Two Tier Vanilla Birthday Cake with Meringue Decorations

This cake got a little out of hand, mostly because I didn’t have 3 pans of the same size…only 2.  My friend Rica asked me to make a birthday cake for her daughter who was turning 1 year old.  She just wanted a vanilla cake with raspberry jam filling big enough to feed about 12 people – nothing fancy.  Well, I am always looking for opportunities to practice new cake decorating techniques, and this time was no exception.  I planned out a cake with fluffy frosting and meringue decorations covering the cake.  Well, this turned into a 2 tier cake upon the realization that I did not have enough pans.  Oh well, hope you like your super fancy cake birthday girl!

Vanilla Butter Cake recipe from here.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe from here.

Meringue recipe adapted from here.

Raspberry Jam - store bought

Directions

1.  Make cake the day before and freeze it for easier decorating.

2.  Pipe meringue decorations and bake ahead of time. I used tip #2D for the dollops, and #104 and a flower nail for the roses.

Piped meringues before baking.

Assembly

1.  Cut out a cardboard circle the size of the second tier and place the cake onto the cut out, sticking it in place with a dollop of buttercream.

2.  Before filling the cakes with jam, pipe a buttercream rim around the cakes, so the jam does not spill out.

3.  Apply a thin crumb coat to both bottom and top tiers and place in freezer for a few minutes to set.

4.  Apply final buttercream layer onto both cakes.

5.  Cut 5 straws to the height of the bottom tier. These will support the weight of the second tier.

6.  Evenly distribute and insert the straws into the bottom layer.

7.  Place the top tier onto the bottom layer.

8.  Decorate with meringues.



Bottom layer of bottom tier.



Bottom layer of top tier.



Bottom tier crumb coat.

Top tier crumb coat.

Support straws cut to size.

She got the top tier all to herself!