Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

It’s always hard for me to switch gears after the Holidays. Just when I really start to get in the groove – they’re over. I hate taking down all of the festive decorations and packing them away. And, boxing up the tree ornaments is even worse. I hate doing that more than I hate ironing. But time marches on, and so must we all. So, I tuck away the memories of each Christmas past in wads of tissue paper, and reassure myself that in about 325 days, I get to do it all over again.

There were many things that I wanted to share with you these past few weeks, but I was too busy “living in the moment” and never quite found the time. Take this Red Velvet Snowflake Cake, for example. I served this lovely cake on Christmas Day and it was a showstopper. It took me more than two days to make, and I barely had time to slide it onto a pretty cake stand before my hungry Holiday revelers were chasing me around the dining room with forks in hand! I propped it on a coffee table in front of the Christmas tree to hurriedly snap a few pictures while Mr. SGCC ran interference for me. Honestly, this was probably the most beautiful cake I’ve ever made. I wish I’d been able to snag a few more glamour shots before it was reduced to crumbs.

I got the inspiration for this cake from the December issue of Southern Living magazine. There it was on the cover, in all its pristine glory - and I was instantly smitten. I knew then that I would have to recreate it for our Christmas celebration. The original was a white cake slathered in vanilla buttercream. The outside of the cake was garnished with a mass of “snowflakes” carved out of white fondant.

Of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. As gorgeous as that cake already was, I had to put my own spin on it. In honor of Christmas, I decided to make a moist and fluffy red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I knew that the deep, ruby-colored cake paired with pillowy, white clouds of cream cheese frosting would make a striking contrast when cut. And, did it ever!

The recipe for the red velvet cake also came from Southern Living. It actually makes a four layer cake, but I only wanted three. You could certainly make this cake using all four layers, and I’ve left the recipe as is for you to do that. I just wanted to avoid any chance of having “cake toppling” issues. I also knew that the snowflakes would add significant height to the cake, making it tricky to fit it in the fridge. Even with the three layers, the finished cake topped out at over eight inches tall. The batter for the fourth layer didn’t go to waste, though. It went into a small loaf pan to be enjoyed with a sparkling blush champagne as we opened our gifts on Christmas morning. A win/win situation for everyone!

If you want to make the fondant snowflakes like I did, you’ll have to do it at least a day in advance. They aren’t difficult, but they need to dry out for at least eighteen hours in order to be hard enough to stand on the cake without falling over.

I rolled out the fondant to a thickness of about 1/8-inch, and used different-sized snowflake cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. Then, I laid them flat on baking sheets until I was ready to use them.

After I assembled and frosted my cake, I placed the snowflakes all around the perimeter using small dabs of extra frosting as the “glue” to hold each in place.

Then, I placed more snowflakes of varying heights and sizes, standing straight up on the top of the cake.

After that, I chilled the decorated cake in the fridge for several hours to firm everything up.

Aaaah! A lovely cake fit for a snow queen! My guests were very impressed with my efforts. And, I was so proud!

I really had a blast putting this snowflake cake together! In fact, I’m thinking of using the same technique to make cakes for other occasions. What about pink fondant hearts for Valentine’s Day? Or, brightly colored eggs for Easter? Fondant flags for the Fourth of July, anyone? Oooh! My head is spinning! I think I need some more cake…