Baby Shower Cakes

Petal Cake, Vertical & Horizontal Ruffle Cakes, Rosette Cake, and Mini Rosette Cake.

These cakes were just not for any ordinary baby shower- they were for my baby shower.
I know you're probably thinking, "Who makes their own baby shower cakes?"
Well the answer is the same girl who made her own birthday cake last year, and this is because I am picky when it comes to cake.

Surprise!

 I really am. I am so critical of cake and frosting it almost makes me feel bad.
Honestly, what it comes down to is quality of ingredients. Everything I make is homemade and fresh using simple ingredients. Good ingredients make good cakes.



These gorgeous cakes are no exception.
All five were each a different flavor combination, but all fiver were frosted in Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting. 

Pink Velvet Cake with Vanilla SMBC filling & frosting.

Chocolate Cake with Fresh Strawberry Swiss meringue filling and Vanilla SMBC frosting.

Vanilla Cake with Fresh Strawberry Swiss meringue filling & Vanilla SMBC frosting.

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla SMBC filling and frosting.

Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling & Vanilla SMBC frosting.

Chloe's 2nd Birthday Cake

Since the colorful Sesame Street birthday cake last year Chloe has turned two, and this year we celebrated with lot's of color and cute cupcakes (not actual cupcakes, just the theme).

The cake was chocolate and frosted in vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream (which received countless rave reviews).

Even though I knew this cake undoubtedly delicious and irresistibly cute, the fact that Miss birthday girl could hardly keep her fingers out of the frosting while exclaiming "Mmmmm bipday cakes! Yum!" is definitely my biggest compliment. (Regardless of whether or not there were little finger prints in the once smooth frosting by the time cake was actually served to guests.) Seeing someone I love so happy and absolutely thrilled about her birthday cake is humbling, and I am happy to have once again been a small part of her special day.

Strawberry Cake Iced In Strawberry Swiss Meringue Rosettes

It's been long. Too long since I've posted new cakes.
Between moving, working, and getting pregnant (which includes being tired, giving into the uncontrollable urge to nest,  and oddly enough losing my sweet tooth ) I've definitely let my baking, photography, and blogging go to the wayside.
However, I am truly, honestly, and hopefully getting back to it more because there are just too many tasty cakes I want to bake and beautiful decorating techniques I am eager to try. 

Like this one...

Have you ever seen buttercream so beautiful? Cakes iced with a single tip are all the rage now, and I can see why! They are simple, beautiful, and impressive.

For this one I used a mini star tip to pipe rosettes after applying a crumb coat.

Then I went the extra mile and hand placed each and every single one of those little pearl sprinkles in the center of each rosette. The time and effort was so worth it. Thole little pearl sprinkles make this cake amazing.

Mini rosettes piped in fresh strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream.

What was even better about baking again was eating a homemade cake- all from scratch. No shortening. No food coloring. Fresh pureed strawberries. Fresh butter. Perfect texture. Perfect.

Wishing you could enjoy a slice with me.

Blue Velvet Cake

I know it's been done before, but blue velvet is just as impressive as red velvet. The richness of flavor from the buttermilk in combination with a slight hint of cocoa is unmistakable. Delicious.

Blue velvet cake with fading layers.

I made this cake for my brother and sister-in- law's going away party.  I made each layer a different shade of blue so that each slice had layers that faded from light to dark. It was pretty impressive. To achieve this look all I did was weigh out the batter evenly into 4 different cake pans, adding more royal blue food color gel to each pan. Each pan baked up perfectly flat, skinny, blue layers ready to be stacked and frosted with lots of smooth Swiss meringue buttercream- yum!

Blue velvet layers before baking.

Blue velvet layers after baking.

Blue velvet cake frosted in Swiss meringue buttercream.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Irish birthday cake made with Swiss meringue buttercream.

Cake decorating is an exciting thing for me- there's always something new to learn! As long as I've been decorating cakes, I've always used a traditional American buttercream made with either shortening, butter, or a combination of both, depending on the particular use, mixed with confectioners sugar, meringue powder, and flavored with vanilla extract. This frosting is not a bad one, and I've found that many people love it homemade. In the past few months though I've learned that American buttercream (AMBC) is not the only type of buttercream out there, and it's definitely not always the best option for decorating cakes.

Cake torted and covered in a light crumb coat.

Over the weekend I finally set aside some time to make Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC). From what I've learned there are three main types of meringue buttercream: Swiss, Italian, and French. They are made with sugar, whipped egg whites, and lots of butter. The result in each is a very light, not overly sweet, and smooth frosting. The difference between the three is the method of preparation. As I said before I am just learning this, so I have only made SMBC, and let me tell you- it is nothing short of amazing!

Still working on achieving the perfectly smoothed look.

Irish birthday cake.

SMBC is SO smooth and tasty. It is not overly sweet, which I love, and it can be flavored in so many ways (which I am hoping to experiment with soon!) The recipe I tried is from baker and decorator, Jennifer Bratko who runs a successful cake business in san Francisco, From Scratch SF. She is very precise and accurate in her recipes, making them nearly flawless. I've read through many of her blog posts about cake, butter, frosting, and decorating. I always learn something new. Jennifer's recipe for SMBC is made by whisking sugar, egg whites, and salt over a double boiler until it reaches a temperature of 160 degrees F. It is then transferred to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whipped on high until stiff peaks form. The last step is to add 1 pound of room temperature butter to the meringue and to fit the mixer with a paddle attachment. The butter and meringue need to be mixed on the lowest possible setting until the butter emulsifies with the meringue creating a super smooth and light frosting. Here is the link to Jennifer's recipe and tutorial. Don't be afraid to try this one out! It will definitely change your opinion on buttercream.

Smooth top and sharp edges.

Since it is difficult for my husband and I to eat a whole cake ourselves, I made this cake for the friend of a friend's birthday party over the weekend. It was simple white cake with a vanilla bean SMBC. Everyone loved it and said that it was the lightest creamiest frosting they've ever tasted, success! Besides being so tasty, SMBC is actually much easier to decorate with. It smooths out very quickly and easily, giving a nearly flawless finish and sharp edges.