For the cake, I decided to do a bottom up cake using this recipe, which I ended up tripling to get enough for two 8" square pans and a small 1/2 circle cake. I also used Sweetapolita's whipped vanilla buttercream frosting recipe. It is delicious! The end result - (I had baby girl's name on it, but blurred it out):
I have to admit, I wasn't that excited about the buttercream bottom when I was trying to get it smooth, but once I started putting stuff on it, I started to mind less. I was reminded why I am drawn to fondant, it's ultra smooth texture is so nice and clean. I've struggled in the past covering cakes with just fondant, and didn't want to go that route again, so opted for the buttercream and struggled there too! In the end, i thought the face ended up adorable, and I love the polka dots and decorations on the side of the cake.
Another issue I ran into. Beings that I work at my job during the day, I was working on this cake in stages. I baked it Monday, and decided to save myself some time Tuesday night and buttercream it - which in total with baking probably took me 3-4 hours. On Tuesday, I did all the decorating with the fondant, which ended up taking me another 2-3 hours. But then it sat another day until we had the party Wednesday night. I wasn't sure what to do - I didn't really want to put it in the fridge in fear that the fridge would completely dry it out, but it ended up being a little dry from sitting on the counter for 2.5 days. Ideally, I suppose, "real" bakeries bake one day and decorate the next? I'm curious what everyone else does!
