Not-so-perfect baby shower cake.

Pathetic. Frustrating. Wasteful. Those are the best words that can sum up my attempt to make a cute baby shower cake for Grace and Tony. I had planned something like this, with only 2 layers (minus the creepy baby faces, bottles, and booties):


I had done tons of research and planning on decorating cakes with fondant. I had a great book that I borrowed from my sister. I made the cakes a few days ahead of time (basic chocolate cake), and put them in the freezer.

On saturday morning I trimmed the cakes and primed them with vanilla buttercream frosting. I had everything lined up and ready to go.



But when the time rolled around to make the fondant, things started to fall apart. The recipe called for gelatin. I was supposed to sprinkle it over water and let it firm up. Well, there just didn't seem to be enough water. And, I couldn't get it to smooth out. It was all lumpy. I added corn syrup and glycerin as called for. Those ingredients never seemed to blend with the gelatine mixture. I ended up with a lumpy, gooey, separated mess. I tried adding it to the confectioners sugar anyway and crossed my fingers. I spent about a half hour trying to knead this mess into something useable. There was not enough moisture to soak up all the sugar. The sugar was poufing all over my kitchen, and it was sucking all of the moisture out of my hands (and arms... and elbows...). I eventually ended up with a crusty, lumpy, partially discolored mess (the gelatin lumps were yellowish).

Clearly, homemade fondant was not going to happen today. I ran out to the local craft store to get that store-bought fondant crap. And crap it was. Who knows how long it had been sitting on the shelf, but it was rock-hard and took forever to roll out. I really wanted the cake to be decorated in blue, but this stuff was way too hard to knead food coloring into. Once I finally was able to roll it into a big enough circle, I draped it over the cake. Things seemed to be okay, I trimmed it and pressed the fondant into the buttercreamed cake. Then, I decided to spray the cake with blue spray food coloring. Bad idea!! I ended up with a patchy, ugly, partially blue blob of a cake. And, I taste tested the fondant scraps. Disgusting! It didn't taste good... can't serve that.

Disappointed, I threw it in the trash. I realized that buttercream frosting was going to have to do for this cake. Luckily, I had a box of cake mix in the cupboard (marble), so I threw that together to replace the layer I had just thrown away. Meanwhile, I made pounds of buttercream frosting and got to work on the bottom layer. I did a simple pipe job all over the cake. I was running out of time with the second layer, so I had to slap that together while it was still partially warm. In my haste I wasn't as careful with the trimming (plus trimming a warmish cake is really tricky), so the whole cake ended up looking a little lopsided. I threw the second layer on and finished the piping (with a green basket weave on top)
Top layer removed for cutting/serving:I am really disappointed with how the whole thing turned out, but hey- at least it tasted good. I am determined to try again, however I will be using another recipe. I found marshmallow fondant recipe that looks interesting...

Here is the buttercream recipe, it is SO good. Another one from Cook's Illustrated.

If you prefer to skip the vanilla bean, increase the extract to 1 1/2 teaspoons. The buttercream can be made ahead and refrigerated; if refrigerated, however, they must stand at room temperature to soften before use. If using a hand-held mixer, increase mixing times significantly (at least 50 percent). This recipe can be doubled to make enough for a two-layer cake.

Ingredients
10 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1/2 vanilla bean , halved lengthwise
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (5 ounces)
Pinch table salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1tablespoon heavy cream

Instructions
In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Using paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into butter and beat mixture at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds. Add confectioners' sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.