Cocktail Party/ Megan's Birthday Cake!!

Hey Guys! I know I said I would post on Thursday..but Tropical Storm Faye decided to hit us hard the last few days & I lost power for a short time! Tomorrow is the big cocktail party for our good friend Megan! Today I'm getting some things ready so I wont be so flustered tomorrow. I think one of the most important things to do when throwing a party is be around your guest & not in the kitchen cooking, so today I am baking off the cake...this is always a must even if you have time the next day. I find it so much easier to work with cake when it has cooled completely & sat in the fridge overnight, try it and you will agree! I also make my simple syrup the day before because it takes 2 seconds & is much better to work with when cooled to room temp. For those of you who don't use simple syrup or don't know what is it-- simple syrup is equal parts water to granulated sugar(by weight), all you do is boil water, pour in the sugar & once its dissolved let it cool down. You can at this point add flavors if you like, and I use this in-between each layer of cake before adding butter cream. This not only keeps your cake super most, but adds flavor!
This is very important when making a cake covered in fondant, which I will be doing(this is because you want the cake to stay moist). I'm going to make another painted cake similar to my first post...The colors we are using at the party are pink & green so I will be using those colors on the cake! I have been taking pictures as I go so you can see from the very beginning to end how its done. I am also making a cheese and fruit platter which will not require prepping today & baked brie- which also will not need prepping. I will try to post more tomorrow but with the party & last minute cooking it might be Sunday when I find time to post the pictures & talk about everything....

Red Velvet Painted Cake..... in the making

The batter needs to be silky smooth...as little clumps as possible so it will bake nice! As you can see the batter will be very red!! This is great for making shark cakes or armadillo cakes- so when you cut into it, its like blood! I'm just doing red because it also looks pretty! More to come...

Once you have baked your cake & let it cool overnight, its time to cut & ice. I cut my cake into 3 layers ( you can do any size cake you like) once cut each layer gets a light coating of simple syrup & a small amount of buttercream. You dont want to add to much buttercream because the fondant is so sweet it would be overwelming. Once all my layers are put together, I put a very thin coating of buttercream on the outside...just enough to help the fondant stick to the cake, once you have this completed you can roll your fondant out. This should not be done any sooner because it will dry out very quickly! I have taken pictures of each step I just explained so you can see...

Now..once the cake is covered you can get everything together to paint, I use gel food coloring & vodka. The alcohol helps dry the paint so it wont run all over the fondant. I use a very fine tip paint brush because its easier to paint with. You only need a small amount of gel & add about a tablespoon or more of vodka until the mixture is pretty watered down. Then you can paint!

These cakes are so much fun to make & a great personal touch to any celebration!