Cutout Cake (Image Overload)

This week in Dessert Theatre, I concocted a special treat for my sister's birthday. I spent quite a bit of time planning, and though the cake wasn't perfect, it came out wonderfully in the end.


I pulled resources from bakebakebake, the LJ community, as always, and went to my two standby recipes. My sister asked for a white cake with vanilla frosting. When asked about colors, she said blue and green. My trusty white cake recipe from AllRecipes.com came to my side, heavily fused with Wilton's icing coloring. My basic vanilla buttercream recipe* - a rich, buttery and smooth frosting - did the trick of icing, also heavily infused with Wilton's coloring.


What is truly special about the cake is what I did to the inside, though:


I was inspired by this tutorial, which can also be found within the annals of bakebakebake.

But I made four separate cake recipes, and four batches of buttercream. What did I do with all the extra, you ask? Well, I'm so glad you asked...


Cake balls! Heavily inspired by many, many places, most notably Bakerella.

These were pretty delicious, and I found out that, per ounce, dark chocolate gets more coverage than milk or white chocolate, as it is thinner when melted.

All in all, I produced a 6" wide 7.5" tall cake, and 88 cake balls. For more photos, in progress shots, and images of my dirty kitchen, you can check out the Picasa album.

*I have no idea where I found this, but recipe as follows:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp hot water
Beat until smooth and creamy
(If the butter is too cold, you'll get a spotty effect in the icing)