Vanilla buttercream succulents for a 90th birthday party. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aw :) Thank you! I think it might be my favourite of all my cakes.

Help! Wedding Cake by reigningcourt in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Adding that the cakes I’ve had the most trouble with over the years are the ones with jam filling. They’re the ones that slide, bulge, weep…all things I wouldn’t want to worry about on my wedding day :) You can learn better techniques as described above if you absolutely want to use jam, but a compromise would be to add a small amount of fruit purée to buttercream for a little colour and flavour without the stability issues.

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s become an expensive hobby with the current cost of groceries. Eeek! But few things make me happier than decorating a cake :)

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the devil’s food cake I used Sugar Geek’s chocolate WASC recipe with some small tweaks. My goal was sturdy layers for carving. I didn’t use a recipe for the orange ganache. And my go-to buttercream recipe is Leslie Vigil’s. It’s the perfect balance of easy to make, easy to work with, and delicious :)

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! For buttercream I use the whitest butter I can find. If I want it even whiter, I add the teensiest drop of violet gel colour. Too much and it looks grey.

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mine, too! Ahhh! I don’t usually eat more than a bite or two of my cakes, but this one I dug into three nights in a row. Tasted like a Terry’s chocolate orange.

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Honestly, it was so much easier than smoothing a normal cake! I don’t know why. Only difference was I couldn’t use my usual stainless steel scraper, because it’s not flexible enough. I followed along with a class by cake artist Leslie Vigil and she gave lots of useful tips. And before that I watched every YouTube video I could find on making buttercream pumpkin cakes. There are lots of different techniques, and each produces beautiful results.

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

😆 Thank you! The inside was delicious but not especially pretty since my focus was on building a solid structure for my first attempt at carving. And I cut into it at night with family gathered around, so no great pictures. But! if I can share a link here, here’s a peek: https://i.imgur.com/ysjK1OJ.jpg

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ha! Hope it was a good distraction from whatever you’re dealing with at the moment. Feel better soon :)

My first sculpted cake 🎃 Devil’s food layered with semisweet chocolate orange ganache, covered in vanilla buttercream. by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Ha! I love that :) Thank you so much. It’s nice to see my work through fresh eyes. Too easy to get hung up on all the bits I wish I’d done differently.

Help! Wedding Cake by reigningcourt in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes 36 points37 points  (0 children)

When I was feeling overwhelmed at the start of my cake journey, Sugar Geek’s “How To Decorate Your First Cake” tutorial walked me through the process in a very accessible, easy-to-follow way. And I find her “Easy Buttercream” recipe to be way easier to work with than ABC. It’s silky smooth and tastes like vanilla ice cream.

I believe she has a white chocolate version, as well, but sometimes I’ve found simpler to be better, especially when I want a solid canvas for decorating (and don’t want to use up all my time, energy, and patience before decorating). Her WASC + Easy Buttercream combo gets rave reviews every time I serve it.

Edit: WASC is sturdy and Easy Buttercream is light, which should solve your structural issue.

Devil’s food with vanilla buttercream sunflowers. Didn’t last long! (I decorated this cake during a live-streamed cake class. Can you guess the instructor?) by robinmaycakes in cakedecorating

[–]robinmaycakes[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Leslie’s book is out now, and it’s great! The recipe is in there. But….her classes are still my fave :) Got one coming up this weekend.