“…your cake is off-center.”
That would have been a dagger to my cake-centered heart of hearts, had it not been for the fact that it was an intentionally topsy turvy cake. You know what I’m talking about.
But for those unfamiliar with the variety within the cake-world, yeah, it could be a little weird. Like, seeing the leaning tower of Pisa for the first time and wondering why everyone’s all gung-ho about some structure that’s obviously got some architectural flaws in it.
Anyways, this was a birthday cake for Miss Megan, who has always wanted a topsy turvy, “mad hatter” cake. The team brainstormed and decided to play on her girliest traits- pink, glitter, pretty shiny things, etc. The more over the top, the better 🙂 Megan isn’t a girly girl on the outside, but it’s surprising how much little ballerina tutus, my little pony, and the current issue of the American Girl catalog can brighten her day.
Grab your tiara, jump on the fairy train and buckle up, we’re off to pretty pretty princess land!
First things first… the color of the cake! This is the melted marshmallow base that I’ll knead into fondant. I tinted it PINK!
Next, determining the flavors. Strawberry shortcake for the biggest layer- fresh and sweet! White cake, swiss buttercream, and fresh berries.
Add layer 2, and fill in with buttercream. To be honest, the topsy turvy wasn’t as hard to achieve as I thought, thanks to my uneven oven!
The next two tiers were made from a round 6″ and 4″ pan. Not strawberry, but chocolate fudge cake with a nice chocolate ganache.
This is how I contoured the 2nd tier to have a very uneven top.
Apply the buttercream and toss it in the freezer- a trick that helps me ensure the layers are smooth and firm prior to fondant.
I skipped a few steps (i.e. covering each tier with fondant) but that’s tedious. Here’s the exciting part: building! I cheated, that’s not a dowel, just a really long lollipop stick.
All Stacked up! Topsy turvy indeed!
Time to decorate. Little white fondant spheres lined the transition point between the layers, along with some silver dragee’s for a little bling. Here we started on some daisy cutouts.
Skip ahead an hour- yep, only an hour, as we had 5 pairs of hands working diligently on cutting out shapes, “gluing” with piping gel, applying glitter, and assembling the details.
The bottom layer has polka dots of various sizes, some adorned with tiny hearts, other with blue or purple glittery princess gel frosting. The middle of course is all daisies of various sizes and colors, each with a silver dragee center. The top, however, was personalized to appeal to Meg’s love for sports. Yes, she’s a girly girl through and through, but don’t you dare get in between her and her sports teams, events, or games. As unique as the cake, Meg can pull off both :). This is the girl who’s favorite color is pink, but will keep cable just for ESPN.
Another view- the giant glittery “M” with silver rockstar dragees along the edges. (That’s edible glitter too!) At the top, there’s a hand-drawn Penn State logo (edible markers on white fondant) and a Penn State jersey. Guess who she roots for?
After dinner, we disassembled the cake for some eating. We joked that she should keep this top layer for next year- freeze it like they do the top layer of wedding cakes. Here’s my shameless plot to get you to check back on this blog next year to see if she’s really done it. 🙂 Oh, the suspense!
Nomnom, here’s to another year, some rich chocolate cake, and a terrific birthday Megs!
nomnom...Cupcake! 
