Yesterday was Layla's 2nd birthday party. I had brought some cakes home from Pastry to keep in the freezer so I wouldn't actually need to bake the cakes, I could just decorate them. I planned to use fondant to cover the cake and then pipe Olivia the pig onto the top of the cake and do some cute cute out circles in varying shades of pink on the top tier and stripes on the bottom tier.
Or not.
The day started fine when I made my simple syrup to brush in between the cake layers to give it more flavor. I sliced a few strawberries and quartered an orange to simmer with the syrup to infuse it with those flavors. That part was extremely yummy and easily handled.
I then made a strawberry coulis to spread in between the layers for even more flavor. Again, easily handled.
Then I made a vanilla pastry cream which I folded into simple buttercream icing. I did this in class one day with a chocolate buttercream and it was heavenly. This was very light and delectable, as well, but it should have just been used in between layers, and not on the outside of the cake as it began to break down a little and didn't have the smooth appearance I wanted.
I ended up not having enough fondant left to cover the cakes, so I decided to just frost it. As I said above, the icing began to break down a bit, and I was getting frustrated. After a quick run to Publix in which I picked up red sugar and strawberry gushers, I was able to save the cake and my sanity. I sprinkled to red sugar on the bottom tier and then used the piping gel I had picked up at an earlier date and tinted the colors I needed to pipe Olivia on the top as planned.
I was satisfied with how the cake turned out. It tasted pretty good, but I'm not a huge white cake fan. Next time, I will be making my own cake to use, as well.
I start school again on Tuesday! It's been a wonderful break and I got to reconnect with and spend some quality time with the kids and Marc, but I am excited to be going back, too.
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