Coco's Birthday Cake

My oldest daughter, Colette, turned 19 Saturday.  I know, I know, I don't look that old (LOL).  Yes, I was three when I had her.  Anyhoo....We were looking around Anthropologie a couple of weeks ago and came across a cookbook that had a pretty chocolate cake with pink frosting. 

My Inspiration -  Source

She told me that she wanted her Birthday cake to look like that.  This week she told me she wanted purple frosting. 

Here's my version...

I'm pretty darn pleased with how it turned out!!

I used a regular chocolate cake mix and substituted almond milk for the water.  I've done this a number of times and I think the cake turns out moister and not tough.  I split the batter between three 8 inch pans and reduced the baking time by about five minutes.  Always check to be sure the cake is done!

I used Wilton's 1M  tip to outline the layers and Bakery Crafts 9P tip to fill it in.  I didn't cover the entire cake but when I put the layers on, the frosting spread out pretty evenly.

By the way, here is my favorite recipe for frosting. 

Salted Buttercream

1 cup butter , softened 

3 ½ cups confectioners' sugar 

1 teaspoon milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a bowl combine butter, sugar and salt. Beat till blended.
2. Add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.

I found a tutorial on making the "roses" at I Am Baker, as I've mentioned in an earlier post, I am lazy.  I didn't dirty ice the cake first so once again, there is a little bit of chocolate cake peaking through.  It still looked quite pretty.  I finished them off with white dragees.

Happy Birthday Colette!

Linked to:

Renée

My First Fondant Cake

I've been fascinated with fondant cakes for years.  I remember in Jr. High, I checked out a book on decorating with fondant before it was the chic thing to do.

My youngest daughter, Dominique, turned 15 last month and asked me to make her a cake with fondant.  I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out, but since it was just for the family I gave it a shot.

I did the hard part and then my girls took over the "fun" until they got bored so Mom finished it.  I will do a couple of things differently next time but was very happy with how it turned out.

A special thanks goes out to my friend Jackie,  she gave me lots of pointers and even shared her fondant with me!!  She's the bomb!!  Later this month we'll be having our second annual Halloween Cupcake Decorating Party with her.  Fun, fun!!

Renee'