birthday cake!

my first born turned three last week, which is just insane for me to process. to commemorate the anniversary when i officially became someone's mama, i decided to make my first tiered cake, and i wanted to use fondant icing because it looks cooler then frosting. but first, let it be known that i'm not a baker. i can barely even function in the kitchen (thank you rice cooker and toaster oven!). but i love me some martha stewart and i love to flip through cookbooks, so i thought that i could have a go at it. being the nerd that i am, i researched several how-to's, studied old recipes, and watched some reality cake shows for form and method.

it turns out that it was really fun and wasn't difficult at all. rather than posting the recipes i used, i'll just talk more about the procedure, so you guys can use your own favorite cake/batter recipes. (i don't have a lot of pictures of each step, as my hands were usual covered in shortening, flour, sugar, etc.)

let's start with the frosting first:

i used martha stewart's buttercream frosting recipe. it was simple enough and quick to make in the mixer.

then i made the cake:

i used a simple yellow cake recipe from cook's illustrated that i divided into 3 six inch pans. after i let them cool to room temperature, i leveled out the tops with a serrated knife. then i put a dallop of frosting in the center of the cardboard circle that i would place the cake on. this secures the first layer onto the cardboard (which helps when i'm layering on the frosting). then i slathered frosting on the top of the first layer, placed the second layer upside down (as in, the top that i leveled was now kissing the first layer), slathered frosting, and put on the third layer, also upside down. then i coated the cake with a "crumb coat," which is a thin layer of frosting all around the cake that picks up the crumbs. i put the cake in the fridge for an hour, so that the crumb coat could get sufficiently hard. then i frosted the entire cake.

and here's the fun part, the fondant:

initially i was just going to go the easy route and buy some premade fondant, but i was consistently reading that boxed fondant tastes horrible. so i found a good marshmallow fondant recipe and went with it. i made the fondant the night before i made the cake, because it needs some time to sit, like a dough. it was super fun to make, and was like play-dough for adults. i didn't add any coloring until the fondant had rested, and then i portioned out how much fondant i would need for the cake and the polka-dots and kneaded in the coloring. after you have your desired color, you roll it out (i used a non-stick roller, but if you want to use your wooden rolling pin, have lots of confectioner's sugar on hand, which acts like "flour" to keep the stickiness at bay. once you have your rolled out fondant, you lay it on top of the cake (the buttercream frosting acts like a glue), and smooth it out with your hands. then using a pairing knife, trim the bottom excess. i cut out the polka-dots and "pasted" then onto the cake, with water as the glue.

i made the cake the day before the party, and the great thing about fondant is that it seals the moisture of the cake inside, so when we celebrated, the cake still tasted fresh and moist. we ate the entire cake over the course of 3 days.

serious you guys, if i can make this cake, then you guys can make this cake, and probably much much better than i! but it was a lot of fun to create and there was that gratifying feeling of making something for my own child. i like to think that's why the cake tasted so yummy, and even mark who doesn't have a sweet tooth continued to snack on the cake in the following days. i'm looking forward to the next celebration where i can bake another cake!