the weight of the fondant and the top tier. The homemade cake was definitely more sturdy than box mixes, and it was much easier to decorate.

I finished my Calla Lilies today by adding centers to them and sprinkling them with what might have been too much luster dust. Luster dust or not, they were able to hide the green food stain I accidentally got on one of the cake corners.

This is the first tiered cake I have made, so I hope that my straw supports and royal icing hold it together.

3 comments:

  1. oh kath. we LOOOVEEEE the cake and are sad that we aren't there to see it. al has officially decided that you are making her wedding cake because you used her favorite flower and her favorite color. it is beautiful- way to go lil miss cake decorator. love you so much and see you very pronto mariposa.

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  2. Kath, the cake is beautiful. I'm hungry.

    Love ya,

    Dad

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  3. This cake is beautiful!! Wow, I'm very impressed. I mean, just wow.

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