Anniversary Cake: Pearls and Rosettes

I've been browsing some more cake decorating tutorials, from Global Sugar Art and Wilton. This of course made me want to make another cake. Luckily my parents anniversary was just around the corner so I thought it would make a nice present for them.

Note: The video from Global Sugar Art on Buttercream Basics: Making a Cake, has some great tips that make a really big difference on the texture and flavor of cakes.

I really enjoyed the chocolate flavor of the last cupcakes I made, so that made me want to try making a chocolate cake. I also love how well the chocolate flavor pairs with the vanilla buttercream frosting.

Thus far I have made a fair amount of cupcakes with the rosettes on top, but none on a cake, and I just love how cool they look on a cake. Additionally, given how pretty they are, I thought they would be a nice decoration on an anniversary cake.

I really like the look of a cake that has different shades of the same color, which I hadn't tried before.
I opted to go with different shades of blue, because it's one of my favorite colors, and I knew it would be a nice complement to the chocolate color of the cake (which you could see when you cut into the cake).

The cake came out very nicely done, with amazing flavor, just like the chocolate cupcakes had. One thing I will say though is that because this was an extremely moist cake, it also wasn't super strong, so I'm not sure how well it would've held up with more than just the two layers or with heavy fondant decorations. I may need to alter the recipe if I ever need to accommodate those situations.

This was the first time I used all shortening in my buttercream frosting. I did add some butter flavored extract to it though, and it tasted fantastic! However, I may have used just a bit too much powdered sugar because the frosting was looking a little dry when I was piping the rosettes.

I won't lie, making the rosettes on a cake was a little harder than on a cupcake, because you have to try to make them all the same size and it's not like you can use the edges of the cake as a guide the way you do for a cupcake. I think it'll get easier the more I do it though.

I had just bought those blue pearl candies that morning at the grocery store when I went to buy more shortening. They're actually Sixlets, and they were in the decorating section at Target (in the baking isle near the shortening, hence why I saw them). They were the perfect color and I thought they would fit in really well with the rosettes.

After I saw how the pearl candies looked on the cake, that's actually what made me decide to make the white buttercream beads to complement that look on the sides of the cake.

The border around the bottom is a simple shell border, which I've don't before, but this time I used a much larger star tip (1M, the same as the one for rosettes). I like the way that turned out, and I didn't think it was too much of a distraction from the rosettes which were the focal point.

My parents (and everyone else who got to try a piece) loved it, they all had multiple slices! Even my mom, who doesn't eat a whole lot of dessert, said it was delicious. I think that's a sign of success! :)

Anniversary cake, with rosettes and pearls

Practice Makes Perfect

As anxious as I am to keep to learn new things, I also know the importance of practicing what I have already learned. So this time I decided to go back to roses, violets and of course some rosettes.

The roses I am getting pretty good at.

White rose

 
One thing I did learn from this round was that it's not a good idea to fill the pastry bag really full. If there's too much frosting in the bag it makes it a lot harder to squeeze it out, especially since you're only using one hand because the other hand is holding the flower nail.

The violets are a lot harder than I anticipated, and I'm still having a little trouble with them. Part of it is also that I'm a perfectionist when it comes to things I'm really passionate about and I want it to look exactly like the pictures on Wilton's website, haha :)

White violet

One thing I think that would help, is to practice them on a cake turntable, so I can turn the table as I'm piping each petal, and not having to try to turn my wrist to achieve the desired shape. Luckily, I have already ordered one from Amazon (360 Degree Revolving Cake Stand) and its arrival is expected any day now! I chose that one because the price was awesome, and it will serve as both a turntable to prepare the cakes, and a nice looking cake stand, so I won't have to transfer the cake to a different stand.

As far as the rosettes go, my plan was at some point to be decorating some cupcakes with them, because I like that look. That being said, I wanted to get some practice piping them onto something with that shape, without having to make cupcakes.

So, it might seem a bit unorthodox, but I decided to pipe them on to the bottom of a cup (similar shape, right?). I'm happy to say it actually worked out quite well. And it was super easy to just wipe the frosting off so I could re-pipe another rosette, without having to dirty too many cups.

Blue rosettes

Blue rosette (top view)

I had recently got some royal blue gel coloring, as I knew I was going to need a darker blue for some of my upcoming decorating ideas, so I decided to try that out for the rosettes. I really like that deep blue color, I think it turned out pretty nice.

These practice sessions are obviously not as exciting as learning something new, especially for someone like me who gets ahead of herself and wants to tackle everything at once. But at least they seem to be helping. :)

Finding the Right Rosette

I FINALLY have the tip to make rosettes! So I'm sure you can guess what I chose to learn today.

Now I'm not sure if I'll color the frosting every time I practice, but first of all I was really excited about making the rosettes so I thought they deserved some color. Secondly, I thought it would be a lot easier to to see the entire shape and structure of the rosette if it wasn't plain white.

I had already watched a few videos at this point, so there was nothing left but to just go for it. Note: There are some good videos on YouTube for rosettes, but this was the one I liked best: Rosette Cake (Rose Cake) Tutorial. The first few I made were a little more oval shaped than round.

The first set of rosettes; more oval shaped than round

I kept that in mind and tried to move the tip out a little wider from my starting point. Unfortunately, in the next one I made, I went a little too far over a there was a bit of space in the center, which you don't want. So for a while I was trying to find a balance between the two.

Second set of rosettes; trying to find a balance of space

 Finally, I was able to find the right motion to create a pretty even circle with no empty space in the center.

The "Goldilocks" rosette, with no empty space and an even circle

I will say that because these rosettes are so big, and it takes a lot of frosting to just make one, I ended up having to refill the bag a few times. I had just enough frosting left in the bag at the end to try a few stars (as you can see in one of the above pictures), which is another design you can make with that tip (the 1M). I liked the stars too, but not as much as the rosettes. I'm excited to get the chance to practice them again; maybe next time on an actual cake!