Hi! I posted the other day (that question is here... https://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/850919/filling-a-sheet-cake-1) and I have some additional questions about frosting. Just a disclaimer, that I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just a mom who has to bake cakes for the birthdays a lot. I'm decent and the kids love them, so that's good. :) I get really critical when I'm not improving though, so I'd appreciate any help!
The birthday party will be outdoors under a park ramada. The forecast high is 93 degrees. We plan to keep the cake in a cooler until just before serving and I imagine it will be sitting out about 30 minutes afterward. So...with that information, what's the best bet for frosting? I'm guessing a whipped cream type frosting is a no-go?
The cake will be a 2-layer sheet cake with pineapple filling. It's for a 6 year old who only cares what it looks like, but I want it to taste good too. Here is a picture of the waves I'm going to try to put on the cake. (The cake will be a sheet cake, though. Not the round one pictured.)
So...for the waves, I know I need something stiff. There will be toy dolphins on the waves, like in the photo.
1. Will buttercream work?
2. Is homemade better than store bought?
3. I also bought some Wilton stiff decorator icing to try out. Will this work better?
4, Any ideas on how to get the dolphins to stay up there, aside from hoping they stay on the icing waves? They're actual toy dolphins, so no picks or anything to stick in the cake.
Then, for the base layer of frosting and sides of cake...do I use the same stuff as with the waves? I really like the idea of whipped cream frosting, but I don't know if that's practical.
Whatever I use, I have the McCormick natural blue dye to color it with.
Whew! That's a lot! Thanks to anyone who understands all that and can help!
American buttercream, made with shortening instead of butter, is the most stable in hot weather. If you have a way to keep the cake nice and cold, a cooler large enough to include frozen packs or ice, whipped cream should be fine. Don't expect it to hold up much longer than it will take to sure it, though. You can use the same frosting for the sides of the cake as for the waves, but you may want to thin it down slightly.
I've never used any commercial frosting (because my mama taught me to bake when I was a tiny girl), but I know others use Wilton's decorator buttercream and like it very much. You could use something like a candy bar, cut into 1" long pieces, to support the dolphins. Smooth frost the top of the cake, place the pieces of candy bar where you want the dolphins, the pipe right over them so they do not show. They will keep your tops from sinking down into the waves.
Sounds like a cute cake. Don't forget to post.
The icing recipe “2 of everything “ on this site would be a good one made to crust — at the end of that post I like Sandra’s suggestion of using some type of candy to support the dolphins Personally I don’t care for the canned frosting as it becomes very soft quickly especially when stirred/mixed You can control what you make much better
I'm not sure if this will work (I couldn't reply before), but here's the cake! We had it back in May and she was THRILLED!
She has food allergies and I don't have a safe bakery to buy from, so I'm trying to learn!
I used Wilton stiff decorator icing for the waves to make sure they held up in the heat. I used a Lego duplo block under mama dolphin and piped the wave frosting around it!
The sand was gluten and allergen free Graham crackers and brown sugar. The entire cake was free from gluten, peanuts, and tree nuts and filled with a pineapple mousse. It was delicious and she was SO proud of her cake! She never gets to eat the cake at other parties, so it was really important to me to do a good job for her.
jedimm — you got me mistin’ up this morning — look at that “so proud of my momma/cake/birthday” smil!e!!! how swee-eet!
the cake is lovely — bet it tasted amazing — you hit this out of the park for her — home run— touchdown — gold star —
not to mention you got my day off to a lovely start—
best to you and the jedimunchkin
Ditto what -K8memphis said! She is much more articulate than I. Fabulous job on the cake, it is awesome, and that precious face says it all! Yeap, home run!
Wow, that's an amazing cake - and a perfectly amazing smile on that birthday girl's face. My kids have nut allergies, so I get where you're coming from. It's so awesome to be able to give them something they can love and enjoy for their birthdays.
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