This summer was super busy and it went by in a blink. Since I've sent the husband back to work (at a school) and the child off to preschool, I am looking forward to getting out some of the projects that I have been working on in my Bossy Italian kitchen.
As you all might know, I'm not the biggest baker, but I have my moments. Well, my best friend in the world is getting married (in less than 30 days EEEEK!) and I am the maid of honor. Okay, fine, I'm the MATRON of honor, but whatever. The point is, I was tasked with throwing some parties for the lovely bride, and you know what that means..... CAKE!
Now, cakes are kind of a big deal. They have to taste good, but you also want them to look good. And really pretty cakes can cost a really pretty penny. Or, like, 4,000 pennies. So, I knew I had to come up with something cost effective and elegant. That's a tall order for someone who isn't really much or a baker. I'm being candid when I say that my cake decorating skills are even worse than my bakery knowledge. Or as my husband says, "You start out strong, but then you move too fast." Metaphor for life? Hmmmm.
Luckily, what I lack in pastry skill I make up for in creativity and now you all can too. Because I have found the solution for all people like me who want fancy little cakes that wow the crowd, and taste great too. Ready?
Here was my first try at this cake. It's three store bought angel food cakes layered with my own homemade jam (recipe for my jam HERE) and vanilla icing. I cut each cake in half, did a layer of jam and icing, and then put the next layer on.
Now I bet you are wondering how I held this sucker together right? I used a paper towel roll, which, I have to say worked well, and it was great for sticking flowers in. I used fresh flowers, and mint to garnish the cake. You may recall how my husband said that I start strong but then I sort of get impatient... yea, well, I have to give it to him on this one. The cake was a wee bit lopsided due to my *ahem* haste.
My best advice is to take more time cutting the layers. I did a hack job. Now, this cake was meant to feed about 30 people for this wedding shower I threw. Hence, the six layers. But after this one came out so great (I got sooooo many compliments on this!), I decided to make another one for my husband's grandmother's birthday.
This one only had two layers, and I actually made the cake myself...from a box mix. But I did the Angel food cake in a bunt pan because I didn't know there was a difference. It came out great! This time I topped it with some fresh peaches from our local orchard, mint and lavender.
This cake looked and smelled amazing. The fresh peaches were really juicy, and they dripped down the sides, mixing with the blueberry jam and it looked just beautiful.
So there you go. You too can make a confectionary masterpiece that everyone will think took hours, and really, it didn't. Shhhhh. It'll be our little secret.
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