I'm back from a long break! Last summer I had a baby, my 4th boy! Needless to say cakes had to be put on hold for a while. Actually even the thought of doing a cake for at least a year after he was born caused immediate anxiety. I did a cake for his 1st birthday and had fun doing it, but stressed out too much and decided I wasn't really ready yet. Then about 3 months later I was asked to do a cake for a friend's daughter's 16th birthday. She was having a Breakfast at Tiffany's theme. She wanted this cake and I had to do it. This time it not only ignited the old creative spark but lit a bonfire within me. I'm so excited to start doing some cakes again!! Watch out!
I loved doing this cake and learned soooo much. The whole sharp edges on fondant technique finally clicked. I've tried it before after watching countless Youtube videos but couldn't seem to get it. This time it finally made sense. I even decorated a second smaller cake the day after this one and practiced the edges. I still need to work on it, especially the corners, but I love the straight lines on the sides as opposed to rounded edges (I hate rounded marshmallowy edges on fondant cakes and it has been my goal in life to get rid of them!!) Since I have just figured this out, I still need lots of practice and have yet to try it on a round cake but I'm excited to. I lay awake at night practicing it over and over in my brain haha!
The bow was super fun too, I love working with gum paste and making bows and this one turned out super pretty.
Cake baker's and cake eater's pet peave alert!!
Can I just say to anyone out there baking a cake - stop over baking!! Hello, who wants dry cake? NOT ME! I will confess something. I don't really like cake. Any time I go to some kind of function and they're serving cake I usually pass on it. (Especially if it's grocery store bakery cake, oh my goodness don't get me started! tasteless crisco frosting, spongy dry cake, chewy fake jammy filling yuck!) My whole life for birthdays, etc I have had to put my piece of cake in a bowl and pour milk on it because I can't stand dry cake and everybody's cake is dry. WHY? Because everyone sets the timer to what the recipe says or waits until the toothpick comes out clean. Heads up, if it comes out clean the cake is overdone. Nobody knows this because they've been doing it wrong for so long that they just assume that's how cake should be, dry, and then they say (like I used to) "I don't really like cake". It wasn't until I started making my own cakes from scratch that I stopped having to pour milk on it, I had learned that cakes don't have to be dry and unappealing. They can be moist and soft and yummy. You don't have to drench the layers in simple syrup to cover up their blandness, just making them gummy! You don't have to pour milk on it, making it soggy! You don't have to simply rely on the filling or frosting to save you! It's simple, just find a good recipe, turn down your oven 25 degrees, set the timer at least 10 minutes earlier than the recipe says, check it every minute during the last few minutes of baking and take the cake out right at the point when you think of saying….um I think it needs one more minute. NO take it out now! The toothpick should come out with cake all over it, (not wet batter of course) but if it has cake crumbs on it, TAKE IT OUT! Another confession, my cakes sink ever so slightly in the center when they cool, and when that happens I do a happy dance because I know I haven't over baked it!! Domed center = overbaked and dry, slightly sunken center means slightly underbaked, or in other words - perfectly baked and moist. I always level my cake layers anyway before I stack so the sinking is actually preferable to me when making level layers.
There you go, I'm off my cake (soap) box and on to some moist cake baking! Let's start a moist cake revolution and end the reign of dry cake!!
