The Cake (in pictures)

I've not blogged for awhile.  Partly because of the upcoming party and all the preparations I inflicted on myself.  However, it's done, and I can breathe again for a bit before the next big item on my agenda (a presentation for Compassion International).

Rebecca's 5th Birthday Cake.

Sometimes when you bake a cake it's really about the decorating after the cake is done...  not this one.  This one is all about the cake.

I received my January copy of Martha Stewart Living magazine in the mail and found this delightful cake in its section on parties.  This particular cake was probably for a baby girl shower, but I when I saw it I fell in love (I know loving cake is not the best thing).  Since Rebecca's birthday is in March, I had a while to wait before making it.

I have no photos of the frosting disaster.  Here's what happened.  I made the Swiss Meringue Buttercream per the directions and it was light and fluffy and wow, who knew that two pounds (!!!) of butter makes really good frosting.  I used the make ahead directions which said you could refrigerate for a few days.  Unfortunately, in the busy-ness of the few days preceding the party, I didn't really think about how long it takes a refrigerated product to come to room temperature, especially when it's ten cups of frosting...  So I left it out for a bit and then tried to speed up time.  Bad idea.  The liquid separated and I was left with clumps of mostly butter...  AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!  (Yes, I know that's not a word, but that is how I was feeling :)  So, I said to myself, "SELF..."  No, I didn't really. But I thought to myself, I have to fix this.  2 lbs of butter and 10 egg whites just can't really be done over repeatedly.  Icing sugar (or powdered sugar, for my American friends) wasn't actually called for in this recipe and I had some in my pantry, I tried it.  Thankfully, it worked!  I can't tell you how much I put in, because I just kept adding until it came back to a good consistency.   Hey, when you already have 2 lbs of butter, you're not really worried about keeping it low calorie. The original amount of sugar was *relatively* low and the end result was quite tasty.

On to the cake!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The smiles were worth it all!!!