May Day Centerpiece Cake
- 2 (10-inch) layers of unfrosted store-bought cake
- 1 (16-ounce) container lemon frosting
- 4 (16-ounce) containers whipped supreme vanilla frosting
- Red food coloring
- Strawberry extract
- Green food coloring
- Mint extract
- Blue food coloring
- Cherry extract
- 8 to 12 cupcakes, unfrosted
- Edible flowers, for garnish
- Special Equipment: 1 1/2-inch thick wooden dowel (10 inches long)
- 1/2-inch ribbon (48 inches each pink, mint, lavender and yellow)
- Hot glue gun or tape
- 1/4-inch star pastry tip
- Secure a colored ribbon with tape 4-inches from the bottom of dowel.
- Flip dowel upside down and twist the ribbon around and down the dowel (there will be excess ribbon at the end).
- Secure ribbon at the top of the dowel with tape or glue.
- Repeat with the rest of the ribbons.
- Place 1 cake layer on a glass cake plate.
- Spread top with lemon frosting and top with the second cake layer.
- Frost the entire cake with 2 containers of vanilla frosting.
- Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 container vanilla frosting with 3 drops red food coloring and 1/4 teaspoon strawberry extract to make pink frosting.
- In another bowl, combine 1 container vanilla frosting, 3 drops green food coloring and 1/8 teaspoon mint extract to make green frosting.
- In a third bowl, combine 1 container vanilla frosting, 4 drops red food coloring, 2 drops blue food coloring and 1/4 teaspoon cherry extract to make lavender frosting.
- Make a pastry bag by cutting a small triangle out of the bottom corner of a large zip-top bag.
- Place a star pastry tip on the inside of the bag and fit tightly into the hole.
- Place pastry bag, tip down into a large drinking glass.
- Place a large spoonful of each color of frosting along the sides of the pastry bag.
- Remove bag from glass and, starting from the top, squeeze frosting into the tip.
- Pipe a colored border around bottom and top of vanilla-frosted cake.
- Pipe the colored frosting on the cupcake tops in an upward swirl motion.
- To assemble centerpiece, place cake on table.
- Insert the bottom end (without the excess ribbon) of the dowel into center of cake.
- Pipe colored icing around bottom of dowel.
- Carefully lay each color of ribbon on the table and arrange cupcakes at the ends of the ribbons.
- Tie the ends of the ribbons in bows and trim off the excess.
- Place more cupcakes on top of the cake.
- Decorate the whole cake with some edible flowers.
layers, lemon frosting, containers, red food coloring, strawberry, green food coloring, food coloring, cupcakes, flowers
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/may-day-centerpiece-cake-recipe.html (may not work)