Fourth of July Awesomeness

 Well, here it is the cake I wrote about in my last post...the cake for the fourth of July party with the hub's side. I woke up at 7 and began the marshmallow fondant. Yes, a brave venture seeing as the day before was a huge mess and more stress than one person needs while baking. But like they always say "if at first you don't succeed, drink some vodka." Well, I'm all knocked up right now so I had to go with the less familiar adage of "if at first you don't succeed, try try again." And boy am I glad I did!

The recipe for Marshmallow Fondant, if of course you follow the recipe and not the tips from other commenters, is so easy, and get this...IT'S ACTUALLY EDIBLE! Sure so is regular fondant, but the taste is not so great, but this fondant is like a super sweet marshmallow. Yum!!

Now, for the actual cake, I was so torn about what I wanted to do, in fact it wasn't until yesterday morning that I ultimately decided what flavors I wanted to make. Note to self: when you're going to make a big cake, do it in steps over the course of a few days not all in one morning! Anyway, I finally decided I would grow a pair and test my "halving" skills, and I halved the delicious strawberry cake recipe I had to make one 9 inch layer. I was so worried this wouldn't turn out, but it actually turned out great!

I also decided to make two chocolate layers and essentially have a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake. I was a little worried because as of yesterday morning I still hadn't had a chocolate cake recipe that I loved, but a few minutes online and dash of hope later, I found one that looked pretty good. Best part of all? Super easy! Basically you just throw all the ingredients in, mix, and pour into pans. I was skeptical, but this chocolate cake recipe is by far the best. It's light, it's fluffy, it's moist, and best of all...it's actually sweet! Not bitter like most homemade chocolate cake recipes.
When it came time to decorate, I was in a huge rush. I knew I wanted a really good frosting to cover the cake in case the fondant wasn't great and also to ensure the fondant would stick, so I whipped up a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, and frosted the entire thing and in between each layer. Placed the fondant on the cake and made a quick batch of Wilton's Royal Icing and made red and blue. Since I was in such a time crunch I opted to just outline stars with the writing tip and then put some blue mini stars in the striped stars with the star decorating tip, and of course out a pretty blue swirl at the bottom. I was happy with the basic design, but even better than the design was the taste. I accomplished my goal to create a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake. I hope you too enjoy the delicious taste when you create this fun, moist, and delicious cake!

One of the guys at the party who shall be referred to as "Monkey 2" asked that I make him a cake of just the strawberry layer for his birthday this weekend! I told him I'd oblige, and I am now on the hunt for the perfect design for his birthday cake...perhaps a monkey? Who knows? We shall see.

Recipe for this creation is on the next blog.
Much love and Happy cooking Friends!!
Amelia