Princess Birthday Cake--Maddie

This is the first cake I've decorated. It did not turn out as beautiful as I would have liked because the crown was hard to frost. In hindsight, I should have used royal icing to make the crown instead of cake, but it still turned out okay. And the recipient was two years old, so she did not particularly care what the cake looked like.

It was a white cake with vanilla icing. The butterflies and hearts were made from white modeling chocolate. I also used Wilton's edible glitter.



1-2-3-4 Cake
This recipe came from the back of the Swan's Down Cake Flour box. I used one and a half recipes for two 9-inch cakes and two 6-inch cakes (which I cut the centers out of with a circle cookie-cutter for the crown).

Ingredients
-1 cup butter, softened
-2 cups sugar
-3 cups sifted cake flour
-3 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-4 eggs
-1 cup milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cake pans and set aside.
2. Cream butter, gradually adding sugar, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift flour with baking powder and salt.
3. Add flour mixture alternately with milk and flavorings to creamed butter, beating after each addition until smooth.
4. Pour batter into cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
5. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and finish cooling on wire rack.



Wilton's Classic Buttercream Icing
I got this recipe from the Course Book for the first Wilton cake decorating class (which I have yet to take, but I bought the book separately).

Ingredients
-1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
-1 teaspoon flavoring (Vanilla, Almond, or Butter) (I used vanilla)
-2 Tablespoons milk or water (I used milk)
-4 cups powdered sugar
-1 Tablespoon meringue powder
-Pinch of salt (optional) (I ommitted)

Directions
1. Cream shortening, flavoring, and milk. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until thoroughly mixed. Blend an additional minute or so, until creamy.
2. This recipe is for stiff consistency. To make thinner, add one teaspoon of milk per cup of icing until desired consistency.



Modeling Chocolate
I found this recipe in a cake decorating book I checked out at the library months ago. If anyone knows where it came from, please let me know.

Ingredients
-12-ounces chocolate (your choice of flavor)
-5 Tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions
1. Chop chocolate and combine in bowl with corn syrup.
2. In a double boiler (or a bowl over a pot of boiling water), melt chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat and continue stirring until it cools enough to handle.
3. Knead chocolate continuously until it feels plasticine, or similar to modeling clay. This is very oily work, so wipe your hands occasionally if you feel the need.
4. Once chocolate is of desired texture, use as you would desire. White chocolate colors well, but as you knead the color in it will bleed on your hands.
5. Store at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap tightly. Keeps for up to two months.