Ruffle Cake

Ruffle cakes take a huge amount if icing. Huge. And I'd chosen to use Swiss Meringue Buttercream for this cake. Which was a good idea...and not.
A good idea because it pipes really beautifully and smoothly. A bad idea because when you run out if it with a quarter of the cake still to ice, you can't just whip up another batch in a couple of minutes!

Actually, the SMB was almost a non-starter. I had made it a week before, and frozen it.
 It was defrosting on the kitchen table, when a monkey decided to stroll through our kitchen door (he literally did - on two legs!) My husband when into man-mode and picked up the first thing he could lay his hands on to fling at the monkey. It was the container of SMB!! When I screeched "Don't do that!" he thought I was defending the monkey! Luckily the SMB was still a solid block, so when the lid popped off mid-landing (on the floor, not the monkey) it stayed firmly in the container. Whew!

Okay, so that was the first near-miss. The second was under-estimating how much I'd need for a 2 tier cake. I'd made 2 batches of this recipe. But halfway through the first tier, I was already stressed about how I was going to finish it. I'd gone past the point of no return, though.

So, thank goodness I'd also made some meringue - using the first steps of the SMB recipe - for  mini lemon meringue pies.  It had been sitting in the kitchen for about an hour, but  gracefully accepted the addition of butter, and allowed me to finish icing the cake - just. So, please don't look too closely at the picture!

I used two different ruffle techniques - both using an Ateco 104 petal tip. You can find videos for many different ruffling techniques on YouTube. Here are a few:

•  Easy Ruffle Cake Decorating Tutorial by Renee G: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKdDNfPG2dg,
• Ruffle Video by sweetandsaucyshop: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHYX0qXDVy0
• Crave -Ruffle Cake.mov by cravecupcakes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqKwR7Q4mvE

Will I  do it again: Absolutely! I love the ruffles, and I love the ombre look. Next time though - I will have much more icing ready and on standby. And I'll colour it pink. Pink. And pink! My daughter will be delighted : )

Chloe's birthday party treats table

xxM