Elbow deep in buttercream

Two more cakes submitted for your approval, gentle reader. The first, a 17 birthday cake for Lital, sho loves the color purple. Lital is a cake decorator herself, but as I said to her mom, I guess it would be awkward to ask her to make her own birthday cake - make that, surprise birthday cake.

This was a one layer chocolate chip cake, covered in vanilla buttercream. The sides display the same theme as the top - purple circles and hoops with tiny flowers.

The final cake for last week was a family cake - a cake to celebrate my father-in-law's 70th birthday. It is three layers of moist chocolate cake, filled with mocha frosting and covered in vanilla buttercream. The design added a challenge I have rarely dealt with: because there was no border on the top, the edges had to be perfectly squared. It came out quite well, better than expected.

As an added bonus of nachas, the names of the grandchildren are inscribed on fondant leaves around the sides.If any of the grandchildren want to see the names, they can pick them out from the small photos below.

Mazal tov to all the birthday celebrants!

Dvora