YUUUUUMMMMEEEEEY!
So I've been planning a wedding. Which may be an extremely DIY wedding-on-a-budget kind of affair, and one of the things I've been looking at is how to (gasp!) make a wedding cake -- I know, right? Crazee. I think so too, actually. But still. I've been reading up on it. And luckily, I do believe that my friend's friend, who used to work in a cake bakery, is going to make our cake for us! Woot!
However, all that cake research has not been in vain! Oh, no. For both my daughters have just had their half birthdays, and these very blessed events are marked by very special, Mom-made cakes! Often these have been very interesting looking creations, although I do believe they've tasted good. (In fact, when quizzed, my youngest once said that the best thing her Mom makes is her frosting!) (Ahem, the world's easiest -- the buttercream recipe on the back of the powdered sugar box.)
So, with visions of fancy cakes dancing in my head, I was inspired!
First, Jenna wanted a "Brownie Cake." This is something my kids invented, and it is simply brownie batter baked in a cake pan, and frosted with the famous buttercream frosting, cocoa added. So this time, I fancied it up a bit with beads, flowers, and lace, and set the cake up on a pedestal created by inverting a bowl. We had a half-bday tea party, and it was ever so lovely!
Then, 3 days later, was Isy's half-bday. You see above the half-eaten, fully glorious remains of Isy's cake. And, because I used super special WEDDING CAKE TECHNOLOGY, it was actually THE BEST CAKE I'VE EVER TASTED! And it looked pretty, too, before we ate it! My fiancee wasn't in the mood for cake, having none of the sweet teeth that my girls and I have in demanding abundance, and so I said (just a little peevishly), "Fine, then, if you won't eat any, then take a picture of it!" And so he did. :) And I kinda love it, actually. ---See more of his "real" (and quite splendid) work at craigblankphoto.com by the way.
So what is the secret to tremendously yummy, wedding-cake-level, bday cake deliciousness?! Why, it is simple syrup, my dearest dear. (Sort of similar to why iced "sweet tea" in the south is so delightful, much better than sugared iced tea.) Specifically, put a quarter cup of sugar in a quarter cup of water, heat it up and stir until the sugar disolves. Then paint or spoon the syrup to cover the top and bottom of each sliced layer on the cake. It is like wow.
For this cake, Isy wanted strawberry whipped cream, and no texture (no lumpy strawberry bits or seeds -- yucky, Mom!). And by the way, I cheated and used a store-bought angel food cake. And I sliced it into 4 even layers with a long, serated bread knife.
I added 2/3rds of a small jar of seedless strawberry jam to 1 and a half cups of cream, whipped (along with "Whip It" - a powder that keeps whipped cream holding its shape). This went in the top layers and on top of the cake. I filled the bottom layer with the rest of the jam, heated in the jar for a few seconds to make it spread easily.
I decorated around the bottom with halved strawberries, and the top with mandarin oranges. And by the way, another "sweet tea" kinda thing from my southern mama: the strawberries were prepared by washing, trimming, placing in a bowl,and sugaring them up generously. This way they taste great and sweet, and they also make a great strawberry simple syrup that goes great over pound cake. Since I used the strawberries for the cake, the strawberry syrup went into my caiparinha (Brazilian cocktail) later. :) "Saude!"
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