Blue makes me happy

I made a cake and put it on a plate. A pretty blue glass plate that I ordered the other day. It came in this weekend so I decided it must be put to use right away… or else forever be united with my other cake plates that have yet to see the light of day.

So I made a cake. Several of them. I thought it would be a good time to finally venture into the scary world of cake stacking.

Yikes.

But first… mad respect to all the cake decorators out there. I’ve only made small cakes before. This was a task. And I didn’t even do anything fancy.

I made this recipe. TWICE.

The first time I baked three 8 inch cakes. And the second time, I baked three 6 inch cakes and 2 five inch cakes. Use two inch high cake pans and spread the batter evenly among the pans when you bake. You’ll have just enough batter for all 8 layers.

I wanted to try the recipe to see if how well it would work for stacking. It’s not very dense, so it wouldn’t be great for carving. But it bakes up nice and even so there is no need to level off the tops. Yay, one less step.

I baked the cakes at night and wrapped in plastic wrap so I could devote the next day to decorating.

Unwrap a layer and place it on a cardboard cake circle cut to size. Frost the top. Layer on the next one and repeat.

Then frost the sides. This is the called the crumb coat. You just want a thin layer of frosting. It’s okay if crumbs get in.

I placed the layers on top of the cake pan I baked them in as a stand and to make frosting the sides down to the bottom a little easier.

Once frosted as evenly as possible, you can place the cake in the freezer for a few minutes. The frosting will harden and when you remove the cakes from the freezer, you can use a knife dipped in a little warm water to help smooth out any uneven places.

Repeat with the 6-inch cakes. Kinda crumby.

And the 5-inch cakes.

Did I ever tell you that I’m a really, really messy baker? Like real.

When all the cakes are crumb-coated, you can apply a pretty layer of frosting without worrying about tearing the cake or getting cake crumbs on the outside.

Or you can cover them in fondant. Eeek. That’s what I did.

(I used the frosting recipe from this post and doubled it. Triple it if you want to frost it all in buttercream instead of covering in fondant.)

Unfortunately there is no photographic evidence of the covering.

Just imagine I rolled out fondant on a powdered sugar-dusted surface and then carefully placed the fondant over each tier. And then smoothed out the sides.

And imagine that it looked perfect. Because it did not.

Once each tier is covered in fondant you can get ready to stack away.

To stack the cake, you’ll need wooden dowels or even straws to support each tier, so the cake doesn’t smoosh in on itself.

Push the dowel in and mark the height of the cake on the dowel. Remove and use it as a guide to cut the other dowels. I used four for the bottom tier and the middle tier. Make sure the dowels are all placed within the diameter of the tier above it. So the dowels won’t show when you stack them all up.

Then just stack the cakes and decorate.

I cut white fondant hearts to keep a clean, simple look.

Okay, not really. I did it to help hide the slightly uneven surface.

And also because I ran out of time to do anything else.

I think it looks pretty cute. Even if I don’t really know what I’m doing.

What I do know is I need another lesson in covering fondant cakes. And then one in making sugar flowers and of course piping and then carving. And then I’ll need some therapy.

I like it with a single pink heart, too.

But what I like most is the cake stand.

That’s why I bought two of them.

One for me and another for one of you.

Want it?

Enter for a chance to win this happy blue 10-inch glass cake plate.

• Leave a comment on this post and tell me something that makes you happy.
• Deadline to enter is Monday, August 23 at 6:00 pm ET. SORRY, TIME’S UP! Winner announced below.
• One winner will be chosen at random and announced sometime Monday evening on this post.

Good luck!

P.S. Here’s where I bought them.

I’m really glad I choose winners randomly or I’d be in a tough spot. Thanks for sharing all that makes you happy.

Now for the win, it’s comment #3612!

Congrats Angela from Memphis – I’m glad baking makes you happy. Now you have something new to put your treats on.