Decorated Cake For Easter

Cake decorating can be a lot of fun if you're in the right mood. I guess you could say that I'm "self-taught" when it comes to decorating. When I worked for a catering company a few years ago, I started out by piping small flowers onto brownies after watching a co-worker do it. The more I watched, the more I picked up, and once I finally got around to taking a cake decorating class at one of the hobby stores, I already knew how to do everything in the beginners' class.

I thought about going on to higher cake-decorating education, but I didn't have any plans to make a career out of making party or wedding cakes, and we don't eat enough cakes at home, so I decided that what I can do now is enough.

This was my first single-layer decorated cake. I have to say it's much easier than the multi-layer cakes, simply because I could tilt the plate to get the sugar on the sides. Had I done that with a double-layer cake, the entire thing would have landed on the countertop.

I "cheated" this time around and used 1-1/2 cans of prepared frosting in a tub. This is NOT the ideal frosting for decorating. It's far too soft and drastically limits what can be done with it (no roses, for example). But for the design I made and the limited time I had, it worked just fine. The cake will have to be refrigerated until serving time, though, because the frosting is so soft.

There's no recipe, but I did take step-by-step pictures:

1. Start by baking a cake in an 8-inch or 9-inch round pan. I used 9-inch, but wish I'd used the smaller so it would have been a taller layer.

2. If you use parchment paper, don't forget to peel it off the bottom. Let cake cool on a wire rack.

3. Place cake on serving plate, with strips of parchment under edges to keep frosting off plate.

4. Cover with a very thin layer of frosting, to seal in moisture and to also seal down any crumbs. Chill for at least two hours.

5. Cover with a moderately thick layer of frosting.

6. You can smooth out the top by dipping the offset spatula in room temperature water and running it lightly over the frosting.

7. Sprinkle colored sugar on sides.

8. Color a small portion of frosting a deep shade of lavender. I use Wilton gel coloring. Pipe concentric circles of this frosting onto cake using a small round decorator tip.

9. Using a wooden skewer draw through the frosting from center to edge to create spider-web effect. Or draw from the edge to the center to create a similar, yet different, effect.

10. Add remaining white frosting to whatever is left of the deep lavender frosting. Stir very well to achieve a paler lavender color. Pipe large rosettes onto top of cake using an extra large star tip.

11. Carefully remove parchment strips from under cake and using a small star tip, pipe a chain of shells around edge where cake and plate meet. You're done!