Purple Cake Tutorial

My daughter had a purple party.  She really wanted a cute dolly girl for the top of the cake so I decided to keep the outside of the cake simple.

Clothespin dolly girl!  She was so fun to make and I love how she turned out!  I used beads to make her hair.

The big surprise was the inside of the cake....

On the night before the party I was losing steam, I still had some decorating to do and I was tempted to ice the layers with white icing.  I am so glad I didn't.  I think the colored icing helps to make the look more dramatic!

You can make this cake too.
 In any color you like.
 Without too much headache.

I baked the cake(s) the week before.  This way I was able to bake them, wrap them up and freeze them and not have as much to do the night before the party.  I prefer to freeze my cakes for at least 24 hours before I decorate them.  They are easier to ice and cut and I think it makes it much more moist.

I mixed a small amount of white cake batter with wilton icing coloring.  I mixed lots into the first one to make a really rich, dark shade.  I baked this in a 6 inch round pan.  Then I took another small amount of cake batter (maybe 1 1/2-2 1/2 cups...I didn't measure!?) I added a bit less color to the next and a bit less as I went.

The night before the party, I mixed about 1/2 cup of icing in each of the shades of purple.   I made sure the cakes were even by slicing the rounded tops off the cakes.  I stacked the cakes and iced them with the appropriate colored icing between the layers.

I iced the whole cake with a crumb coat (icing made a bit thinner with a little bit of water.  This layer  will get crumbs in it but that's okay because it is not the final layer:)

Then I popped it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Here's my lame {it's late, the lighting was bad, I was tired...} photo of my cake with the crumb coat on, all ready to be jazzed up!

Here's the tip that I used to make the rosettes.  It's just a swirl movement.  Here is a tutorial if you don't know how to make a rosette.  This tutorial is great for a few other little icing/piping bag tips!

My rosettes are much bigger than hers but it is the same concept. 

Why is her icing so white and mine a bit yellow?  Because she used Crisco instead of butter.  I personally find Crisco gross, unnatural and well, disgusting.  That's just my opinion.  Lots of bakeries use Crisco and people seem to enjoy it just fine:)

And WA-LA!  Cake is done, ready for a spectacular presentation at the party!!