Strawberry Cake with Chocolate Vanilla Buttercream

I wanted to try a new recipie for Summer.

I was torn between Lemonade, Cherry, or a Strawberry Cake.

I decided to start with Strawberry.

Good choice!

I also wanted didn't want to make a plain buttercream

and

went with a Chocolate Vanilla Butter cream icing.

Another good choice.

I tinted the icing a pretty shade of pink to match the cake too.

I did pink this time.

Lastly, I wanted to try some new techniques.

The first one I did was a ribbon effect on a 6 inch cake.

This cake was a gift for a special teacher.

 Pink was a good choice for this effect.

Then I did a Petal effect on a 8 inch cake

This is another technique that looks hard

but it is surprisingly easy to make.

To achieve this look

1. pipe a row of circle vertically up the cake.

2.  Take a small spatula and smush down the circle slightly while pulling the spatula to the side.

3.  Continue pattern around the cake.

Then on the other side of the cake.

I wanted to do a basket weave design

Another simple techinique that scares so many to try.

Lastley, I did the paper towel design.

I  just happened to have paper towels in the house with heart designs on them.

It is hard to see in this picture, but they came out perfect.

The trick is to make sure your icing is crusted over enough before attempting this one.

Life is short.

Eat dessert first!