Baby Shower

One of the creative admins at work is about ready to pop so we had a small baby shower for her this week. Her sister-in-law owns an online baby store so she has pretty much everything she could possible need, but we managed to pick out a few things we thought she'd like. I forgot how much fun shopping for a baby is, I went a little overboard.... Everything was just so tiny and soft, I couldn't help myself!!




Colleen, said she wanted a chocolate cake, but that the filling and icing was up to me. I had seen this really pretty ruffle technique on a couple sites and I figured it would be perfect for a baby shower. I love buttercream decorations, just because I find the far more easier than fondant and WAY more delicious. I would definitely use this technique again for a little girls birthday, or for Easter. You can color the buttercream and it will change the look completely!

Devil's Food Cake (adapted from Mile High Cakes)

1 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups hot water
3 cups brown sugar, packed
2 2/3 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, room temp
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup cold water

1. Preheat over to 325. Grease 3 8" pans and line the bottom with parchment.

2. Mix the hot water and cocoa powder until cocoa is completely dissolved. Allow to cool to room temp. 

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Beat in butter and cocoa mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy (2 min).  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and cold water until combined. Add the mixture to the batter in 3 additions. 

4. Divide the batter into the 3 pans and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pans.

Vanilla Buttercream 

5 egg whites
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 Tbsp vanilla

1. In a double boiler, heat the egg whites and sugar until the mixture reaches 150F. Whisk Constantly.

2. Once the mixture is hot, remove from the double boiler and begin beating (I use the stand mixer for this). Continue beating until the outside of the bowl no longer feels warm to the touch (10 min). 

3. Once the mixture is cooled, and the butter 1 Tbsp at a time, waiting until all the butter is incorporated before adding another. At some point the mixture may look soupy, just continue beating and it will come together. Add the vanilla and Oreo crumbs and beat until thoroughly combined.

Ruffle Piping

1. Place a rose tip in your piping bag. Fill a piping bag with your vanilla buttercream. 

2. Starting a the top pipe a ruffle around the cake. The fat part of the rose tip should be touching the cake slightly while the thinner side is angled away from the cake. Don't try and be perfect, in fact, the more you shake the more free form the ruffle looks.

3. Continue to pipe ruffle down the cake. You can add a colored buttercream ribbon like I did, or stick with ruffles, your choice!