White Ruffle Wedding Cake with Red Rosettes

I've never made a ruffle cake before. 

But that's what made it so much fun. 

It was such an adventure, this cake. It went through phases. I hated it, then I loved it, then I longed for it when it was gone. I learn so much with each cake that I make. They always take me on a journey I think I've already traveled, but I end up in a brand new place each time. It's really an adventure, and I love being able to do something I've never tried before. After all, trying new things and being brave to even try them in the first place is a huge part of life. And a fun one, at that. 

Ryan kind of makes fun of how attached I get to my cakes. There are cakes I hate, and never want to talk or speak of again. But there are cakes I miss the second they are delivered. I go back to my own kitchen, and I feel a huge whole where the beautiful cake used to be on my table. 

I worry about them like they're almost my children. Are people going to take care of the cake? Will they love it as I did? Will they think it's as delicious as I thought it was? Will it all get eaten? Did those darned ombre layers, stripes, or polka dots on the inside work? Are they going to notice every single imperfection that has already eaten me alive? 

Yes, this happens quite frequently. 

Anyways, this cake was created for my husband's brother's Wedding Open House. Kyle and his darling wife got married in Oakland, California. About a month later, we gathered again here in Utah to have their friends and family celebrate their recent marriage. My mother-in-law asked me if I'd make a cake for the gathering, and I couldn't have been more anxious/excited. I've never made a cake for a wedding event before - I've been asked, but I've always refused. I felt like I just couldn't make something beautiful enough for someone's extra special day! With more practice, I think I'll start taking the leap, and saying yes. 

They wanted a ruffle-type cake, and said it needed to have white and red. The inside was moist chocolate cake (a recipe I'll share with y'all someday - it's dynamite) with peanut butter buttercream (again, I'll share that one too someday). It tasted like a glorified peanut butter cup, and I loved watching people try it at the reception. 

The ruffles were a lot more fun that I anticipated, and I LOVE the final look! At first, I was trying to do an ombre ruffle - with white on the top, and slowly bleeding down to red by the bottom. Then, in the middle of the night, I couldn't help but thinking "THIS IS A WEDDING CAKE and WEDDING CAKES ARE WHITE." It was annoying, and I couldn't stop thinking about it all night. I headed to the store, found more white fondant, and went to work. 

I had already started the ombre, so I had to do something drastic... by way of ripping off the fondant I had already laid on there. I closed my eyes and ripped it all off. It was scary, man. My husband was scared to death. I was 100% confident in this plan, and it definitely looked much better all-white. The roses... yes... I cheated. If you've been in the cake section with any influence from Wilton, you'll know why :) Totally worth my sanity that week. 

When I posted this on Facebook, I was asked for a tutorial. I was much too busy getting the dang thing done to stop and take pictures during the ruffling process. But I can say, that if you just cover the thing in fondant, then use my pasta-maker trick, make think strips, then ruffle them onto the cake with a little paintbrush and a teeny bit of water, you'll get the deed done pretty quickly. The tutorial I followed was from the Godfathers of fondant: Charm City Cakes. If you're going to attempt to do this ruffle cake, watch the video. It's pretty helpful. 

xo, 

blondie