Forrest said it best, when he shared with us his philosophy on life. Life is like a box of cherries... or was it, chocolates? Let's go with cherries. I'm sure Mr. Gump won't mind.
In fact, life hasn't been feeling much like chocolate these days - more like a big old box of sour, bitter cherries. And not the ones that are meant to be sour, but the kind that has fermented into something unpalatable. Ok, slight exaggeration. It's just I've spread myself too thin and feel overwhelmed and exhausted, which makes me a little dramatic. Story of my life. Yawn...
Like lemons, when life gives them to you, turn them into something sweet. For instance, this little cherry-filled number I made for a friend's niece, who recently celebrated her fourth birthday.
You may remember seeing it in on my IG and FB feed a week ago. Well, I'm finally getting around to editing the photos and putting this post together.Using some edible paper similar to the one I used for the Mother's Day Banana Butterscotch Bombshell Cake, I made a bow to top off this little birthday package.
To make the bow:
- Add a little shortening to your hands and mix equal amounts of pink fondant and gum paste until a uniformed colour is achieved.
- Shape the 50/50 mixture into a log and use a small rolling pin to roll out a thin, even rectangle shape. If using a pasta roller, roll thin enough to easily pass through setting #1.
- Turn your stand mixer on low and pass the fondant mixture first through the #1 setting, and gradually up to #4.
- Lay the fondant on a clean, non-stick surface and use a see-through, grid ruler to cut a long, straight strip - 10" x 2".
- Dampen the surface of the fondant with a little water, peel back the edible paper and carefully attach to the fondant.
- Cut the strip of fondant in half and fold the long edges of the strip. Pinch the ends and dampen with water.
- Roll two small pieces of of paper towel and place in the center of the bow. Fold in half and secure the pinched edges.
- Roll out a piece of fondant and cut a small rectangle. Fold in half, moisten with water and wrap the two bow pieces.
- Leave to dry overnight.
And here's our pretty, little cherry bow! My friend said her niece wanted to wear it in her hair to school. How cute!
A few extra strips of fondant and edible paper and some teal fondant folds and our little, 7" gift box was complete.What's in the box, you ask? Vanilla-cherry cake, with a cherry filling and lots of sugar confetti. Now, if you read my Black Forest Cake post, you may remember that I am not a fan of Maraschino cherries, but since fresh cherries are not yet in season and the cake was not meant for me, I closed my eyes and used the impostors.I used this Cherry-Vanilla cake recipe that I found on Chatelaine.com and used Sweetapolita's Whipped Vanilla-Cherry recipe as the filling and frosting. I share both recipes below.
So here she is all put together. She's not perfect, but she is kind of pretty and from what I heard, tasty. And that's what really counts!
Thanks for stopping by. See you back here in a few days!
Servings: 3 - 7 inch cakes
Ingredients
Cake
- 330 g all-purpose flour
- 10 g baking powder
- 3 g baking soda
- 6 g salt
- 227 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 340 g granulated sugar
- 4 eggs at room temperature
- 20 ml pure vanilla extract
- 355 ml buttermilk
- 375 ml jar maraschino cherries save the syrup for the frosting/filling, drained well and chopped
- 110 g edible confetti sprinkles
Frosting/Filling
- 227 g unsalted butter softened and cut into cubes
- 250 g confectioners’ sugar sifted
- 15 ml milk
- 15 ml maraschino cherry syrup
- 10 ml pure vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
- a handful of finely chopped maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare 3 - 7" round cake pans.
- In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy - about 1 minute.
- Add the sugar, then add eggs one at a time. The mixture may separate, but it will come together when flour is added. Add vanilla.
- Gradually beat in ⅓ of flour mixture just until blended, then ½ of buttermilk, scraping down sides of bowl if needed. Repeat additions, ending with flour mixture. Beat just until blended.
- Fold in cherries and confetti. Divide batter between pans, weighing each to ensure even distribution.
- Bake in centre of oven until a cake tester inserted in centre of cakes comes out clean, approximately 30 min.
- Remove pans to a rack. Cool 15 min, then remove cakes to a rack to cool completely before frosting.
To make the Frosting/Filling:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 5 minutes on medium speed until pale & creamy.
- Add remaining ingredients, except the cherries, and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Fold in cherries.
Notes
[cake recipe from Chatelaine.com /frosting recipe from Sweetapolita.com]
Tried this recipe?Mention @isugarcoatit or tag #isugarcoatit !
{Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are Amazon Associate links that are linked to my Amazon shop.}
I Sugar Coat It! says
J, I love the colours! So pretty and girly! Love your backgrounds as well 🙂
I Sugar Coat It! says
So adorable--love it!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thx!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thank you, Radhika!! I wasn't completely happy with the way the cake turned out. 🙁
I Sugar Coat It! says
Amazing cuteness! I can only imagine how happy the birthday girl upon seeing the stunning Gift box Cake! An enchanting post!
Jacquee CS says
Thank you!
Jacquee CS says
Such a cute gift box cake. I love your use of edible paper on fondant. And I am also in love with your backdrops. I already started looking into the Ink&Elm ones but there are just soo many awesome ones to choose from.
Jacquee CS says
I adore this cake, the colours, the ruffled "tissue" in the box, the bow. What's not too love here!? You did an outstanding job!
Jacquee CS says
I know - so many wonderful backdrop/floordrop choices! Would love to see what you decide.
Jacquee CS says
Thank you, Paula! The birthday girl loved it. As usual, I'm too hard on myself...