Blooming Hydrangea Cake
When hydrangea blooms in my garden, their beauty astounds me. Even as they dry on the branch their splendor remains. This cake is an ode to one of my favorite flowers. It is a perfect centerpiece for a bridal shower, garden party, or any summer celebration.
What you will need:
Cake: one 9-inch bowl cake and one 9-inch round cake (we used Pound Cake - see BAKE)
Icing: Kaye's Buttercream (see BAKE)
Decoration: 1 cup white wafer chocolate and 1/4 cup dark wafer chocolate for the leaves
Colors: Blue, violet, and yellow liquid gel colors and green candy color
Tips: # 104 petal tip (you can substitute # 103)
Miscellaneous: 9-inch stainless steel bowl, 9-inch round cake pan, pastry bag, coupler, pastry cones, turntable, 9-inch cardboard round, 14-inch round or larger base, parchment paper, sheet pan (optional)
How to:
1. Bake the cakes and let them cool completely.
2. Prepare the buttercream.
3. Pick 3 leaves from non-poisonous trees, taking care to leave some of the stem intact. Rose leaves work well if you don't have access to deciduous trees or hydrangea leaves. Gently clean the leaves in mild soapy water. Rinse well and place the leaves between paper towel s. Pat dry.
4. Melt the white wafer chocolate. Divide the chocolate between two small bowls. Tint one bowl dark moss green and the other light green.
5. Hold a leaf by the stem and gently rest the leaf over your cupped fingers or palm. With a paintbrush, paint the chocolates on the top of the leaves, dragging the chocolate up to the edge but not over it. The leaf can be one color or multicolored (lightly swirl the colors together). The chocolate should be at least 1/8 inch thick. Set the leaf on a parchment lined sheet pan or flat surface to harden. To make the leaf look like it is fluttering in the wind, drape part of the leaf over a wooden spoon and let it harden. When hardened, carefully peel the leaf off the chocolate. If you let the chocolate set overnight the leaves are easier to remove.
6. Place the 9-inch round cake on a 9-inch cardboard round. Spread a thin layer of buttercream on top and invert the bowl cake on top. Using a serrated knife carefully trim the bowl flush with the round cake and lightly shape the bottom of the cake to extend the curvature. If you like, to seal in the crumbs spread a thin layer of buttercream over the cake.
7. Set aside 1/2 cup of uncolored buttercream. Prepare the colored buttercream: approximately 3 1/4 cups periwinkle, and 2 tablespoons yellow.
8. Place a coupler into a pastry bag. Using a small metal spatula spread a strip of white buttercream up one side of the bag's interior. Fill the rest of the bag with periwinkle. Try to line up the narrow end of the petal tip with the white strip.
9. Adhere the cake to the center of the base with a dot of glue or buttercream and place it on a turntable.
10. Most blossoms have 5 evenly spaced petals of equal size, but the hydrangea has 4 petals. Pipe small four-petal blossoms as follows, covering the entire cupcake. Choose a center point for the flower. Place the wide end of tip at the center point. Place the narrow end of the tip at a 30 degree angle to the cake surface. Pivoting the tip around the center point, pipe the first petal by increasing pressure as you move the tip around. The curvature of the petal occurs not from moving the tip up and back toward the center point, but from increasing the pressure toward the middle of each petal. To finish each petal, drag the tip toward the center as you release the pressure. The wide end of the tip should remain close to the center. Begin the next petal so that it slightly overlaps the first. Repeat for each blossom.
11. Place the yellow buttercream into a pastry cone and cut a small hole in its tip. Pipe a yellow dot in the center of each blossom.
12. Place the chocolate leaves around the base of the flower.
13. For fullest flavor, serve the cakes at room temperature.
