Week 1

Ok, so I am going to attempt to create 1 dessert a week. Something new, whether it be the actual recipe or the kind of decorating it has. I am new to baking for other people and have a HUGE project that will be done next week. But as for week 1, here goes.

I started the afternoon off with a run to Michael's Craft Store. I picked up a 10 inch round pan, a cake leverer, and some pan coolies. The coolies are AWESOME! You soak these strips of oven safe fabric in cold water (run fingers over it to remove excess water), then wrap around and secure with a T pin to the outside of your baking pan. Pour your batter and pop it in the oven. The wet strips let the cake start cooking in the center before the edges cook. This gives you more of a level cake and a lot less waste when you top it. The bottom and sides of my first cake where NOT browned! And the cake was super moist!

I let the cakes (2 8in rounds) cool completley and then topped them with the cake leveler. This thing is totally cool too! A definate MUST have in the kitchen. When you place the first layer on your cake board, you want to put it cut side up. Then pipe out a dam with tip #12 in the cake frosting you will be using to frost the cake. You may now fill the inside of the dam with your choice of filling. Now, when you place the 2nd layer on, you want to put it cut side DOWN. This will help keep the crumbs down.

I used the large icing tip and a #16 disposable bag to pipe the frosting on the cake. I then used an offset spatchula to smooth the frosting. If you have some rough spots, just wait till the frosting is no longer 'sticky' and you can put a piece of parchment paper on top and use your hand to lightly rub over the frosting. The heat from your hand and the pight pressure will smooth it out for you.

Now I got all my frosting colored as the cake was baking so it was all ready to go when I got ready to decorate. (I did sprinkle some candy sprinkles on the top for my hubby when the frosting was still sticky) I then used tip #12 to line the bottom edge with little balls of frosting, although I was using a soft frosting, so they do not look as good as they should. This cake was really fun and I can not wait to cut into it after dinner with the family!



Next week: 2 tier chocolate cake with zebra stripes in fondant and hot pink frosting!