Flower basket cake

Sometime ago, I watched this video (most likely in YouTube) in which Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss, said that he thinks in a few years' time, no one will be using buttercream to frost cakes anymore.  With all due respect, I don't think he knew what he was talking about!  He is a big advocate of fondant but obviously, fondant is not for everyone, me included.  Instead of losing its popularity, it looks like buttercream is in fact making a big comeback!  These days, buttercream-frosted cakes have turned into intricate, sophisticated works of art, just as fondant-covered cakes are.

Because of this, I have made it my goal to improve on my piping skills and take buttercream art more seriously.  Today, I practiced on flower and basketweave piping!

I wanted to place more flowers on the bottom but made the mistake of using a small cake board so there was no space for them!  The sunflower looks out of place, doesn't it?

This is just a small, three-layered, 6" cake but boy, did I have to make a lot of buttercream!  I am not a big fan of crusting buttercream for the simple reason that it is too sweet.  I frosted and filled the cake with my usual Swiss meringue buttercream but made the roses and sunflowers using a classic buttercream with half butter, half high ratio shortening and icing sugar as this is more stable for piping.

Next time, I will use a more dense cake as the weight of the flowers seemed too much for the top layer of my chiffon cake!

It took me a few hours to get this cake done but I did have fun practicing!  My basketweave still needs a little work plus I know I should learn how to better arrange flowers.  Overall though, I was happy with the outcome.  Just the burst of colours was enough to make me smile!

I hope to apply another buttercream-related skill on a cake next week. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to do something really nice for Easter.  

Till then, you all have great weekend!