Cara Elizabeth was born the same day as me! March 13. Different year of course. To celebrate her first birthday, which was almost this same time last year, required something pink and dramatic--baby-like but growing up, and feminine but not so much that it scares off her boy guests (including her cousins and brother.) Of course, it had to also taste delicious. I came up with this.
I decided to create this pink and ivory colored white cake with the most delicious strawberry cream filling, and a used my regular butter cream frosting in a smooth finish to mimick the look (but thankfully not the taste) of fondant. In pondering the design I found a recipe for a huge, beautiful white chocolate bow and decided to venture into the rather new experience for me of chocolate making. (It was way way easier than I thought.) I used the bow as the centerpiece and basically created the cake around that and the pink/ivory concept. (Ivory is actually a great frosting color as it's what you get with a standard butter cream and don't have to do anything with it. Trying to create a pure white frosting is actually not as easy as ivory.) So if ivory works, go with it.
I recalled having my round pan set...a really big one, medium size one and a small one, so decided to use the big one and put the small one on top (which I did a few years back for Shannon's "Movie Cake" to be posted soon!) I planned to mount the bow atop the small one and the small one atop the big one.
I decided with the number of guests expected, I would make the cake a little bigger and taller, by making one batch of batter in white/ivory and split it into the big pan and the small pan. Then I made another batch of batter and dyed it hot pink and split it into the big pan and the small pan once the first batch was done. This way I could fill between two very thick layers and make the cake much taller like a wedding cake.The second photo below is after I trimmed the curvy tops off of the cakes to make them fit better together. I have to say I often DON'T do that, mostly because I hate to waste those tops...to me, the best part of the cake!
I then made my filling which was a strawberry jam, whipped cream mix, and after the cakes had cooled put it between the colored pieces such that the small piece had a pink bottom, strawberry filling and a white cake on top, and the same with the bottom layer, eventually mounting them on top of each other. In this case, to keep the cake stable, I froze the filled layers for a few hours, which helped set the crumbs a bit and also ensure the filling didn't "squish" out as I worked with the cake.
I put the cake on my pretty (and inexpensive) cardboard cake plates to help hold it for transporting. I then frosted the bottom layer with my standard butter cream (basically 2 sticks of softened butter, 6 cups of powdered sugar, regular vanilla or Madagascar paste when I can get it, and heavy cream or milk to thin it out. If it gets too thin, then add more powdered sugar.) I smoothed the frosting to make it look like fondant (what I have done forever, even before there WAS fondant) on the bottom layer by applying my offset knife dipped in hot water every other stroke or two until it was complete. I put the 2nd smaller cake on top and then did the same thing.
I debated leaving the top layer right on top of the bottom layer, versus using my white plastic divider plate on top. I figured the divider plate wouldn't look as good, as it would be visible, but it would sure make it easier to remove that top layer for cutting and serving it neatly. If you don't use the divider plate, you can use a long toothpick (usually 2 to 4 of them) that holds the top layer to the bottom, since the frosting alone isn't good enough if you have to transport it. In this case, I used the toothpicks--just had to remember they were there so that nobody got a bite of pokey wood!
I then made some pink with my butter cream, to use on the border and to write Cara's Birthday message, and put it in a decorator bag. I also put some of the plain in a decorator bag too with the "shell" tip..fortunately I have a whole bunch of them. I then piped the shell border onto the bottom layer to blend the edges of the cake with the plate. I alternated pink and white even there for effect since there wasn't likely to be much color on the cake other than the pink. (I was a little disappointed though as the consistency of the frosting was a little thin to hold up in the shape of the shells and I didn't notice this until after it was already in both decorator bags, so I really couldn't easily add more powdered sugar like I would have if it had been in the bowl. In another shell or two, I also saw I hadn't mixed the color as well in the bag and it came out a little streaked in a way I didn't intend. Had this been for someone other than a 1 year old, I might have redone it, but I was o.k. with it that day.)
Using a pastry brush, spread a thick portion of the melted chocolate on the strip, with the edges as straight as you can along the paper. Fortunately, if you go slightly over the edges, (use more wax paper underneath as your work surface) that piece will break off and you will have a nice sharp edge to your "bow." Make sure it's relatively thick, and while it's still cooling, turn the chocolate covered strip on it's side and fold it in half, leaving an open loop on one side and put the two ends of the waxed paper together so they melt and harden that way.
I let them harden and basically went and finished the rest of the cake. When I was ready to assemble the bow about an hour later, I removed the wax paper strips from each piece/loop of the bow, and laid each loop gently on top of the cake in a circle, directly into a small mound of frosting which was going to act like the "glue." I ended up making 8 or maybe 10 loops and using 5 around the cake and one in the center. Yes, I broke two. (What I do now, is I also make one or two round loops--that is, without the long "leg" at the end of the loop-- to use in the center of the bow to make it look more finished. It's a little trickier to keep the loop round with the wax paper in the way, but not impossible.)
Since I was "driving" this cake to the party, I decided to put a little more frosting on top of all the assembled pieces of the bow before putting the center piece on, hoping it would dry and hold it in place even better. (What I do now, is also make a small batch of decorator frosting or one with meringue powder that does dry a little harder than regular frosting, to ensure the bow doesn't move. It does work better for sure.)
One other touch I added, was the mounting (in dots of frosting) of a few little ready-made pink sugar flowers I happened to find at the craft store earlier in the week. The colors matched exquisitely and they added a teeny tiny touch of yellow color in the middle of each flower, to break up the monotony (if you could call it that) of the pink and white.
Then it all went into the fridge to stay "hard" until the party. Whew.
I should note that with the number of guests expected, and many of them "little" I made my usual baby cupcakes too also in pink, with white paper cups (since white cups generally show through the color of your batter) to show off my pretty pink mini cupcakes.
OK, I should have taken a better photo of the inside BEFORE it got all mowed up...I kind of forgot, but it was quite pretty when it was served, easy to serve, and definitely delicious.
Happy 1st Birthday Cara!
