Her birthday is on July 26th, and about one month before that she began telling me and all her friends that she wanted a 17 layer cake for her 17th birthday. She even announced it on facebook!
Katy; 19 days to get my 17 layered birthday cake baked, assembled, and iced people....
Katy
bahaha but it's only official if it's written in pink icing on top on a 17 layered birthday cake !!!
July 6 at 9:00pm
Kina
i will make a layer :]
July 6
July 7
In the beginning I gave the standard New York reply "Fah get abuoot it!". But she wore me down and 2 days before the grand event, on the hottest day of the year (so far) I began a journey that ended 48 hours later. It involved having my son put an air conditioner in the laundry room, (the buttercream was melting!), using over 4 pounds of butter, 3 pounds of cake flour, untold numbers of eggs, (I dropped a carton) and feeding all the neighborhood kids cake scraps!
On the evening of the first day, her best friend Laura arrived with her version of a 17 layer cake! It was clearly a winner. 
She made a sheet cake and used star cookie cutters to stack the layers. She had even iced each layer a different color. The pressure was on. Could I let a 17 year old baker out bake me? No way! I couldn't let it happen.It was no easy feat. Being that I can't cut straight to save my life,
( Not to worry David Lebovitz, a pastry chef job is certainly not in my future). The cake had a decided lean.
I didn't let that stand in the way of building layers. I shored it up with cake scraps, covered it in Icing and hoped for the best!
Then I added a finishing touch.
And there you have it! A 17 layer cake, fit for my Princess!
If you should decide that an enormous layer cake is needed for the princess in your life, I would keep a few things in mind.You, of course probably already know this but it was a revelation to me. Any many layered cake needs a dense cake mix. I should have used Rose Levy Beranbaum's wedding cake recipe, but I didn't. I tried her roll cake, Chocolate Dream(?) way to squishy for this project. Although it does make a great addition to ice cream sundaes. But then that's another blog!
The All American Chocolate Cake however did hold up to the weight of the layers. I know, I could have put a few dowels in for strength and to keep the cake straight. But that seemed a woosie maneuver.
I had worked for days on the cake and then it was time for dinner. The Princess, of course had a birthday menu in mind; steamed lobster with drawn butter,
Vegetable Tian and of course homemade cherry ice cream to be served along side the cake.
All said and done, it was a magical evening!
Even Daddy got in on the act!
After all you are only 17 once.
Make a wish Princess and blow out the candles!
Happy Birthday!Love,
Mommy Cakes
What an adorable post! Such a sweet family. And what a great mom to undertake such an impressive project! Lobster doesn't look to bad either. :)
ReplyDeleteit's the leaning tower of cake! it was a daunting task, to be sure, but looks to me like you nailed it! happy birthday to your gal, and a pat on the back to you. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Grace and The Hungary Dog. Indeed it was a daunting task. But it was also loads of fun. And yes, the lobster was yummy!
ReplyDeleteDiane.. what a fun and happy post..You look great!
ReplyDelete