Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Post# 139: TWD's Not-So-Perfect Party Cake

I mean really. Perfection is overrated. If everyone or everything was perfect, then what would we have to talk about? Gossip about? Laugh about?  A lifetime of entertainment would be taken away from us, all of us, especially me. I mean there is a reason we laugh when someone trips.
On that note, here is some entertainment for you all, especially my faithful peeps who came back to visit me after a long unannounced and unintended absence.


From PerfectPartyCake

Ever since I found out one of my favorite talented bloggers, Carol of Mix, Mix, Stir, Stir (an appropriate description for this week's recipe) chose this week's TWD challenge of The Perfect Party cake. I have been so excited to try it, not only because she is awesome, but because I have envisioned it as being my baby girl's 1rst birthday cake. Her milestone birthday is just around the corner, so I thought how perfect it was that  I get to practice making it first before the big day.


From PerfectPartyCake



Well, knowing how difficult it can be do do a layered jam-filled cake, I decided to start the cake early. Uh, yeah, right. I started this cake around 9:00 p.m. last night and finished it a little before midnight! Yes, that is the way I like to do it around here, sleep-deprived and with plenty of interruptions!

Lessons Learned:
  • Next time, I will chill cake layers with frosting, then jam, and then again with frosting for a cleaner look. Timely, but look should be way better.
  • I should have pinned down the layers. They slid upon cutting. 
  • May hybrid this cake. Yes, I will try to use cake mix with added powdered lemonade or lemonade, and lemon extract. Instead of using the lengthy from scratch cake steps (Sorry, Dorie). 
  • I will double the frosting recipe. It is a great recipe, but I did not have enough to pipe a border for the preserve filling and complete frost the top and sides. I had some bald spots!
Carol offers some of the same suggestions, except she also recommends reversing the order of the buttercream and preserve filling. Her cake is stunning!

I thought I was being clever by adding Blueberry Preserves to the layers. I wanted a Red, White, and  Blue theme to celebrate the 4th of July! You can hardly notice. Oh, well. I tried. And because I am not perfect ( I know you are shocked, aren't you? So, is my hubby who is still under the illusion that I am!), I WILL make this cake-again, using several variations. So what if half my family is not crazy about coconut. 

From PerfectPartyCake


I have a vision. And it will be fulfilled on July 12 th when my baby girl celebrates her 1rst year of life in this wacky, but wonderful world! 

Now go check out what the other wacky TWD'ers created, perfect or not!

It is good to be back!

FYI: My new guilty pleasure, Ice Road Truckers, the t.v. show, not real truckers(seriously).

25 comments:

Unknown said...

At 10:23 a.m. Tuesday morning, I had an epiphany while feeding the baby, why not put the preserves on the top of the bottom layer, then the buttercream on the bottom of the top layer, then close together like a book? Think this would work?

chocolatechic said...

Oh...it is beautiful.

vibi said...

I'm sorry you had so much trouble with that cake, but I'm glad it turned out beautiful even though...

From here, it surely looks like it belongs in a magazine.

Unknown said...

Perfect or not, I think it looks beautiful! :)

Weezer said...

That is really pretty and looks yummy. Cant believe our little Ms. Gabby will be one. How time flies!!!

Barbara Bakes said...

Half my family isn't crazy about coconut either. Your cake looks perfect to me.

Donna-FFW said...

Wow, what heartfelt work went into this gem. It looks beautiful.

Jodie said...

Looks yummy, though! I would still eat it! :)

Anonymous said...

Too bad you had trouble! It looks great. YUM.

Leslie said...

First of all, how did you pull off making this cake in 3 hours?! I feel sooo lame. I'm skipping the coconut next time, even though it covers all of my frosting errors. I will still make frosting errors, but maybe using Carol's method of chilling in between frosting and filling applications will help. Sara at imafoodblog added blue food coloring so part of her batter to make part of her star-shaped cupcakes blue.

Isabelle said...

Sorry, you had trouble. I think it looks delicious!

AmyRuth said...

Don't know what you think? I think Perfecto! Great job. I've noticed sometimes when there is thinner frosting it doesn't slide around so much. Maybe that'll help out next time. Happy first birthday to the little princess! How much fun when that comes up. Hope we see photos. So glad you liked it too.
AmyRuth

Jennifer said...

Dude that looks delish, can you make me one for my milestone 45th birthday, LOL. I love coconut!

Teanna DiMicco said...

I hope your vision is fulfilled! That cake is gorgeous! And I love the red, white, and blue theme!

Cathy said...

I think your cake looks incredible! It is gorgeous and to me the layers look superb. I took the easy way out and did cupcakes, so I have nothing to offer in terms of layer cake tips. I aspire to make a cake that looks like yours someday! And happy almost birthday to your sweet baby! I get emotional about all of my kids' birthdays, but that first birthday really gets me right here.

Flourchild said...

Can I be one of your peeps!:) I love the look of your cake even if you think it's no the best. I heard others had troubles getting the inside to look good. I didn't get to try this one, but with all the advice I may have to bake it. It's just getting to darn warm to heat the oven up!

Jennifer said...

Thanks so much for the tips. I've baked the cake and it's in the freezer. I'm going to do the frosting on Saturday for Fourth of July dessert. I think I'll do sweetened whipped cream and preserves in the middle and just frost the outside with the icing.

Anonymous said...

I think your Perfect Party Cake looks Beautiful! I love the blueberry preserves sub, I thought of doing that myself! The slice of cake looks really yummy!

Megan said...

I love the look of the cake - I think blueberry was a great idea!

Hindy said...

Your cake looks lovely - and delicious. Can I have your piece? ;)
Well done!

Pamela said...

Well, I can't wait to see the 1st Birthday version of this cake!! Looks great!

Jaime said...

glad you got some practice making this - not sure if you misread Dorie's instructions, but she tells you to spread the jam first, then the buttercream :) it looks great, even if you don't think so

Debbie said...

It still looks incredibly delicious to me. One of my sons doesn't like coconut. What is up with that?

Jules Someone said...

That looks just lovely! Not so much a fan of coconut myself.

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh. This looks SO great. SO great. I want to go get the ingredients and start making it right this second. Fantastic! You amaze me.