Candy Cane Hat Box Cake

Happy December! And, Happy Holidays!!

I had the pleasure of creating a cake for a friend of mine at church who is teaching a bible study to the college girls through Proverbs 31. This Saturday the teaching is based on Proverbs 31:16-19… how woman can bless their families with the talents and skills God has given them…talents they can use at home and therefore stay true to Titus 2:4-5. So, she asked if I’d contribute a cake for their study today to show the girls how cake making could be one of those fun options for them – and of course I was HAPPY to help out!! So, here’s what I came up with on short notice…a candy cane hat box cake. The inside is filled with 5 layers of red velvet cake and 4 layers of white chocolate cream cheese frosting. All the red decorations are modeling chocolate mixed with some fondant…my favorite material for decorating!!A few new things for me…some which didn’t work out so well, so a few things to learn from. The first was the bow…this bow (as seen on the cake below) was my afterthought – after the original bow didn’t work out so well! I wanted to do those loopy bows (see second pic below) with the ribbons coming up from the sides of the box, but I’d never done one before. The directions I read said to use melted chocolate to attach the pre-dried loops together. I didn’t realize how little chocolate you needed and used too much! So, it was too messy looking for me to use on the cake…although, it would have looked cuter to have used it, instead of the big floppy bow I made last night!

The second new thing was the glossy finish I tried to achieve! I got this Preval Sprayer and filled it up with Vodka (don’t worry, the alcohol evaporates!). I then sprayed the cake down thinly to help absorb any left over cornstarch and to give it a shimmer. Although, I sprayed too much and it just got the cake a bit gummy in spots because it made the sugars in the fondant wet. So, I’ll have to play with that on another fake cake to work out the issues there. Oh, and modeling chocolate doesn’t work with vodka…it just beads up and doesn’t absorb. So, all the red modeling chocolate accents just got speckled!! Oh well, live and learn. It’s a great effect if I can figure out the little sprayer. Perfect for those patten leather looks.

And the last thing is this silly red velvet cake! URGH, I think it’s cuz I’m not super familiar with red velvet cake in general. But I think I found “the recipe”, but have tweaked it quite a bit to make it more flavorful and moist. However, the last time I made it, I used TOO much oil and not enough vinegar, so it was really gummy tasting. So, this time I cut down the oil by half and added more vinegar…and now I think the perfect formula is right in the middle (more oil, less vinegar). But, hopefully the girls didn’t mind me experimenting on them! And, hopefully soon, I’ll have a red velvet cake added to my offerings of flavors…then on to perfect a carrot cake! :)Thanks for looking!! And may you keep Christ in Christmas!!
Merry CHRISTmas!