Deepani's Birthday Cake

Our sweet friend, Deepani (isn't she lovely?) has her birthday on December 31st (poor thing!). So a few mommy-group friends decided to surprise her with a cake when we got together at Chantal's house for an early evening New Year's eve gathering (very early...we all have little ones!). Of course I jumped and volunteered - on December 30th. Nothing like last-minute cake-making to get your blood-pumping! :)

Ok - so I made two sheet cakes...because I wanted to have square tiers, but I wasn't sure how many, or what dimensions.

I thought I'd show you what's left over. Hmmm...leftover cake in my house. Dangerous.


It had to be chocolate on chocolate (a girl's best friend next to diamonds and waterproof mascara), and because of the last minute aspect, I didn't relish the idea of covering it in fondant. So, I left it with stripey chocolate buttercream on top, spiky on tier #2, and "smooth" on the bottom. Ok - so I really need to work on my buttercream spreading technique. But this is why I use fondant normally. I can't make the darn frosting look pretty! Thus, I made some fondant flowers to pretty it up.

Here's the first rendition:


And the final version, after agonizing over floral placement for far too long:


Happy Birthday, Deepani! And Happy 2010 everyone!!