Tuesday, February 9, 2010

New Beginnings Cake!

Last week, I got a private message from a friend at church bending my ear about the Young Women New Beginnings program that was on Sunday. They were looking for a dessert that would incorporate all of the value colors (there are 8 of them) and be a complete "showstopper" (their word, not mine). I thought about it for a minute and remembered there was a rainbow layered cake I'd been DYING to try! So I pulled up the recipe and had it made within the next few hours.

To simplify the steps, I bought 8" aluminum cake pans that I sprayed with Pam and lined the bottom with parchment circles. My oven has three racks so I was able to bake them all at the same time which was very convenient. I recommend spending $5.00 on the pans because it's worth saving your sanity and you can just toss them in the trash when you're done! Easy!

I made the frosting she has on her blog but it didn't make a ton, so I only used it as filling between each layer, then made a regular buttercream (using shortening/powdered sugar/butter extract/vanilla) to coat the whole cake. Rolled out fondant and put that on too because my big idea was to put girls all around the perimeter of the cake, each representing a value.











My original idea was to paint these little girls directly to the cake, but since I've never actually painted on a cake, I thought it's better to be safe than sorry so I mixed some fondant with gum paste and rolled out a small ball and painted on that, then cut around each girl and allow to harden on the counter. Then I used some frosting in a piping bag to glue them to the side of the cake.
All-in-all, the cake was a huge success. The girls loved it. The leaders loved it. The flavor was really delicious -- thanks to that whipped buttercream that calls for FOUR sticks of butter. WOW. I loved the rainbow layers and will definitely make this cake again!
Suzanne




4 comments:

Shirley said...

You ROCKED the cake, Suzanne!

Natalie said...

WOW! That is one heck of a cake!!!! My daughter would be NUTS for it. Between your cake and Paula's cupcakes I predict baking in my VERY near future...and also feelin inadequate afterwords, but what the hey, I enjoy your brilliance.

Tracie said...

Have you any word for your former cookie club members who still had time remaining?

Thank you!

P.S. The cake is beautiful!

Your favorite sister said...

What a wonderful job! It looks amazing. My friend made a cute cake for Ivan's b-day party, and I have a little itch to try out cake decorating!