My current cake obsession

For quite a while I searched & searched for a frosting recipe that would be light, airy, and yet still delicious, flavorful, and easy to work with. I wish I could tell you I was one of those kitchen magicians who could throw together a pinch of this, a dash of that and Voila! But alas, I am not. I am pretty darn good at googling, however! You would think with the billions of things one can find on the internet, this would be an easy task. Not so! For months I searched with no luck, but then I noticed the more forums I went to, a certain name kept popping up: Whimsical Bakehouse.
Intrigued, I began seeking out websites, examples, reviews, you name it. Upon seeing some stunning examples of cakes made using techniques found in this book, I decided it was worth the purchase. Words cannot describe how glad I am that I found this book! Seriously, I've been known to take this book to bed with me in lieu of a good fiction novel!

The book is packed with some great cake recipes, but what I absolutely am loving are the filling recipes, the chocolate transfer method, and most of all, a recipe for buttercream that whips up light & creamy, similar to good bakery frosting, but a little lower key on the sugar front (don't get me wrong, frosting is supposed to be sweet & all, but I like to be able to eat it all without getting a sugar buzz! Nothing sadder than having to throw out that last bit of frosting because it's just. too. sweet!) .

And here's a funny thing: Men love it. I don't know why, but I can't tell you how many times now I've gotten compliments along the lines of: "My (husband, boyfriend, fiance) usually doesn't like frosting, but when they tasted this, they said it was the BEST CAKE THEY'D EVER EATEN." Hmmm. I dunno what it is, but maybe the sweetness being toned down appeals to them more? Never fear though, the women and children have responded just as well! I overheard this comment last weekend, made by a woman who had no idea who I was or that I had made the cake she was eating: "I usually don't like frosting, but this is really good!" Score!

It's a little tedious to make (20 minutes in the mixer!) but it's so worth it. One thing to beware of: If you're used to stiffer frosting, such as the classic Wilton recipe, it is a little alarming to work with a frosting that does not harden! A little bump on the old stuff and no worries. Nudge this frosting at all, and plan on reworking that area of the cake!

The cookies & cream filling is good enough to eat with a spoon. I had to physically dump out the leftovers last time because I kept sneaking over to the bowl and swiping little bits here and there, which is fine, but had I eaten the whole 2 cups or so remaining....yikes.

Delicious frosting and filling aside, the book spends a good length of time detailing the chocolate transfer method. The concept is simple: Place any image on the counter. Cover it with parchment paper (I prefer wax) and basically outline, then color it in-using colored chocolate.

This cake was my attempt at one found in the book:

The author's looked more like a piece of artwork than stained glass, but working with this medium takes a little bit of practice.

So when my daughter declared she wanted a Finding Nemo birthday cake, I used this technique to create the characters:

The whole cast:
And the finished product:

Since the chocolate can be done up to 2 weeks in advance, a TON of stress is taken off of the cake preparation the day prior/day of. All that was left to do was fill, frost, and attach the cast! The truly beautiful thing with this method is: You can customize it any way you like! This last cake was done using the invite, so the cake tied in nicely with all of the party decorations.