I have a suite of resources out there to help me in this cake discovery of mine.  I am so lucky to have a master pastry chef as a friend and advice from all over about the cakes.  So, I showed baker friend the cake I am going for.  I can’t share a photo here, because I’d have to remove my sister’s eyeballs to make sure she doesn’t see the cake.  I don’t want her to see the final ideas, though we did scroll through many a cake in the course of the past days.  In talking with my baker friend I had a lot of questions.  I showed her the photo of my cake idea and she believes I can do it with buttercream, no fondant.  So strange, but I am going to take her advice and for now NOT go with fondant.  Even though I have been getting some experience lately with it.She gave me an amazing buttercream recipe that looks divine.   It could bring down the cost and overall difficulty of the cake.  And as my girl says, fondant can really taste like sh*t. Here are some other questions I asked her….On the fondant note, she recommended PVC pipe as an alternative to rolling pins and store bought fondant. 

I have a few test cakes planned:

1. Holiday Cake
2. Neighbor’s birthday cake (winter theme)
3. Wedding shower cake
4. son’s birthday cake
5. The real deal

Here is what I have purchased so far:

• Wilton Rotating Cake Stand
• Angled spatula
• Wilton Cake Pan 3 inch
• cake leveler
• Bench Scraper
• I am working on some gum paste additions to the cake (made by someone else)
• snowflake sugar decorations
• large bag and tip for putting huge hunks of icing on cake
• gel food coloring
• some pretty ribbon

This is fun…but not cheap.  I am sure I am buying things I don’t really need, but will keep all of my receipts.  First cake attempt this weekend….holiday cake.