Nothing says spring like flowers and butterflies. This cake's emphasis on pastel colors makes it a perfect component to a variety of spring displays. The attention to detail, such as pearlescent airbrush color, fondant pearls and sparkly butterflies, helps make this cake stand out from other designs. It is sure to attract customer attention and garner sales.
1. Ice an 8-in. double layer round cake with white icing. Use a cut paper tube to pipe the outline of a yellow flower. Then, take a paintbrush to pull wisps of icing in towards the center of the flower to fill the petals with color.
2. Opposite the yellow flower, use the same technique to create a pink flower. Then, pipe blue and purple flowers opposite each other.
3. Around each of the original four flowers, pipe flowers of the other three colors to create four multi-colored bouquets of four flowers.
4. At the base of the cake, use a cut paper tube to pipe the border. Begin by piping a “C” and a backward “C.”
5. Then, use a back and forth motion to accent the ends of the “C”s.
6. Starting from the base of the “C”s, pipe an elongated curve that curves away from the “C.”
7. In the center above the design, pipe a teardrop.
8. Then, slightly below and to each side of the center teardrop, pipe another two teardrops to finish the fleur de lis-style decoration.
9. Pipe another identical green fleur de lis about an inch from the original. Connect the two fleur de lis by piping two sideways “C”s. Continue this pattern around the bottom edge of the cake.
10 . Using a back and forth motion and the cut paper tube, pipe several scallops on the cake board. Make each scallop half the size of a fleur de lis.
11. Add several scrolls to the top of the cake using the cut paper tube and green icing.
12. Continue the scroll designs down the side of the cake and around the bouquets of flowers.
13. Airbrush the entire cake with a pearlescent color.
14. Place fondant pearls in the center of each flower. Also, place pearls at the bottom center of each fleur de lis around the base of the cake.
15. Finish the design by adding fabric butterflies to the cake. Coordinate the colors of the flowers with the colors of the butterflies that are available from suppliers.
Phuong Truong, CD, has been decorating cakes for Ambrosia Bakery for eight years. She started at the bakery stacking and icing cakes and had no decorating experience. After watching decorators at work, she decided to try her hand and has been decorating ever since. She received her Certified Decorator certificate last year. She entered the Retail Bakers of America's 2008 Creative Decorating Competition, her first competition ever, and was named Pillsbury Grand Champion.
