Pink Peonies Cake
June 11, 2017
Imagine that sweet romantic shade of soft pink pairs with the enriched, fresh scent of beautiful peonies. This combination makes an ideal theme for any celebration of love, and in this case, a hopelessly rustic dreamy bridal's shower. I made this cake for a friend, who was also my student a few years ago, before she becomes the Mrs. She likes gold, peonies and pink champagne. And I thought I should incorporate all of these elements into this cake. I am extra fond with peonies as they were the main flowers for my wedding—a sentiment reason. And, if you haven't already noticed, pink is my favorite color (surprise!). Therefore, this request is almost too easy to deliver. I love looking at what seems to be “thousands of petals” covering a cluster of stamens in the center. One of these days, I should really plant more peonies in my garden and stop “stealing” them from my father-in-law’s garden.
Sparkling champagne also brings a hint of sweetness here. I really enjoy making this pink strawberry buttercream for the cake filling. How can you not have champagne for any celebrations, especially this one important milestone in a girl's life. So, I begin my journey of practicing buttercream peonies...
I am going to be up front with you that it takes practice to master piping beautiful peonies buttercream! It took me three trials and hours of watching videos on YouTube in between to achieve a partial success. But it is also so fun and satisfying to achieve the somewhat “real-looking” flowers once you get a hang of it. And it makes this entire learning process so worth it.
Sparkling champagne also brings a hint of sweetness here. I really enjoy making this pink strawberry buttercream for the cake filling. How can you not have champagne for any celebrations, especially this one important milestone in a girl's life. So, I begin my journey of practicing buttercream peonies...
I am going to be up front with you that it takes practice to master piping beautiful peonies buttercream! It took me three trials and hours of watching videos on YouTube in between to achieve a partial success. But it is also so fun and satisfying to achieve the somewhat “real-looking” flowers once you get a hang of it. And it makes this entire learning process so worth it.
ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
I cover the cake with a crumble coat of vanilla whipped buttercream, chill it in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes, and cover it again with a generous layer of the buttercream.
Using a large spatula, I start at the bottom of the cake and turn the cake on the rotating stand as I go to even out the buttercream around the cake. For the top, I start from the center and spread the surface evenly with the same spatula. If needed, you may wipe the spatula off sporadically to help keeping the surface smooth. Hot water would also work well for this technique.
Placing the cake on a rotating cake stand, I create these "strokes" along the cake using a fork and going around the cake from bottom to top until I cover the cake completely. These lines do not have to be even, but you do want to remove the excess buttercream building up along the lines to create a cleaner look. To remove these excess, I put the cake back into the fridge for another 10 minutes to harden the buttercream, and find that it is easier to remove them afterward with the use of paper towel to sweep them off the cake.
For the peonies, I place some buttercream and color it in light pink and place them in a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton tip #127 and some white buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with Wilton tip #352.
To pipe budded peonies, I start out with a small dab of pink buttercream in the center and create "petals" on top of each other. Make sure you line these petals closely together and facing more horizontal then vertical to create that "close budded" look. I repeat this motion until I achieve the desired size of flower. For the bloomed peonies, you would repeat the same step at first, but as you add more petals to the flower, you can line the petal slightly more vertical to create the blooming look.
To pipe budded peonies, I start out with a small dab of pink buttercream in the center and create "petals" on top of each other. Make sure you line these petals closely together and facing more horizontal then vertical to create that "close budded" look. I repeat this motion until I achieve the desired size of flower. For the bloomed peonies, you would repeat the same step at first, but as you add more petals to the flower, you can line the petal slightly more vertical to create the blooming look.
I decide to make the leaves the same color as the cake base to bring out the dominant pink color. Using the prepared pastry bag, I just add leaves along the side of the cake and the bottom of the flowers to cover the imperfect areas. To tie the cake to the theme color, I sprinkle gold pearls around the cake and around the bottom of the cake. I also add a few pearls on the top of the cake to give it an elegant look.
I am going to be honest with you that these peonies did not look anything like this at my first attempt. They were more like roses the first few times when I tried to pipe them. The piping skill does require a lot of practice. Unless you are born with this talent, and I am not, it is going to take some practice and time to achieve these natural looking peonies. As you may have guessed, the smaller, budded flowers were one of the last trials I made. They are probably the best-looking ones in comparison to the bloomed flowers.
Therefore, practice makes everything perfect! This phrase proves me right every single time. I hope you will have some fun whipping up that buttercream and piping these beautiful flowers the next time you want to bake. And don't be discouraged, but you will only get better with practice, I promise!
xoxo,
Tristina
xoxo,
Tristina
COPYRIGHT © 2017 - SUGAR & PEARLS ~ CAKE DESIGNS BY TRISTINA