Let's make a cake!

Recently I made a wedding cake for a couple friends of ours. It was actually a lot easier than I had thought that it was going to be. It was a pretty simple cake, and I didn't go that over the top in the way I decorated it, but it did turn out pretty nice. It wasn't as perfect as a professional cake would have been, but I was still proud of myself. So here's how I did it.

First I gathered all of my ingredients, baking dishes, and anything I thought I was going to need. I didnt want to have to go searching for something in the middle of making the cake. 

Next I greased all of my pans so that once the batter was mixed it wouldn't sit around for too long. I could just pour the mix into the pan right away and get it baking. 

I put a light dusting of flour on top of the grease to make completely sure that my cakes weren't going to stick to the pan. I didn't want to risk having to remake anything. 

Just use a little flour and gently tilt the pan till the bottom and sides are completely coated with the flour. 

Once everything is coated turn the pan upside down and gently tap to remove any leftover flour. I did this over the sink so that I wouldnt have a huge mess to clean up. 

The next step was to simply make the cakes according to the box directions. Normally I would have made the cake from scratch, but I was a little short on time, and wanted to make sure that I wasnt going to have to rush. 

Once the cake came out of the oven I let it cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes, or until I could turn the pan over without burning my hand. 

I placed the cake(s) on the pans I was going to be icing them on and set them in the fridge. You could just let them sit on the counter until they're completely cool, but I needed them to cool as quickly as I could so I used the fridge. 

Once they were cool I did what is called "dirty icing" which is just a very thin layer of frosting over the entire cake. After this layer was put on, the cakes were returned to the fridge. I left them in the fridge until the icing was completely firm to the touch. 

After the icing was solid I then stacked the cakes on top of each other, and placed a bamboo rod through the center to hold everything in place. The cakes were then iced with a thick layer of icing. I used a spatula to get the icing as smooth as I could. 

Next came the decorating. This part was actually fairly easy. It was just simply a thin line of icing around each layer of the cake. I have a cake decorating thingy, which in my opinion makes life easier. I do tend to use it mainly for making pretty cupcakes. 

The roses I had bought from Micheal's. I put a little dab of icing on the bottom of each rose and pushed them into the cake where I wanted them. 

The whole thing then went back in the fridge until the next day when we took it to the reception. It wasn't the most perfect cake but it was fairly easy, and fun at the same time. I definitely want to try other decorations and what not in the future. I just need more reasons to make cakes. 

Also, next time I make a cake like this I think I'll put a little frosting on the bottom of the bottom layer so that it sticks to the tray. I was surprised by how solid this cake seemed to be. I had been worried that it would slide apart, but it stayed together really well. It also tasted great. 

So that was my project last week. This week we have some glitter jars to make. We'll see how those turn out. Lillian loves glitter, so we may end up with nothing more than a huge mess. 

There's also a bunch of new stories just waiting to be read at Wickedly Twisted Tales, so you should go check them out as well!