A little bit about baking

For Abigail's first and second birthdays I made cupcakes -- it's easy and kids love them.  Last year she specifically asked me for purple cupcakes, no problem.  But since then Abigail has learned to love  serious baking.  She refers to king cake as a holiday (since there is a king cake season in New Orleans and that is when I generally bake these favored cakes).  She kicks her feet in delight when consuming a truly good piece of cake.  So I knew I needed to step up my game this year.  I intended to purchase a bakery cake, as I've never ventured into the land of fondant, I wanted an elaborately decorated creation, and I have a four month old baby.  When I learned that the cake I would want for the size of party we were hosting would probably cost $300 or more I decided that it was time to learn a new baking skill.

I didn't document this as I truly wanted to.  I have no pictures of colored balls of fondant, or rolled out frosting on the table.  Sigh.  Next time I will do better, and one of these days I'll write a post about baking king cakes, but here's what my first fondant creation looked like!

Seven and three layered doberge tortes with chocolate custard filling

Frosted with a bitter chocolate icing to offset the sweet of the marshmallow fondant--ready to be chilled

Ariel and her sea foam, which I had hoped to make a little more fantastic, but it was already 1 am

Five pillars in the bottom cake was enough to keep the cake stable all day, and they weren't too hard to take out for slicing

This is how she looked at the party.  My sister Michele made the Flounder while I was wrapping presents.  Otherwise, this was my very own creation.

Here are some side views of the sliced cake.  I was handed more than one slice with just the frosting removed and asked to throw it away.  Sigh.  That's what I get for serving this cake to three year olds :)

 I would honestly consider selling these cakes, but I see why they charge $300.  It takes a long time to make it.  So I'm not sure that I could make it worth my while.  Still, there's a little baker in me who just loves to create beautiful, delicious treats.