I'm almost embarrassed to blog about this cake. This is what I made for my long time friend Lisa and her fiance, Chris, for their engagement party over the weekend. I'll tell you why I wasn't happy.
I saw I Am Baker's rose cake tutorial on Tastespotting and was really anxious to have the opportunity to try out the technique. Her cake is friggin' beautiful. Well, as you can see my cake looks nothing like hers. Mine is like the sloppy mutant version of her perfect bed of roses.
Full view of the cake. Doesn't come close to the original.
I have a few theories as to why mine didn't turn out exactly as planned. Ignoring the fact that I have somewhat poor piping skills, the first thing that went wrong was that I was working with cream cheese frosting. It tasted delicious but it did not hold up to the heat of my hands in the piping bag. So, the longer I held the bag the more that it melted and drooped as I piped. Next time, I think I'll need to keep the bag with frosting in it in the fridge for awhile so that it is nice and cold. Also, I should have put on a thicker layer of frosting after the crumb coat and before the piping. The red velvet cake really shows through the gaps between the roses and that bugs the heck out of me. Thank goodness that the taste of the cake made up for the appearance.
I understand that this technique is not meant to come out perfectly. That's why I love the original rose cake by I Am Baker. There is a classic, rustic feel to it but the way that my cake looks gloppy really is not good enough for me.
Close up of the bottom layer. I chose the best shot from the best angle. Overall, the cake was not so pretty.
Even though I got many compliments on the cake, I wasn't happy. I knew I could have done better, but I had no time to try again. Maybe I'm being too critical. My feeling about the cake is (and I'm quoting Cher from the movie Clueless here) that it's a Monet. "You see, it's like the painting. Seen from far away, it's okay; but up close, it's a big ol' mess." From far away the cake looked nice but up close you could see the sloppiness of it. And no, I'm not embarrassed to be quoting Clueless, a definitive coming of age 90's film.
From my Instagram app. It makes things look puuurty.
The rose cake has not conquered me! I will try again!
