Buttercream and Bubbles by Sweet Thea
Well, it’s hard to own a television these days and not be familiar with the amazing work done by the cake artists on shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss. Largely because of cakes’ depiction in the media, many of us have the impression that a quality cake needs to be wrapped in a smooth layer of fondant.
Not true! Just look at this smooth, beautiful buttercream cake by Sweet Thea!
Yesterday, I completed the cake decorating course that has been consuming my Sundays for the past few months. Our final project was to make a wedding cake covered in rolled fondant. Well, you can imagine my trepidation at the thought of 3 tiers of cake being left in my apartment with only two of us here to indulge in it. So, I invited people over for dinner in the hopes that they’d eat the bulk of the cake before it had any chance to settle on my thighs.
The cake was pretty, simple, and looked very appetizing. Partly because of the layer of fondant, it cut like a dream and each slice stood up and looked very pretty on the plate. I was happy to hear “mmmm’s”, “the cake is so good!” and other delightful compliments coming from my guests, but when it came time to clear the plates there was a conspicuous pile of uneaten fondant on the plates of 4 of my 5 diners! Each of them had taken their first bite of cake with fondant, and had proceeded to scrape the rest of the piece of cake out from under the fondant, leaving that sugary shell behind. The only person who had no complaints about the fondant was my diabetic father, who (I think) was so happy that my mom allowed him to eat the cake in the first place, that he seems to have consumed it rapidly in the spirit of “beggars can’t be choosers”!
So, the moral of the story is: go to a cake tasting and try fondant. If you don’t feel the urge to leave it on your plate, order whatever cake your heart desires. If, however, you find yourself thinking, “I wish this were just a delightful layer of buttercream,” you’ve just saved yourself some cash and opened up a whole world of flavour choices.
