Making a layered cake

In our sixth week of classes, we started in on making layered cakes. Everyone could choose flavorings to their liking and all of the cakes in the class were very different. We all made a chiffon cake, cut it into three layers. Each layer was soaked with cake syrup (made with 3 parts water to 1 part sugar and flavoring), which I flavored with vanilla and rose water. The first and second layers were lightly coated with apricot jam and then spread with rose water Swiss Buttercream. The outside was iced with the same rose water Swiss Buttercream.

This is the final result of the cake. We were required to decorate as shown, and I am not entirely crazy about the design especially since the decorations don't really reflect the flavors in the cake.

This is a slice from the cake. It is always slicing the cake to reveal how well, or how terribly the layering went! Not bad, but the cake and icing layers are not very even. The rose water had been an experiment to use an unconventional flavoring, and because I thought it sounded good in combination with vanilla and apricot. In the end, the taste test proved it was a good combination.

This cake was another exercise in making layer cakes. My cake was a dense buttercake, almost like poundcake with amaretto flavored syrup, orange marmalade and mocha Italian Buttercream. Again, this was a three layer cake. The difference with this cake was that after applying the crumb coat, we melted the buttercream and poured it over the cake to make a buttercream glaze. I loved the look of the glaze on the cake, however I wasn't very excited about the marzipan plaque we were required to put on the cake. I think the chocolate contrasts the cake way too much.

We also made roses from marzipan to decorate the cake. I really enjoyed modeling the roses in order to place them on the cake, but it really does take a lot of time!

The taste tests of this cake proved it to be very good and a combination that I would try again--sending everyone a virtual bite!