Let Them Eat Cake

There's something formal about cake that makes it so special. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the down to earth cupcake. But the celebration cake is so exclusive and ceremonious.  You can't just grab a piece without doing the whole presenting, maybe some singing and then the cutting by a designated person. And then once it's been cut, you've got to pass the slices around and wait for yours, and hope you don't get jipped with a smallish slice. You possibly grab a second slice if no one's paying attention, and sneak a third for a midnight snack if your lucky enough to take some home. You hide that piece from whomever lives at home with you. Stick it way back in the fridge, push cartons of milk and heads of lettuce in front of it. So you can have the perfectly proportioned layers of cake and frosting later, and not share... Hypothetically speaking. But I digress.

I love the fussiness of it all, and I wanted to try doing a frilly cake with royal icing and fondant. I'm not a huge fan of the cliched fondant covered cake because I love my Swiss meringue buttercream. However, you just can't deny the clean, elegant look you that comes with a pale colored fondant backdrop contrasted to a crisp white ornate piped royal icing.

The gorgeous Martha-Stewart-esque wedding cakes in all the bridal magazines have always made me want to attempt doing one. So here it is. My attempt. It's so much harder than it I thought it would be. Try to ignore the smudges and the crooked lines. I'll do better next time, Kerry Vincent. Practice makes perfect.

The cake itself is chocolate and red velvet vertical layers. You can see how i am baker does it. It's spectacular if you chose cakes that really contrast in color such as vanilla and chocolate.  I frosted with a thin layer of Swiss meringue buttercream (you knew I had to work that in) and covered with some homemade marshmallow fondant. You'd better believe I ate that slice as soon as I put the camera down. The cake smelled amazing. I must say, however, my heart still belongs to Swiss meringue buttercream, if I get to have my cake and eat it too.