Ruffles and Calla Lilies Birthday Cake

My sister-in-law's birthday was this week and in celebration we had a small party at our house today. We were glad to have everyone over for a great time of food and catching up with the latest and greatest. =) It was so nice to see the fam...it's hard to get together with my husband's side of the family. We had a lot of fun! We had crabs (well, me and my sister-in-law's husband and kids had hot dogs and hamburgers...not a big fan of pulling apart crabs) since my husband's family LOVES crabs. (me not so much) haahaa! =) 

my handsome hubby tearing into that poor mr. crab

needed to have a crab banner =)

I wanted to make a cake for my sister-in-law's birthday, but I didn't have time to bake it so I had my niece bake it and then I was able to decorate it. So, I snooped on my sister-in-law's pinterest account to see what cakes she likes and she liked a lot of ruffle cakes and calla lilies...so that's what I decided to make her. I was really excited about decorating...I've wanted to try the ruffles on a cake for a while now and I was excited about finally getting a chance to use this technique. The tutorial I used for the ruffles is from this website lilyjanestationery.typepad.com My niece and I took a cake decorating class this past spring and we learned how to make the calla lilies then...so I dug my cake decorating supplies out again. I used Wilton tip #104. They have other sizes if you want a bigger ruffle. I went out to buy gum paste which looks like this:
 
You might want to get a fondant mat too. Be sure to put a layer of shortening on the mat while working with your gum paste so it won't stick. Check out the pictures I took of my Wilton cake decorating book to see what other supplies you might need to make the calla lilies.

You can dye your gum paste the same way you dye your fondant...I wouldn't use the 'golden yellow' or the 'buttercup yellow' Wilton food coloring gel; it get's too orange tinted...you'll want to get the 'lemon yellow' gel dye. It gets the perfect color. The yellow colored sugar sprinkles are optional. When I made the yellow stigma (center part of the calla lily) I stuck it with a toothpick and dipped it in gum paste glue (which is just a few pieces of gum paste mixed up in warm water, you'll only need a small container of this) and rolled it in the sprinkles. Another great tutorial with step-by-step instructions is: www.thesweetsbar.com

calla lily's symbolic meaning is magnificent beauty

adding the ruffles on top of what is called the 'dirty ice', the purpose of the 'dirty ice' is to catch all the crumbs so they don't get into your final layer of icing...

true love!! ps. I found this AMAZING butter cream recipe from: iammommy.typepad.com (she has some great decorating tips too) Just one warning, if you're in the habit of saving your icing for later cake...this icing recipe contains a milk product, the only icing that you can save "safely" is icing that only requires water. Wilton offers some free icing tips on their website: www.wilton.com Their tradition butter cream recipe is on their website too.

 THE BEST BUTTER CREAM ICING

2 cups shortening

8 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon clear imitation vanilla extract

6 fluid ounces heavy cream

In a large bowl, cream shortening with mixer until fluffy.  Add confectioners sugar (2 cups at a time) until well blended.  If the frosting gets to thick at any time you can add some of your heavy cream.

Add salt, vanilla, and heavy cream and blend until combined, then blend on high until frosting is light and fluffy.  If you need to add additional cream you can. (up to 2 tablespoons)

time to add the calla lilies...

the finished product!!!! love it!

I'm so glad everyone had a great time! I'm also glad the cake was a big hit...Thanks, Tash, for baking it for me!!! =) Happy birthday, K!! =)