I really wanted to make a nice cake for Bekka, since it seemed silly not
to use my talents for my own daughter's party. Unfortunately, I did not
bring any of my cake supplies, so I had to make do.
1) Cakes: I used 4 disposable 8"-square foil pans. I made one box
of chocolate cake and one box of vanilla cake (each box filled two
pans). I used chocolate, vanilla, chocolate for the bottom tier (for the
adults). Then I cut the other cake into fourths and stacked two of the
squares to make the top tier (for Bekka). To make the base board, I
actually cut up a diaper box into two squares, taped them together, then
wrapped them in foil.
2) Filling: I made
crème patisserie (French
pastry cream) which I used between the layers of the small cake, and
between the bottom and middle layers of the big cake. Between the middle
and top layers of the big cake, I used crushed mixed berries (thawed
from a bag) that I combined with some vanilla frosting. I just used
store-bought whipped vanilla frosting for the crumb coat.
3) Frosting: In addition to the whipped frosting I used for the crumb coat, I made
marshmallow fondant
to cover the tiers and make the ribbon and polka dots (I just
eye-balled the width of the ribbon and cut it with a knife, and I used
the bottom of a large tip to cut the pink dots and a No. 5 -- or No. 8, I
can't remember -- tip to cut the green dots). I used neon food coloring
(the only kind they had at the store) to get the pink, purple, and
green (made to match the decorating icing). I used
store-bought decorating icing
to decorate the cake balls and to accent the ribbons and polka dots
(the pack came with purple, pink, teal, and white). The pearl border
between the two cakes was made with the vanilla frosting in a similar
Ziploc piping bag, using a
No. 8 tip (the same tip I used to cut the green dots. I can't remember if it was a No. 5 or No. 8).
4) Piped Flowers: To make the flowers, I cut a corner from a Ziploc bag, put used a
No. 1 tip and coupler that I borrowed from my friend Erin, and filled it with
store-bought brownie icing. I free-handed the floral design based on the Garden Greenery pattern from the
Wilton Garden Terraces Cake. I also used this icing to write on the fondant gift tag.
5) Cake Balls: With
the cake I shaved off the layers (so they would be flat and create an
even square) and the other half of the second vanilla cake, I made cake
balls. I crumbled the vanilla cake in one bowl, the chocolate in another
and added store-bought whipped cream cheese frosting to both (I didn't
measure, but you want to add enough that the crumbs all stick together).
I rolled them into 1" balls and stuck them in the freezer to cool them.
I cut all the chocolate ones in half, then cut an equal number of
vanilla ones in half (I had a lot more vanilla than chocolate). I then
rolled a chocolate half and a vanilla half together until I only had
mixed balls and vanilla balls. I used vanilla melting candy and coated
the cake balls. Once the candy was hardened, I decorated using the
store-bought icing.
6) Finishing Touches: I added a lot of sugar pearls to the top
cake, as well as to the pearl border between the cakes. I used the white
decorating icing to make French dots on the bottom cake. I rolled some
fondant and laid it around the bottom cake. I put some frosting on the
bottom of the cake balls and stuck them around the cake. I then
sprinkled the board with shaved chocolate (which I got from smoothing
out the bottom of the cake balls).
