An Elegant Farewell

Once again my husband, N's, boss asked if I could make a farewell cake for someone leaving the office. I asked N a few questions about what design and flavor she would like, but he wasn't entirely certain what were her favorites. Since this request was coming just before Christmas with the cake due the day after N was to return to work, there was no time for detective work. I had met this co-worker of N's on a couple of occasions and although I did not know her well, she had struck me as an elegant person. So this is what kept in mind as I started conceptualizing the cake. This was the first time where I had all creative control on a cake, which was great, but also intimidating for me, so I went online in search of an inspiration cake and found something beautiful. I wasn't hoping to copy it exactly but just simply take inspiration from the cake's colors and lines. It made me very excited.

N and I decided that a small 2 tier cake would be best since we were not sure if her favorite cake flavor was chocolate or vanilla. This also gave me the opportunity to try out some new recipes. The bottom tier is an incredibly moist chocolate cake. I am in love with this new recipe. And the top tier is vanilla. I am usually not a fan of vanilla cake, but this cake is moist, fluffy and very tasty.

Decorating day came and I was just starting to recover from a terrible cold. I was still excited to decorate, but was hoping that it would go relatively quickly. In my head I was very organized and figured that things would go off without a hitch. Man, was I ever wrong! I've never had so much trouble with a cake before!

First off my buttercream separated. If you've read previous posts, this has happened to me once before so I knew I was in for a hard time covering the cakes. In hindsight I should have made another batch, but eventually I got the cakes covered in buttercream. (this type of buttercream can still be eaten and tastes very good once separated, as it does not become soupy, just hard to spread)

Next was the fondant. Since the buttercream was a bit lumpy the fondant went on terribly. There were air bubbles everywhere! I went to work popping the bubbles, knowing that the decoration on the cake would cover any small pin holes, but I still wasn't satisfied. I smoothed and smoothed...stood back and just about ripped all the fondant off and started again. After the cakes stood for a bit they looked quite a bit better, so I just left it. But I was starting to feel like it was a loosing battle against this cake.

So it was with discouragement that I started decorating. The resulting design was looking okay, but not amazing. I had lost any previous inspiration for this cake and was just being random. I took a break while I put my boys down for a nap and thought about what I had originally wanted this cake to look like. Went downstairs, studied my inspiration cake for awhile and ripped off all the fondant decorations (not the fondant base). After putting the first few new strips of fondant on I felt like the cake was going to have some potential. I kept going and started to get very excited. I was loving the colors and how the cake was flowing and elegant which was exactly what I wanted. I debated for awhile putting the silver ball details on, but figured that they added some dimension and a bit of shine. I couldn't believe how much I was loving it! Mind you it was 8 hours later, but I had conquered the cake!

Before I did this cake I had talked with a very close friend and amazing photographer, Rebecca Croft Photographer to see if she would be willing to take some photos if the cake turned out nicely. So after my marathon cake decorating day I gave her a call and she popped over for a little cake photoshoot. The pictures you see in this post as well as my blog header are all her photos. Thanks Becky!

Hands down this is my favorite cake. I mean, I love them all...but this one has a special place in my heart. Partly because I fought with it and won, but also because this is the cake that says "Julia". The design, although inspired by another cake came from within, which felt incredible.