My friend Michelle’s little girl Rylee was turning one year old so a celebration was to take place! Her party theme was centered on this design:
I made a marble cake with a hazelnut buttercream filling. I decided to level the top cake layer before I iced it with ganache. It seems like I could NEVER get a smooth, level top to my cakes. You know how you take the cake layer and flip it over so the “bottom” of the cake is actually the top? Well, I’ve always struggled with getting it smooth, so I decided to break out my Agbay cake leveler and give it a run through.
Now that’s a smooth, level top!
I’ve been trying to ice my fondant covered cakes with ganache instead of buttercream and WOW what a difference! Apparently, ganache covered cakes are the norm in Australia and it has caught the attention of the cakers up north.
Here’s the chocolate ganache, I use 1/2 milk, 1/2 semi-sweet chips with a 2:1 ratio. So 2 parts chocolate to one part heavy cream. This is what it looks like after it has set overnight…it should be the consistency of peanut butter.
With ganache, you can really get a nice, sharp edge wich is what you want when you cover a cake with fondant.
I put the cake on a cake pan to tuck the fondant underneath the bottom.
Then, I used my level to check and make sure the bottom tier was straight
Yep, the bubble’s in the middle!
I am still haunted by my first cake disaster which took place at the end of January of this year. I was using a metal separator between the tiers of a wedding cake and should have used my leveler then! Looks can be deceiving!!! Just because it looks straight doesn’t mean it is! All it had to be was just an 1/8th of an inch off somewhere and well….gravity took over and the top tier fell off, hit the floor and broke an arm and leg off the bride and groom cake topper! The wedding coordinator asked me if I had any super glue with me and I just looked at her with my mouth open. I was thinking…I’m a cake decorator…I have spatula and icing…NOT superglue! Well, someone was able to find a hot glue gun and I found myself on the floor behind the cake gluing the arm and leg back onto that cheap plastic cake topper. Needless to say, now I come fully prepared and armed with an assortment of items in my emergency kit!
The cakes were stacked, now time to decorate.
I found these cute little cutters at my local craft store. I bought them just for the little square cutter I wanted to use to make my gingham border.
I rolled out a strip of white and strip of pink fondant and went to town cutting out my squares.
Next, I added some whimsical flowers to the bottom tier.
Added a little lady bug:
and some butterflies
I made them by using some oval cutters from Ateco…they really have great supplies. All the cutters are sturdy, not flimsy like some Wilton sets.
For the final touch, I added birthday wishes onto the fondant covered cake board using tappitts for the letters. I added a generous amount of Tylose to my fondant and let it sit for a little bit. I have found a great tool to help me pry my letters out of the molds…it’s an insulin syringe…
I use this also to pop air bubbles under my fondant.
The finished cake:
Happy decorating and remember to use the level!
Kelly
