I still love getting magazines. I know they are supposedly not as popular now that everything is available online, but I love thumbing through a magazine with a cup of good coffee and a comfortable sofa.
One of my favorite magazines to get in the mail is HGTV Magazine. And do you know what my favorite part of it is?
The cover.
They have amazing covers. It never fails to inspire me or bring a smile to my face.
This cake is completely inspired by their April issue.
That floral centerpiece drew me in immediately. Here is it a bit closer.
I just knew I had to make it into a cake!!
I have to tell you, this is my very first time making free-form buttercream flowers. I must have made a hundred! I had them on paper plates and parchment paper all over the kitchen, testing out decorators tips and the perfect frosting consistency.
It was SO MUCH FUN. I am totally addicted.
Here is the run down on tips for making this cake:
I used this white cake recipe. I tinted three cups of the batter yellow and the remaining orange.
The cakes were all baked in 6-inch round cake pans and leveled to the same height. I chilled the cakes prior to assembly. (Be warned, this is a tall cake!)
I used white buttercream between the layers. (half recipe) The buttercream between the layers is a creamier consistency than the flowers. For the flowers I used this crusting buttercream recipe, which is much more sturdy. The flowers hold their shape much better.
I tinted the frosting 4 different shades of pink by using varying amounts of one bottle of pink Ateco gel food coloring. Using mostly the tear drop shaped decorators tip, I piped out roses and daisies and a bunch of other blobs that look like flowers but that I do not know a specific name for. I would pipe out a flower, set it on the plate or parchment, then freeze it until ready to assemble.
There was a bit of yellow and green for embellishment and details.
If you have made a layer cake than this will be an easy assembly! If you have ever taken a course on cake decorating or even watched buttercream flower video’s on youtube (that’s all I did!) then you CAN make this cake.
I am going to try and put together a little tutorial for the flowers and assembly, as that was a bit trickier than I had imagined. Hope to get that up soon!
Looking forward to next month’s HGTV magazine!
Wow! This cake is almost too pretty to eat!!! Amazing work!
Laura
http://www.24-7style.com
You are amazing! HGTV magazine should be so honored. To tell you that you’re talented is too obvious. I love how you follow your passion and clearly, this is your calling. Those buttercream flowers are just incredible. I would never let anyone cut into it! haha – at least you have tons of pictures to preserve your masterpieces, right??
This cake is just beautiful! I love the contrast of the yellow and orange layers as well as the artfully displayed flowers on top. This shows how much patience you have because I am sure this took a long time to complete. I can bake, but the decorating part is very challenging.
That is gorgeous. I’ll have to give it a try. I’m not a fan of fondant and am always looking for ways to make pretty things out of buttercream.
It must be one of the most beautiful cakes that I have ever seen! I would be to sorry to eat such a beautiful creation!!
OMG! This is so beautiful – so much more than the cover of HGTV!
oh my starz!! I am so very, very impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my flowers – especially roses!! – always look so blobbed!!! you did phenomenally!
Wow! That is one of the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen. I love magazines too and constantly get ideas from them, but I don’t think I would have picked up on what you did. Well done!
I love this cake!! I’m going to try this! You’re such an inspiration to me. I look forward to seeing all your new baking adventures! I follow you faithfully and I make A LOT of your cakes. ☺️ I love baking and experimenting with frosting techniques and you give a lot of fantastic ideas! So thank you!!
You really show the cake decorating as an art form when you translate the front of a magazine into your cake. That shows true creativity. It is so pretty and when I saw the inside my mouth dropped! Just stunning. Really. And I continue to find it so interesting, being creative myself, how certain aspects of the creative process can enthrall one person and possibly make another person go bonkers. I would never have the patience to make buttercream flowers all day! So glad you found a new area of your craft to be passionate about. It is an exquisite cake!