My 17th Birthday Cake (Cheat)

~5-layer midnight cake with cheesecake filling, covered with a generous layer of pink buttercream, glossy chocolate ganache, and topped with whipped cream and Oreos~

Guess who’s 17 years old!

I have a love-hate relationship with birthdays. I love everything about them, except the fact that I’m another year older. I prefer other people’s birthdays, with all the celebrations and games and cakes and gift-opening, but without me being consciously aware of my ageing.

It’s weird, isn’t it? The way that day by day, hour by hour, we age, but it’s only once a year for 24 hours that we actually acknowledge it. Then again, acknowledging our constant ageing would take some of the fun out of birthdays.

I don’t understand why people want to get older. A pessimistic way of putting is is that every year, you’re a year closer to death. You become more likely to get sick. You have more responsibilities. Then again, an optimistic way of seeing is is that every year, you are faced with new opportunities. You’ll graduate and start a new chapter of your life. You might get a job. You might meet “the one”. You might get married. You might have kids. Who knows? In the end, the best way to predict your future is to live it the way you want. Sometime’s it’s just easier to be passive to all that happens around you, so that when things go wrong, you can blame the world and carry on, but wow, that must get boring. The happiest people are those who take control of their lives and steer it the way they want to go. When things go wrong, they acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them, and when things go right, they’re living Heaven on Earth. You pick (hint: I’d go with the second one).

I always seem to get really reflective on my birthday. Is it just me?

But let’s focus on the real reason you’re here: CAKE!

Another reason why I always get excited about birthdays – cake. This year, I decided to bake myself a 5-layer midnight cake with cheesecake filling, covered with a generous layer of pink buttercream, glossy chocolate ganache, and topped with whipped cream and Oreos. Helll yes.

To be honest, the cake is pretty much just a chocolate cake with black food colouring added. I used to not like chocolate cake. I thought that it was too rich. I’d always opt for vanilla or red velvet. Chocolate cake just wasn’t my thing, but alas, times have changed. Maybe I’d been deprived of chocolate cake for too long, but this chocolate cake was the bomb. Even before I baked the cake, the cake batter was waving chocolatey scents at me, trying to get me to give in and admit that chocolate cake is one of the best kinds of cake. While I was trimming the cakes, I nibbled on some of the cake crumbs and I was in awe, trying to understand how I had ever disliked chocolate cake. This chocolate cake is velvety. It’s suuper moist and it’s perfectly sweet. It has a wonderful cocoa flavour that isn’t overwhelming, and it pairs beautifully with all the other flavours going on in this cake.

Speaking of other flavours…THE CHEESECAKE FILLING. I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but cream cheese frostings are magical. Maybe that’s a biased opinion because they’re my favourite, but tbh I’ve never met anyone who dislikes cream cheese frosting. The cheesecake filling tastes pretty much just like cream cheese frosting, but there isn’t as much butter. The butter’s replaced with whipped cream, which is just folded in at the end, so that you end up with filling that’s extra fluffy and light, but definitely is not missing any flavour.

I don’t want to be writing an essay here, so I’m just going to tell you that the buttercream, chocolate ganache, whipping cream, and Oreos are perfect. Simply, utterly, perfect.

5-Layer Midnight Cake with Cheesecake Filling and Pink Buttercream

Adapted from various sources (linked below)

Ingredients

For the cake

• 2 1/4 cups (285 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 cups (450 g) superfine sugar
• 1 cup (120 g) “black” unsweetened cocoa powder (or regular cocoa powder with 1 teaspoon black gel food colouring)
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 cup (240 ml) hot coffee
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, room temperature

For the cheesecake filling

• 500g cream cheese, softened
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g freshly whipped cream
• 200g icing sugar, sifted

For the pink buttercream

• 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter
• 4 cups (500g) powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pink food colouring

For the chocolate ganache

• 5 ounces (150 g) best-quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used Lindt)
• 3/4 cup (90 g) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey

For the whipping cream

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar, to taste

• Oreos, for topping

Method

I’ve included generic bad-quality, unedited photos that I took while I was assembling the cake for reference. Let me know if you have any questions!

1. For the cake, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, sugar, black cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
3. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, and then mix in eggs
4. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide batter equally among the three lined and greased 8-inch cake pans or weigh for accuracy. Each pan should weigh about 600 grams
5. Bake the first two layers until a wooden pick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then turn onto rack to cool completely. Repeat with the final cake layer. When ready to assemble the cake, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
6. For the cheesecake filling, use an electric mixer to whip cream cheese, butter, and icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Fold in whipped cream until combined
7. For the pink buttercream, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the icing sugar, vanilla extract, food colouring, and 1 tablespoon of whipping cream and beat until combined
8. To assemble the cake, trim the cake layers, and then halve them so that each cake becomes two layers.
9. Place approximately 1/2 tablespoon of the cheesecake filling (or buttercream) on the center of a cake board, and place your bottom cake layer onto the cake board. Add about 1/2-3/4 cup of cheesecake filling onto the top of the cake, and using a small offset spatula, spread the filling so that it covers the top of the cake. It’s okay to let a little bit of filling go over the side. Add the next cake layer and repeat until you’ve reached your final cake layer
10. Cover the cake with a thin layer of the cheesecake filling (or buttercream), also known as crumb coating it, and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes
11. Cover the cake in pink buttercream and chill in fridge for at least 15 minutes
12. In the meantime, make the chocolate ganache. In a small bowl, melt the chocolate, butter, corn syrup and salt in the microwave, about 50 seconds, and stir until smooth. Let cool until it thickens slightly, about 15 minutes
13. For the whipping cream, use a whisk or electric hand mixer to whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the powdered sugar. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star tip
14. (Assembling, continued) Remove the cake from the fridge and spoon the chocolate glaze to the edges of the cake, gently pushing some over the side and letting it dribble down. When you’ve finished putting chocolate glaze on the edges of the cake, spoon chocolate glaze into the centre until covered
15. When the chocolate has set slightly, pipe the whipped cream around the edges of the cake and top each swirl with half an Oreo
16. Serve!

Katherine Sabbath Inspired 4-Layer Meringue Birthday Cake (Cheat)

Happy birthday to me! I’m finally 16!

I’m one of the youngest in my grade, and although I liked being the only one in my classes who was 15 while others were 16, it feels pretty good to be 16. 16. 16! The sweet sixteen.

This year, my brother turned 18 (what!) and I turned 16. I’m hoping that this year will go well, overlooking the fact that my brother started his first year in university and I’m starting my first year of the IB, of course.

I wish that along with the study of chemicals and human behavior and history and language, there was a study of time. Maybe it exists somewhere out there, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s not a course in the IB. If it were, I’d be taking it as a higher level for sure.

Time is – to put it simply – absolutely amazing, and absolutely mind-f***ing.

The brain takes a fraction of a second to process information, so everything that’s happening around you is technically already in the past. And the stars that you gaze up at, including the sun. The light from those stars take seconds and minutes to travel from far away into your eyes, so you’re seeing those in the past. If a star went out, you’d still see it shining for a little while longer, because your eyes no longer view the present. Then there’s also that physics theory, where time isn’t always relevant. The theory states that if you’re next to something of an exceptionally large mass, or traveling at an exceptionally high speed, time slows down. I guess that’s a physics thing, but still.

Then again, time isn’t just about the unmatched human perception of time, it’s also about how much can change in either a millisecond, or over the course of a lifetime. Take this quote from DJ McHale: “A second is nothing. A tick on the clock. Seconds pass all the time and we never think about any one of them. But a second can be an eternity.” (I know, I already shared that quote on my last birthday cake post, but it was worth sharing again).

Tragedy happens at the same time as miracles do. I remember, a couple years back, I was on vacation in Europe. It was nighttime. Dark and rainy. My family and I didn’t have any rain protection, and we were frantically running to find our way back to our hotel. At that moment, I was absolutely miserable, and then I started to think. Someone out there in the world is having the best moment of their life. Perhaps getting married, or a couple welcoming their child into the world, yet I’m here, drenched, dripping, and shivering. Ever since then, I’ve always thought similarly at times of low, and it cheers me up to know that someone out there is having the best time of his/her life. Vice versa. When I’m happy and grateful for all the goodness around me, I take a moment to think about someone across the world who may be rushing through thunder and lightning, desperate for shelter, and although it may not help, I close my eyes and send out my condolences.

Anyways, enough about time.

I celebrated my birthday with my friends a couple of weeks before my actual birthday. It was a shared birthday party that I celebrated with my best friend, who turned 16 on August 24.

I found out that she, along with most of my friend group, hadn’t ever gone and properly done karaoke. I was stunned. We were in China, in Beijing! I’d done karaoke countless times, karaoke places are like a second home to me. During my childhood, when I lived in Beijing, I’d say that there were only 3 places people ever celebrated birthdays, child or adult: At home, laser tag, or karaoke.

Naturally, I insisted that we went and did karaoke, and then went back to my house to have dinner and cake and to chill, so that’s what we did. We truly had such an amazing time, and my friends got me the best gifts I could’ve asked for. I went to bed that night feeling loved. I was so happy to have received a dessert journal and Bobby Singer’s Journal and the Enchanted Garden coloring book and a cookie cookbook and a fountain pen and stickers and candy roses and etcetera etcetera. Plus, seeing everyone’s reaction to this cake was pretty memorable, but seeing my best friend’s reaction to finding out that she got a Polaroid? Priceless.

I won’t post any of the birthday party photos for the sake of my friends’ confidentiality, but I’ll post my “birthday in photos” here on my photography page tomorrow.

I’ve always wanted to make a Katherine Sabbath cake. A couple months ago, I started planning cakes for all my family’s birthdays this year. I made my brother a Funfetti Layer Cake, my dad a Classic Tiramisu, and I knew that I had to make a Katherine Sabbath inspired cake (mom’s birthday is still coming up!).

There was one night a few days before I started making this cake where I got so excited about the cake that I couldn’t sleep ’til 3am. Granted, I spent a few hours looking at cakes, but still, I couldn’t stop thinking about cake!

In the end, all was worth it. See how this is an 8-inch, 4-layer birthday cake? In just one night, a little group of girls consumed pretty much the entire thing. Two or three slices were taken home on paper plates, and my mom and I decided to save one slice for the next day, but the rest of it? Gone. Utterly gone.

Normally, there’s cake left over. Cake’s too sweet. They’re too full. Yada yada. None of that happened with this one. The cake layers were perfect. They weren’t dense and overwhelmingly sweet, but were fluffy, light, just the right amount of flavor. The frosting, though! I have to admit, the frosting is my favorite part of this cake. No surprise there, of course. I used the queen’s recipe. Katherine Sabbath’s, that is. I’ve always loved cream cheese frosting, but the fact that freshly whipped cream is folded into this one makes it so incredibly fluffy. It’s not diabetes-sweet and rich like most buttercreams, but is light and beautiful and tangy and has a hint of sweetness that balances perfectly with the crisp meringues.

I absolutely adore making layered cakes. If you do make this recipe, you’ll know what I mean. It took quite a bit of time, but I seriously loved making it, especially the part where I got to dribble chocolate over the cake. That was fun. My layered cakes don’t always look as beautiful as the ones from around the web, and this one surely doesn’t compare to anything by Katherine Sabbath, but I did my best.

Katherine Sabbath Inspired 4-Layer Meringue Birthday Cake

Adapted from recipes linked below

Makes 1 8-inch, 4-layer cake

Ingredients:

• You’ll need a recipe for 4 cakes: 2 chocolate and 2 vanilla. You could also bake a chocolate mud cake and a white chocolate/vanilla mud cake, and slice them in half to create 4 layers. These need to be fully cooled and preferably trimmed before assembling

For the meringues

• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) superfine sugar
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Food coloring (preferably powdered)*

For the cheesecake filling

• 500g cream cheese, softened
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g freshly whipped cream
• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 2-4 drops blue food coloring

For the chocolate glaze

• 5 ounces (150 g) best-quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used Lindt)
• 3/4 cup (90 g) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey

*I don’t have access to powdered food coloring, so I used water-based food coloring for the blue/green, and used beetroot powder for the pink one. The beetroot powder worked quite well. Meringues call for preferably powdered food coloring, as it keeps them dry, but as long as you keep them in an airtight container in the fridge, you should be fine.

Method:

1. For the meringues, preheat oven to 90 degrees Celsius or 200 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until you get soft peaks. Add in the sugar a tablespoon at a time, and then turn the mixer to the highest speed and whip until meringue is stiff and glossy. This should take a few minutes. Beat in vanilla extract.
3. Divide the meringue into bowls and tint them using food coloring of your choice. Transfer into a piping bag with a star or round tip of your choice and pipe onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake both trays until crisp, but not browned. This can take anywhere from 1-1.5 hours depending on the size and humidity. You should be able to remove the meringues from the parchment paper without them sticking. Store in an airtight container in the fridge
5. For the cheesecake filling, use an electric mixer to whip cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, rose water and food colouring until pale and fluffy. Fold in whipped cream until combined
6. To assemble, place approximately 1/2 tablespoon of the frosting on the center of a cake board, and place your bottom cake layer onto the cake board. Add about 1/2-3/4 cup frosting onto the top of the cake, and using a small offset spatula, spread the frosting so that it covers the top of the cake. It’s okay to let a little bit of frosting go over the side. At this point, you may sprinkle on some crushed meringues if you wish (making sure to save the pretty ones for decorating!). Add the next cake layer (different flavor) and repeat until you’ve reached your final cake layer
7. Cover the cake with a thin layer of frosting, also known as crumb coating it, and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes
8. Cover the cake in a final layer of frosting, and chill in fridge for at least 15 minutes
9. For the chocolate glaze, in a small bowl, melt the chocolate, butter, corn syrup and salt in the microwave, about 50 seconds, and stir until smooth. Let cool until it thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.
10. (Assembling, continued) Remove the cake from the fridge and spoon the chocolate glaze to the edges of the cake, gently pushing some over the side and letting it dribble down. When you’ve finished putting chocolate glaze on the edges of the cake, spoon chocolate glaze into the center until covered. Decorate the cake immediately with meringues and other desirable decorations/sprinkles
11. Serve!

Funfetti Layer Birthday Cake (Cheat)

Happy birthday, Jeffrey!

So today, my brother turns 18. 18! 

18, which, to me, is absolutely unbelievable.

Why?

Because he’s my older brother, yet his friends say I’m more mature than him.

Because he’s my older brother, and he loves board games and having fun.

Because he’s my older brother, and he still wakes up at 11pm on weekends, coming into my room wearing his blanket over his head and jumping onto my bed and pretending to be a ghost while I try to work.

Because I swear that yesterday we were celebrating his 8th.

Because I can’t imagine him going to college.

Because truly, time passes too quickly.

 

“A second is nothing. A tick on the clock. Seconds pass all the time and we never think about any one of them. But a second can be an eternity.” -DJ McHale, Black Water

Anyways, to celebrate the day he officially became an adult, I decided to make him a funfetti birthday cake, because sprinkles keep you young forever (scientifically proven, guys).

 

Wanna see the inside of the cake? Alright. (Warning: bad photo ahead)

Yeah, I didn’t get to photograph the cut cake under good lighting, but you get the point.

Notes: 

• As you can see, I chose to use a full butter buttercream, as opposed to using vegetable shortening, so there’s a slight yellow tint to it. If you want it the buttercream to be white, substitute about half of the butter with shortening.
• You can break up the steps and start making this a couple days in advance. I suggest dedicating three/four ‘time slots’ for the cake: 1. Baking; 2/3. Making the frosting, trimming, stacking, and crumb coating the cake; 4. Decoration and finishing touches

Funfetti Layer Birthday Cake

Adapted from Sweetapolita

Makes a 8-inch, 2-layer cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
• 4 (120g)  large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) almond extract
• 2 3/4 cups (315g) cake flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (19.5g) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon (5g) salt
• 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons (375 g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups (400 g) powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) milk
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract

Method

Baking the cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius, or 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In a medium bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the milk, egg whites, egg, vanilla and almond extract until combined
3. In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined
4. Add in the butter and beat using the stand mixer, or an electric hand mixer, for about 30 seconds, before adding the remaining 3/4 cup of milk, until just combined
5. Add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches, mixing for about 20 seconds in between each addition
6. Fold in the rainbow sprinkles
7. Transfer the batter evenly among two 8-inch cake tins, lined with parchment paper and greased/buttered
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean
9. Let cool completely before triple-wrapping in cling film and placing in the fridge/freezer

Making the frosting:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter  until pale and creamy
2. Add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until light, creamy, and fluffy

Assembling the cake:

1. (optional) Trim the tops of the cakes so that they’re flat
2. Place a dollop (about 1/2 or 1 tablespoon) of frosting in the center of a cake plate or cake board, and place the bottom layer on top
3. Place 1 cup of frosting on top of the cake layer and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife
4. Gently place the second cake layer on top, and place a generous amount of frosting on top, spreading it evenly with the small offset palette knife, and spreading it to the sides of the cake, adding more frosting as necessary. This is just the crumb coat, so it should be a relatively thin layer.
5. Chill the cake until the frosting has set, at least 30 minutes
6. Use the remaining frosting and extra sprinkles to cover and decorate the cake

Red Velvet Rose Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Cheat)

SCHOOL IS OVER. I’m aiming to make the most of this summer, as next year’s summer will be 80% devoted to studying :(. Anyways, the recipe I’m sharing today is one that I made approximately 8 months ago…

Yeah. I made it for my mom’s birthday, which is in November. Here I am, posting the recipe in June. You can probably tell that these photos were from a little while ago, considering the bad lighting and whatnot, but the cake tasted amazing and I didn’t know if I’d ever make the exact same cake again, so I figured that I may as well post this one.

My mom absolutely adored this cake. It’s literally 100% perfectly suited to her taste, and the rest of my family’s taste for that matter. Why? Well…

We don’t like Chinese cakes. They’re really really fluffy, which is okay, I guess, but they don’t taste like anything. They’re just fluffy cakeness, and they’re filled with tons and tons of cream that, yet again, don’t really taste like anything. My grandparents got a cake once for one of their birthdays, and it ended up being like, 80% cream and 20% cake. Then the cakes are usually topped with more cream (but in different colors) and whatnot. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Chinese bakery cakes ALL the time. I’d still eat them, but c’mon…

We don’t like American buttercream (well, I’m okay with it). They think that it’s way to sweet, and the cakes are usually quite high in sugar too. I looked at dozens of cream cheese frostings prior to this cake, and the cream cheese to sugar ratio varied drastically. Some frostings required 7 cups of powdered sugar, and some required 2, with the same amount of cream cheese! I went with one that’s less sweet, which doesn’t make you want to puke after 2 slices of cake, and lets the distinct flavor of the cream cheese remain. There’s 16oz of cream cheese to 2 cups of powdered sugar, which is a pretty decent ratio, in my opinion, with a little bit of butter. Feel free to add more sugar to taste.

If you’re wondering about piping the roses, it’s seriously so much easier than I thought. It took me about 5 minutes to pipe the roses. I’m not kidding. All you need is a 1M piping tip (I got one online for about a Euro and it’s my favorite piping tip now. I’ve used it for my funfetti cupcakes too). If you want, just watch this short video to get a better idea on how to make one.

        

Red Velvet Rose Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes a 2-layer 8-inch cake

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp red food coloring
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (or all-purpose)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Frosting:

• 16oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups icing sugar, sifted (if you want a sweeter frosting, you may use up to 4 cups powdered sugar)
• Little silver candy beads (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, or 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2. For the cake, using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (approx. 5 min)
3. Mix in the cocoa powder, food coloring, flour, baking soda, baking powder ,salt, vanilla, vinegar, and oil until just combined. Do not over-mix
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time
5. Mix in the buttermilk
6. Transfer the mixture into two greased 8 (or 9) inch cake pans
7. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
8. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, before cooling completely on a wire rack
9. For the frosting, using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy
10. Beat in the butter and vanilla extract until light and fluffy
11. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until smooth. At this point, you could add a little bit of milk (1 tsp at a time) or a little more powdered sugar (1 tbsp at a time) until you reach a desired consistency
12. To assemble the cake, make sure that the cakes are completely cooled before frosting. I wrapped each cake in 3 layers of plastic wrap and froze them prior to trimming/frosting. If your cakes have domed, then trim the top of the cake off so that the tops are flat
13. Spread about 1/4-1/2 cup of frosting onto one of the layers, and place the second layer on top. Spread about 1/2 cup frosting to create a thin layer over the layered cake (this is called crumb coating. If you’re in a hurry, you could skip this step, but it’s recommended, as it will ensure that no crumbs are visible after frosting)
14. Freeze the crumb-coated cake for at least an hour (optional, but recommended). Place a 1M piping tip into a piping bag and fill with cream cheese frosting. Pipe roses around the side of the crumb-coated cake, and then pipe roses on the top of the cake. Add swirls or kisses of frosting in the places that aren’t covered by the roses. Place a little silver candy bead in the middle of each rose if you want. Enjoy x