Roses are Pink

I had my last cake class at Micheal's on Monday. I've spent the last two days working on a research paper for my survey of writing research grad class that ended today! Now I finally have a moment to update.

Last week I made cupcakes to decorate for cake class. I had an epic failure! I'm not a huge fan of the frosting recipe they want us to use because it is too sweet for my liking. My teacher mentioned we could use cream cheese in the recipe. I made red velvet cupcakes, which would be perfectly topped with cream cheese frosting.  The problem: the cream cheese frosting wasn't stiff enough and the heat from my hand when decorating only made matters worse! All of my designs drooped down and melted together. Apparently the cream cheese frosting should be used to ice the cake. The frosting for decorating needs to be stiff. Lesson learned.

When I decorated this cake, I was lazy and used Betty Crocker GF cake mix. The cake was dry and left a lot to be desired.  I was determined to make a moist cake that resembles its gluten counterpart. Many of the Little Aussie cakes we love are sponge cakes, so I searched the Internet for a GF sponge cake recipe.

I came across this coconut sponge cake recipe. I only used the cake recipe, not the frosting (although it sounds yummy). The cake was definitely more work than the box one. I had to separate the whites from the yolks in 10 eggs! Then I had to beat the egg yolks until fluffy. Later I had to fold in the beaten egg whites. I love that the recipe called for almond flour and coconut flour. While there were several steps to the recipe, I was able to follow it along. The batter was super light and fluffy, which I suspected to be a good sign.

When the cake came out of the oven, it reminded me of angel food that my grandma always makes. The cake did sink a little when it cooled. Since it was so soft, it was hard to level the cake. Frosting it was impossible to keep crumb free, a few snuck in.

We learned how to make roses on the last day of class. I think they look like flowers! If only it was centered on the cake.

A closer view of the roses.

Check out that border.

This cake not only looked fabulous, but it was a huge improvement! It was flavorful, moist, and spongy.  It did cause some problems when frosting it, but I was able to get it to work. I used some of my left over cream cheese frosting from the previous week for the center filling. I mixed in some strawberry jam and fresh strawberries as well to create a sweet, yet creamy filling. I would definitely make this recipe again.

But I want to try some others out too, that might be easier to level and decorate. Good thing, I signed up for the next set of cake classes. Stay posted for more GF cake baking and decorating...