Buttercream.  Buttercream.  Glorious Buttercream.  Today’s cake is all about the buttercream.  Ruffles, roses, petals, swags, swirls and dots.  This cake includes just about every popular buttercream technique from today’s cake scene.  Armed with shades of purple and a piping bag, Kristin Kirkpatrick , owner of Fat Girl Cakes in Virginia, proves that buttercream can be just as fabulous as fondant.  Each tier of today’s cake boasts a different piping style, giving buttercream lovers something to squeal about.  Long live buttercream!  Feast your eyes on this incredibly gorgeous Purple Ombre Buttecream Cake!

Kristin of Fat Girl Cakes tells us the story behind her cake:

“Every year, after Christmas I start working on some new display cakes for the upcoming bridal shows I attend.  I used to only bring fondant displays because they traveled better, held up longer, etc.  Of course about 80% of my cakes, both wedding and special occasion cakes, are iced in buttercream, so I felt like I wasn’t showing off much of what I actually do.  On top of that, I feel like the bridal world is starting to feature more buttercream-iced cakes, so I set out to do a buttercream display to really showcase the different buttercream techniques and textures.

When I started designing the cake, I knew I wanted to alternate heavy textures with some “lighter” tiers for balance.  Balance is big thing with me as my degree is in mathematics, and yes, I know it doesn’t need to be that way for everyone, but I need it to be!  I wasn’t sure all the textures would work together, but I figured it was worth giving it a shot.

My original plan was to make it all white, but in trying to add a little violet gel to whiten my icing, I added a little too much.  Instead of starting over, I decided to just go with it and make it ombre instead.  It ended up working out great as it was a real eye-catcher at the shows.  Hopefully this year I will get to step outside of the traditional smooth and rustic buttercream cakes, and start doing some interesting combinations of the fun techniques we have been seeing a lot lately.”

Kristin of Fat Girl Cakes tells us about her technique:

“The base tier was done with a large rose petal tip, just wiggling it up and down while spinning the tier on the turntable. I love the large ruffle look the tip gives without using fondant. The middle tier was the rosette technique you see all over the place. I did this one with the 2D tip instead of the 1M tip, just to see if there was a difference in the way it turned out.  The top tier was done using a large round tip, making dots, smearing them across the cake and then piping the next row of dots over the end of the smear.

The two plainer tiers were done using a #3 tip and doing various drop lines.  I just added a little bit of corn syrup to thin out the buttercream and add a little elasticity.”

Not that buttercream cakes ever ‘went away’…. but today’s feature is a gorgeous example of ‘the new’ buttercream cake.  Modern buttercream style at it’s best.  Full of texture, elegance and delicious details.  I think buttercream may just have a new outlook on life.

A big thank you to Kristin Kirkpatrick  of Fat Girl Cakes for sharing her stunning Purple Ombre Buttercream Cake with us today!  We are in buttercream heaven!

VENDORS & CREDITS
Cake:  Fat Girl Cakes
Photography:  Kitt Creative

This is definitely the week for love and all things sweet.  With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching tomorrow, I thought we’d get started with the chocolate today.  Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!  Because really, what says “I Love You” like chocolate?  This gorgeous chocolate wrapped cake comes to us from Jennifer Bunce, owner of The Hudson Cakery in Weehawken, NJ.  Rolls upon rolls of chocolate fondant are wrapped, grouped, stacked and swirled.  The end result has chocolate lovers swooning and mouths drooling.  With golden cake pops and a brilliant cake board, this design is a charmer!  Let’s take a look at this Chocolate Wrapped Cake!

Jennifer at The Hudson Cakery tells us about her design:

“This 3-tier chocolate fondant cake was created for a Willy Wonka inspired wedding complete with gold cake pops.  The cake base is decorated in a swirl pattern of licorice candy.”

Oh for the love of chocolate and all things sweet!  This cake is incredible.  At first glance, it’s got me thinking about Tootsie Rolls.  On second glance, I’m thinking chocolate and caramel because of those gorgeous gold cake pops.  Either way…. it’s a yummy winner!  I could see this design at any event where chocolate is allowed to shine.  A smaller version would make a charming groom’s cake.  And a single tiered version would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Thank you, thank you to Jennifer at The Hudson Cakery for sharing her Chocolate Wrapped Cake with us today!  We are in love!

VENDORS & CREDITS
Cake:  The Hudson Cakery
Styling & Photography:  Kay English Photography
See the Photoshoot:  Green Wedding Shoes

Our contributor, Miso of Miso Bakes, is here with a new recipe for Valentine’s Day …

This Valentine’s Day, I wanted to keep it simple.  I realized most people prefer rich cheesecakes or silky mousse cakes during this loving holiday, so I figured a sugarpaste or buttercream tutorial would not be too practical.

Today, I would like to share how to make ladyfingers.  They are a must when it comes to making tiramisu and Charlotte Russe mousse cakes.  You may definitely use this recipe if you would like to create the mentioned cakes.  However, this time around, I used ladyfingers to decorate a cheesecake… that I purchased from my favorite bakery!  I told you I was keeping it simple, right?  If you aren’t pressed for time and have a favorite recipe, please feel free to bake it the day before and keep it well chilled.

Cheesecakes are divine, but to be honest, they are quite plain in appearance.  By all means, is perfect the way it is for those summer night barbecues or potluck, but for Valentine’s Day, you want your cheesecake to be dressed appropriately, too!

LADYFINGERS
recipe by Miso Bakes

 Ingredients:

4 large eggs, separated
35 grams of sugar (for yolks)
65 grams of sugar (for egg whites)
70 grams all-purpose flour
30 grams cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

STEP 1:  Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Spray 2 half-sheet pans (13×18) with nonstick spray and line with parchment.  Measure the height of the cake.  With a marker and small ruler, draw a line that is about half an inch taller than the height of the cake or mold.  Lightly spray top of parchment with nonstick.

STEP 2:  Mise-en-place: Prepare sugar, separate eggs, sift dry ingredients together and set aside.  It helps to coordinate your bowls since the recipe calls for two different measurements of sugar.

STEP 3:  In a stand mixer bowl, break the yolks and add vanilla extract and sugar.

STEP 4:  Whip on medium-high speed until the batter falls into itself in thick ribbons.  Transfer batter into a clean bowl and wash the stand mixer bowl, making sure there are no traces of egg yolk remaining. Dry the bowl with a kitchen towel. If there are traces of fat in your bowl or if your bowl is wet, your meringue will never happen. You will be heartbroken.

STEP 5:  Pour egg whites (make sure you have no traces of yolk in your whites) into bowl and whisk at medium-high speed until it looks like cappuccino foam.

STEP 6:  With the mixer still running, rain in sugar in three additions. Beat until your meringue is glossy and it looks like shaving cream.

STEP 7:  When you gently pick your whisk up, the meringue should have a little stiff peak. Or, if you feel brave enough, grab the bowl and flip it over. The meringue should cling onto the bowl and not plop out.

STEP 8:  Take a scoop of the meringue and fold it into your egg yolk mixture.  We call this the sacrifice as its purpose it lighten the thickness of the yolk batter before we fold more of the meringue in.  Once sacrifice is incorporated, fold in half of the remaining meringue until majority is incorporated but streaks of meringue still remain. (Picture 8)

STEP 9:  Gently add half of the dry mixture and again, fold until a few streaks of flour remain.

STEP 10:  Fold in remaining meringue.  Fold in remaining dry.  Your final product should look like this.

STEP 11:  Put batter into piping bag with round piping tip.  I wanted skinny fingers so I used a tip that was about 1 centimeter wide.  Pipe batter into fingers. Or, if you’re using the fingers as a band* around a cake, pipe side by side for easier application.  You may also pipe letters with the batter.

STEP 12:  Dust twice with powdered sugar.

STEP 13:  Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.  Time may vary depending on size and oven.

NOTE:  If you are going to use the fingers as a band around a cake, measure the circumference of your cake so you know how long your band needs to be.

Completing the cheesecake:

STEP 14:  Melt a handful of chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Make sure the bowl does NOT touch the water.  Or, if you would like, you may microwave the chocolate in a bowl at 30-second increments.

STEP 15:  Pull cheesecake out of fridge.  Using a spoon or spatula, spread a thin layer of chocolate on bottom half of fingers.

STEP 16:  Adhere to cake. Continue all around.

STEP 17:  Tie a ribbon if you would like, and garnish to liking. I kept it simple and used strawberries. If you would like, you may brush the top of berries with a bit of warmed and strained apricot jam for a nice gloss.

I had extra batter, so I piped separate fingers, dusted them with cocoa and powdered sugar along with a sprinkling of almonds before I baked. They make wonderful accompaniments to coffee or tea.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Miso Bakes Miso is a monthly contributor for The Cake Blog. She is a talented pastry chef with a big passion for cakes. Read more about Miso on her bio page.