Two Tiers - No Tears

Those who know me well know that I am a woman of many interests. My mother has always joked about the fact that I always have a new hobby. I don't know whether to attribute this to an undiagnosed attention-deficit disorder or the fact that I have an insatiable desire to learn new things. But there are a few interests that never seem to change in my life, and certainly one of those is good food. More often than not if you were to visit my home you will find my television tuned in to TLC, We, Food Network, or whatever channel Martha Stewart reruns are on (this is during whatever hours of the day that Sesame Street, Barney, and Thomas the Train are not on the TV).



After months of awed fascination with shows like Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, and Wedding Cake Wars, I finally decided to jump into the trendy world of baking and creative cake decorating. The early results received mixed reviews, like this pumpkin cake I made on Halloween, constructed with two Bundt cakes (one chocolate, one vanilla), where one cake is inverted on top of the other, frosted with buttercream frosting, and covered in rolled fondant icing, which I made from scratch with marshmallows and boatload of 10X sugar. The chocolate layer was moist and delicious, but the vanilla layer was dense and dry. So I determined to find a better recipe. Afterall, no matter how cute the pumpkin looks, it still has to taste good, right?


I found a great book called The Well Decorated Cake by renowned master baker Toba Garrett. I found a heavenly recipe for vanilla cake in this amazing book of craft, technique, and expert recipes. So I ventured out with these new skills in hand, to make a two-tiered creation, again of chocolate and vanilla cake, for Mildred Carter's 87th birthday. Ms. Mildred is my husband's grandmother who celebrated this milestone on Thanksgiving day this year. It is becoming somewhat of a tradition that I bake her birthday cake on Thanksgiving. So I gave her this two-tiered confection, each tier composed of a layer of chocolate cake and a layer of vanilla cake, separated by thick buttercream and fresh strawberries. This cake was moist, delicious, and beautiful. It was received with rave reviews. :)


I have plans for three holiday cakes and a birthday cake before this month is over and will post those pics as I go.