Real Party: Sweet 16

My niece recently turned 16. My sister-in-law held a little surprise party for her with family and friends. (I guess shouldn't say a little party, since it felt like her entire high school was there). Her favorite colors are yellow and orange, so I set out to make a cake in her colors. It was my first attempt at a 2 layer cake, and my first attempt at using fondant.
I used the pre-made fondant from Michael's, and found it was very easy. I made a chocolate cake with 9-inch round pans, and a second cake with 5 inch round pans.

Here she is, arriving for her surprise. How lucky that her outfit matched her cake! ;)

I tried something else new with this cake, and it was delicious. I chopped a toffee candy bar and sprinkled it in the inner layers of the cake. The crunch and toffee flavor were excellent with the chocolate cake. I am already thinking of the candy flavors I want to use in my next cake. It made the cake feel extra special, yet it was so easy.
One tip is to put frosting on the both layers of the cake that you stick together. Otherwise the candy will block the stickiness of the frosting, and your layers could topple.

The cake looked pretty good for my first attempt at two layers, but by the time we got around to pictures and singing Happy Birthday it was looking wilted. It was over 100 degrees that day, and the cake should have stayed in the fridge a lot longer. The chocolate cake started to show through as the frosting melted, and the fondant letters were sliding. At least it tasted good! And my niece did love the colors.

Happy Birthday Cassandra!


I learned a few lessons on this baking adventure:

• Wait until right before the event to apply fondant decorations if its hot outside.
• Put the two layers together and then frost the entire cake, rather than frosting them separately and then putting them together.
• If possible, put the cake together on location (bringing this in the car was a nightmare!)
  
• Make a lot more frosting then you think you will need. (With a thicker layer of frosting I may have avoided the dark cake showing through.) You will always find a use for it!
  

Onto the next one! Practice makes perfect, right?