Baby Shower Cake

Baking cakes, particularly decorated fancy occasion cakes, is a fun challenge for me.  Growing up, I was introduced to this hobby by my mother who took cake decorating classes at the local party supply store.  She taught me the basics of making icing, baking cakes and piping decorations.  (We loved to eat her practice work!)

Over time, I have become one of the go-to cake bakers in my family.  I share that title with my sister and my sister-in-law who both are creative design partners and awesome cake decorators in their own right!  Over the years we have collaborated on some excellent cakes.  Each cake includes a new technique we want to try, and each cake builds upon the last.

This past weekend I cohosted a baby shower for a dear friend of mine.  My cohost, her sister, and I decided on a Pooh theme for the shower and I wanted the cake to be the centerpiece of the theme.

To design the cake, I started, like I often do by googling a phrase like pooh shower cakes and checking out the thousands of results that pop up.  Through this search, I came up with some cute ideas (and the cake topper) and put them together to create the design for my own unique Pooh cake.

Once I had the idea, I sketched it out in my notebook and made a list of what I needed to bake and assemble the cake.  I looked through my most reliable baking books and chose the cake recipe–a standard yellow cake based on the mom-to-be’s request.  I decided on a strawberry cream cheese filling and standard cream cheese frosting for under the fondant.  For this piece of the process–the nuts and bolts of the cake–I don’t like to use internet recipes because I want something reliable from a tested, published cookbook written by an authority in the field.  I don’t want to take any chances that the cake will look pretty, but taste so-so!

I have two books that I use most often for this type of cake baking.   Beautiful Cakes: Irresistible Cakes and Cookies by Peggy Porschen and Sweet Celebrations: The Art of Decorating Beautiful Cakes by Sylvia Weinstock with Kate Manchester.  I also use the basic buttercream recipe from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook; it is so delicious you want to eat it by the spoonful even though you know it is basically butter with a little sugar for good measure!  I’m sure there are other great books out there, and readers, if you have one, please share it with us.

So, I gathered my ingredients and supplies, picked out the cake pans and got to work.  Building a cake like this is a multi-day process.  Friday morning I baked the layers and cooled them, later I brushed them with a sugar syrup to increase moistness.  In the evening I sliced and evened up the layers, assembling each tier on its own cardboard round.  The tiers were then coated with a “crumb coat” and refrigerated to firm up.  (The crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting designed to seal in the crumbs and make it much easier for the presentation layer of frosting to be smooth and free of crumbs.)  That night I did the final layer of frosting on each tier making sure each was level and the same height.

Saturday morning I topped each tier with a sheet of fondant and decorated each layer independently.  Once the tiers were completed, it was time to assemble.  The first tier goes on the base.  Then you must insert dowels or supports for the next layer to be placed upon.  The next tier goes down and you repeat the process, finally topping it with the final tier.  Once assembled, you need to seal up the seams with some decorative piping (on my cake this is the white band of florets).  Voila, shower cake!

The keys to a project like this are patience and a plan.  With a plan, you will have everything you need to do the job properly and an idea of how you want to proceed.  With the patience, you take your time, act carefully and don’t panic when things aren’t going exactly as you had envisioned!  In the end you will be rewarded with a beautiful cake that will be delicious now and lasting memory for years to come!