Before we start yes I will be mentioning Valentines day, no it won’t be in a lame way. Although really I don’t get all of the hate for it; I also don’t get the hype, I’m pretty darn neutral. I will however be wearing my new pink lipstick tonight, because you know what, I have a date. Yeah!
This post is mainly about furthering my skills in frosting, which was really my only measurable new years resolution. I like to think I’ve come along way since smearing frosting on with a rubber spatula; seriously what was I thinking?
The above cake was for my mum, her birthday is on valentines day. I would totally hate that, but she gets two lots of presents so I’m sure she doesn’t mind. I would though, because how many year of high school do you go through without getting anything, now imagine that kind of rejection on your birthday! Crazy; can i get away with saying cray cray, I so want to. I’m not American enough. Or you know… at all.
So here are the sites and tools I used:
-I always use a 6″ high sided pan with removable base, I just like smaller cakes and love layers. the high side means you can always get a minimum of three easy layers cut.
-Offset Spatula for frosting, super important.
-Crumb coat – this is just so ridiculous important, otherwise all that time you spent making flawless frosting is lost and your cake looks crumby; literally.
I found Meg Ryan from Miettes tutorial the best.
The best place for frosting recipes is Sweetapolita, this women is a goddess of frosting, her instructions are foolproof and you will not go wrong!
For piping in layers (keeps things clean and even!) I just use a Masterchef macaron piping set, it had the perfect large star nozzle!
Also in my travels I found out that you never put frosting that has touched the bare cake back with the fresh frosting, you’ll get crumbs in it. Scrape it on the edge of the bowl and try to use it in the crumb coat.
And as always, room temperature room temperature, room temperature!
The Little Cookbook 