Oh goodness, if those perfect, evenly-sized rosettes making the "M" are the first things you ever piped, you are an artist. Congratulations! And you're right to just jump in and make the best kind of cake you can think of, not just the easiest.

Are you sure you made it yourself?

Looks so professional and beautiful!

Thanks for the pictorial.

dcarch

Those look beautiful and delicious, I'd love a piece of the lemon one!

You said " Frosting is makeup - A smooth well applied foundation is important but any imperfections like the pimple or the broken off cake bit can be repaired with decorations. Frosting has to be the right temperature and freshly whipped to go on. A good cake is soft with a fine crumb and the good frosting is smooth and glossy but crumb sticks to the frosting!!"

I didn't think to tell you about a "crumb coat". It's a first coat of plain white buttercream, thin enough to go on easily. Let it set up, then add your layer of "good" frosting, and the crumbs will stick to the crumb coat and give you a smoother cake to frost.

They look pretty much perfect to me, though....

Annie

drop dead gorgeous!

Those are great cakes - and to do two decorated cakes for one party!

Where can one find the recipe for the first cake and frosting - lemon butter cream sounds so good.

I want to try making the polenta cake some time too.

Cloudy Christine, Darch --> You guys are kind. This forum is source of inspiration and courage for me as a cook. I can always rely on sound advice.

Annie --> duh! Crumb coat.. that is exactly what I needed. Should I plan on making some plain buttercream each time for the base coat ? LOL! that sounds like primer before I paint. i suppose my frosting does look like orange peel plaster texture :)

Cloud swift - the lemon cake is also from Rose Levy Berenbaum's Heavenly cakes book. It is called Woody's Luxury lemon layer cake. If you make it, do post on how the cake turned out. I would love some tips on how to unmold the cake without sticking.

LOL, GWlolo, now you mention it, it DOES sound like a base coat. (grin) It works well, though. If I want a nice smooth finish I always make a crumb coat. it's easy if I'm using buttercream, I just make a big batch, use a part of it for the crumb coat, then fancy up the rest of it.

I'm going off to find that lemon cake recipe now, yum.

Annie

Cake Baking is chemistry and you just got an A+.

Cake Decorating is artistic, and you just got another A+.

Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing!

Smiles,
Sooz

Talk about labour of love :)

Plato claimed learning is actually remembering what we had already learnt in previous lives, so there's no doubt you must have been a confectionery chef. LOVE the delicate frosting. So tasteful.

Annie - thanks for the crumb coat tip which came just in time for me as I'll shortly be making yet another birthday cake.

Wow, those look amazing and I'm sure they taste great!

Fabulous, fabulous work!

You did good! Very impressive!

Great job! I don't believe you're a beginner. You mentioned arts and crafts, so I bet your experience with that helped you with cake decorating.

I knew about the crumb coating, but I've just used the frosting I made up, and spread a thin layer of it on. I didn't know to let it set for a while before going back. That's a good tip.

I saw somewhere, maybe here, maybe on t.v., that a good way to practice with a piping bag is to use shortening. I've done that, and it works.

Thanks for the tips and the photos.

Sally

WOW! ! ! ! !

Those cakes sure don't look like "first proper" cakes!
They look amazing!
That was a daunting task, to say the least,
And you pulled it off wonderfully!
Congratulations on a job extremely well done!

I can honestly say I have never met
anyone who was brave enough
To take on 3 cakes in one day,
To be served to that many guests,
On a first try!

Would love to know the guests reactions!

Now I'm off to hunt for both the lemon cake
And the polenta cake recipes!

Rusty

To unmold the cake without sticking, I would line the bottom and sides with greased parchment paper.

The trick to unmolding without sticking is mostly in pan preparation.

I usually spray the pan with Baker's Joy (a spray that has a mix of oil and flour). Parchment paper on the bottom can work too - especially if it is given a spray before adding the batter.

Usually when sprayed with Baker's Joy, the cake just pops out easily. If there is any sticking, lift the pan off slowly to give the cake time to pull away from the pan instead of ripping a piece off the cake.

I'm not a cake maker, and wish I had your nerve to try, but know I could not come close to your results. Also awaiting the recipe for the polenta cake. Will you share?

So, was there as much appreciation and recognition from your guests for your committed effort as from the CF? That's courageous to do 101 for an event.

Well done and thanks for capturing it for us.

Mabelgeldine, Sooz, wintercat, mitchdesj, kitchendetective, sweetbetsy, sally2, rustyone, mustangs --> Wow! Thank you all for your nice compliments. You filled my bucket :)

therustyone --> the effort was spread over two days. I started Saturday morning and my final piping was done and the cake carefully placed in boxes. Sunday around 3pm when I rushed off to shower and get ready for the party.

Colleenz, cloud swift --> I did grease with crisco and used a parchment round for the bottom of the cake pan and then sprayed with baker's joy. Pretty much all the instructions in the cookbook. The bottom was OK. I think for one of the lemon cake layers, I should have let it cool some more. I think I will use parchment paper strips for the side as well next time. I am also thinking to make the jasdip better than pam coating to use intead of baker's joy as I did not like the spray as much.

Cathy --The kids loved the cakes with many of them negotiating for a smaller slices of both as they wanted to try both. I was surprised how many 9-10 yr olds liked the lemon cake. Many of the moms loved the carrot cake and the lemon lovers loved the lemon cake. DH loved the carrot cake.. I do think the addition of 1TBSP of dutch cocoa makes this cake a lot better. DD loved the lemon cake the best. I must say I was very very pleased with the lemon curd.. I used to buy an occasional bottle to use with scones. Now that I have made it, I will make it instead of buying it. I must say I loved the precision and the clear writing from Rose Levy Berenbaum. My kind of cookbook.

pink_warm_mama --> Here is the recipe from Marcella Hazan's Essential Italian Cookbook. It is not too sweet and tastes really good the next day too. Marcella called it a popular cake in Venice and said she made it for James Beard.

Polenta Shortcake with Raisins, Dried Figs, and Pine Nuts

Serves 6 to 8 (I got around 16 smaller slices out of a 9in round)

1 cup coarse cornmeal
Salt
1 ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Heaping ½ cup granulated sugar
1⁄3 cup seedless raisins
1 cup dried figs, cut into ¼ inch pieces
2 Tbsp butter plus more for greasing the pan
1 egg
2 Tbsp fennel seed
1 cup all-purpose flour
A 9-inch round cake pan
Fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs

Procedure
•Preheat oven to 400°F
•Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Adjust heat to medium.
•Add corn meal in a steady stream by grabbing handfuls and letting it run through your partially closed fist. With the other hand, stir constantly with a wooden spoon. If you add it too fast, the corn meal can clump.
•Add salt and olive oil and continue to stir for about 15 seconds until the mush thickens and starts to pull away from the pan when stirred.

•Remove from heat and add sugar, raisins, pine nuts, figs, butter, egg, and fennel seed. Mix thoroughly to combine. Add flour and mix to form a cake batter.
•Smear cake pan with butter and dust with bread crumbs. Add cake batter and level with spatula. Bake 45 to 50 minutes.
•When cake is still warm, loosen its sides with knife and shake to drop onto plate. Turn cake over again onto serving platter. Serve when it becomes completely cold.

Wow! Beautiful job on both cakes. My birthday is in March just in case you would love to send me a cake. lol Just kidding of course. Job well done on both of the cakes.
Mary

GW
Oh, you make me smile. Almost as much as my goofy labradoodle.

What beautiful cakes. And isn't it just plain FUN to play with a new cooking game? You did beeYOUtifully.

Thank you for sharing.

Congratulations on your beautiful, splendiferous cakes. Glad you are enjoying your lovely, new kitchen and your toys.

Thanks also for your careful documentation of the process so we can learn, too. I know your daughter is so proud of her cake baker mom. Lovely journey, Lalitha.

grandmary, bellsmom, westsider - This was a fun project. I see more cakes in my future :)