A simple way to add some color and fun to your springtime table. This cake uses both buttercream and fondant but is simple enough for beginners to walk away feeling like cake stars. And they did!
After several requests from friends who wanted to learn how to decorate a simple cake, I hosted a small workshop in my own kitchen. You can't beat cake decorating with your friends and we had so much fun. Each participant was asked to bake their own cake and make a batch of buttercream in advance and bring it with them. We learned to level our cake layers, how to add frosting between them and stack them, how to crumbcoat and so much more.
"My family was so impressed!"
The great part about everyone brining their own cake and frosting was that some cakes were crumbly, some frosting too stiff, others baked lopsided and others domed more than normal. Mine own frosting included. Which is what happens in real life so it was an excellent opportunity to walk through worst case scenarios and how you can fix them, or in some cases, camouflage it into the design.
My Bunny Cake - Strawberry and Vanilla
My 8" cake used a strawberry recipe I developed for an auction winner who bid on a cake certificate and requested a strawberry and chocolate cake design for her daughters birthday. I didn't want to disappoint with some store bought flavoring so baked at least 4 recipes and taste tested them on the entire staff at my son's school to make sure it was just right. Thanks teachers!
As you can see, my frosting didn't cooperate and smooth on like it normally does. But sometimes that's how it goes and you have to figure out what to do next. We are our worst critics and as long as it tasted amazing, I'm happy and so were my guests who came to brunch the next day. Some other ways I could have 'fixed' the frosting would have been to make a more fluffy appearance by using an offset spatula to spread the icing in swirls and make it bumpy on purpose or to take a fork and try to create some hair effects. It really is a blank canvas where you can go any direction.
The day turned out perfect. We had our mishaps and I learned a lot (a LOT) about teaching to a small group that morning but everyone left with a beautiful cake to share with their family, some new skills, and the confidence to keep on baking. Totally worth it. Bake on friends!
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