My first... TIERED CAKE!

So, my job today was to make a cake for the Peruvian ship that leaves tomorrow.  I have been planning this cake in my head for a while and used a plethora of ideas from pinterest all put together.  The more I decorate cakes, the more I understand why wedding cakes are so expensive, jaja.  I went to the store around 9am, and started baking around 9:30.  I finished the cake around 3. 

The cake is 2 tiers.  Tier 1 is  an 8" round red velvet cake with a butter cream cheese filling and Tier 2 is a 6" round vanilla cake with a raspberry buttercream frosting.  I used a frosting technique from pinterest called the "pastel swirl," so it is not as smooth as my other 2 cakes I made.  But, that's okay because my plan was for the cake to be "ocean-y" and the ocean is seldom smooth, right? :)

I had gotten wooden dowels from Joann's to support the upper tier, but I found on pinterest it was easier to use plastic straws!  So I used 2 straws, cut to fit the size of the cake.  So far, it's holding up! :)  I was really nervous to put the little cake onto the bigger cake.  I was pretty convinced I was going to ruin my frosting job.  But, again using a tutorial from pinterest, I managed to get that 2nd tier on there without any major catastrophes!

Once I had my cake together, I had to do some work to fix a few issues with the frosting that I had messed up, and to hide the little cake circle that the 6" cake was sitting on.  Then it was on to my favorite part... DECORATING!  I had seen on pinterest a series of cakes decorated with spirals made out of dots.  Last class, we learned how to make those dots!  So I decided I was going to use that technique and that general idea and make it into a more nautical design - the spiral turned into a wave!

It was then onto writing.  I just wrote "Buen Viaje BAP Villavisencio" and attempted to draw a little ship with a 52 on it.  The ship drawing is a bit rough, but I think that the writing was pretty good for my first attempt.

All in all I am super pleased with my first tiered cake, and I really hope the marinos aboard the BAP Villavisencio enjoy it on their way back home!

Vanilla 6" and Red Velvet 8"

I chose these flavors because the Peruvian flag is red and white.

Red velvet split and filled with a butter cream cheese filling

I chose it because ... the Peruvian flag is red and white!

Vanilla with a raspberry butter cream filling.

I chose this because... the Peruvian flag is red and white! (noticing a theme here? ;) )

Tier 1 frosted using the swirl technique.  I chose blue for 2 reasons.

1. The ocean and sky are blue (what they see when they are underway!)

and

2. The American flag is red, white, and blue!  Red and white were already covered so! :)

"Dowels" in to support the 6" cake about to be placed!

Cake is stacked and I used the dot technique I learned in class to cover up the 6" cake circle and a few little issues I had!

I then used an idea I found on pinterest and turned it nautical.  Here you can see my writing as well!

The cake is FINISHED!