Girly Ballet Cake

 I may not have a daughter yet, but thanks to the dance studio I work for I got to bring out my girly side! Our studio offers dance themed birthday parties, and this time I was asked to make the cake. This was for a five year old girl who loves ballet and the colors pink and purple.

It is a simple vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. Nothing too crazy or complicated, but one of my favorite tricks is to freeze the cake before decorating. This helps control the crumbs and makes any carving you may do much easier. This one is not carved, but I have done a carved duckie cake, and a puppy cake.

Another good trick is to draw your design in the frosting with a toothpick first and then go over it with the piping bag. This way if you mess up you can just smooth it out with your frosting spatula and try again until it looks just right!

A lot of times I just use store bought frosting, but this time I did make some of my own.

Decorator Frosting 

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups powdered sugar
milk for consistency (less for a stiffer frosting, more for a softer frosting)
   - If you add too much milk you can adjust by adding in more powdered sugar