Friday, December 2, 2011

Holiday Buttercream Ribbon Cake




Much to my husband's dismay, I could literally spend days sitting in front of my computer, musing over the myriad of amazing cake/dessert blogs and web sites that feature the most clever tricks of the trade in producing culinary masterpieces that have everyone wondering...."how the heck did she do that?!!"

So, I am going to uncover a few of my jewels for you that I put a Holiday spin on that's perfect for an upcoming special event or gathering. I call it my Holiday Buttercream Ribbon Cake. The surprise is that as beautiful as it is on the outside, there awaits a very special surprise when you slice it for your guests....a red and white striped center that looks like a candy cane!

I will include the pictures of what I did to create this cake. However, for a more in depth explanation of the cake striping technique, I have attached a link to the most amazing website, My Cake School,  by the talented Melissa. I agree with her assessment to use a box cake mix (gasp!!) for this technique as the consistency of the cake batter has to be right for it to work. For mine I used Betty Crocker White cake.

As for the frosting, I use a recipe for Swiss meringue from Hindsight Bride or American buttercream from SavorySweetLife.com. Both work great. Just don't use the canned frosting from the grocery store, as it wont work for this design.

For the Buttercream ruffle affect, I have included a  Ruffle Tutorial  from the amazing Melody Brandon of My Sweet and Saucy. She owns a bakery in Long Beach, CA that is fabulous and she is a true cake artist. She inspires me every day with her amazing creations! I have also included the steps of how I arrived at my design as well. Here is what you should have on hand depending on which recipe you choose for your cake and frosting.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 boxes White Cake Mix/baked per the My Cake School Instructions-I find that extra batter is necessary to accomplish enough striping.
  • Red Food Coloring
  • Eggs
  • Whole Milk or heavy cream
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Water
  • Confectioner Sugar
  • Salt
  • Vanilla
  • Unsalted butter-softened

EQUIPMENT:

Q2 8" cake pans
Q2 Petal Decorating Tips (you can find these at Michaels Crafts or any cake decorating supply store)
Q2 Large Icing bags
Q1 cake board or plate
mixer with wire whip attachment
measuring cups and spoons

So, below are the picture of the cake that I did with Red and White Batter with the My Cake School Method found HERE






After you have finished crumb coating the cake, place it in the fridge for 15 minutes to set up


BUTTERCREAM RIBBONS



Make sure you have all of your equipment layed out and ready to go. You will need a batch of either swiss meringue or american buttercream. You will also need your 2 pastry bags and 2 petal tips.


I put my pastry bags in large glasses to make filling them with icing easier

THE TECHNIQUE

Next, you need to place  petal tips in each of your pastry bags and fill one with red icing and one with white. Get your cake out of the fridge and follow the tutorial below on how to proceed with making the buttercream ribbons


I have also included some pictures of my own design below for reference:






And here is what you should end up with when you are finished! Make sure to chill the cake for at least another hour before slicing!



Time to dig in and enjoy the fruits of your labor!