What's better than Cake?

...NOTHING!

It is no secret that I like LOVE cake. I prefer homemade over store bought and wedding over birthday. I don't know why, but they just taste better. Back home in Jacksonville, Florida I would periodically stop in at my favorite cupcake bakery (Cami Cakes-if you are in North FL you must try this place!) for a sweet treat but since I have not found one that I love equally here in Indiana I am now making my own. I guess you can say that baking is now a hobby of mine, which works perfectly since my darling little cousins gave me the best baking apron as a going away gift back in September.

Me and Hannah, who embroidered my apron :) Man, I miss my FL tan!

Haley & Hannah, I love these girls SO much!

So to understand why I was baking a cake last weekend you might need a little bit of background information. Here goes: My BIL is getting married in Mexico this summer. My SIL and I are throwing a beachy destination themed bridal shower for the bride. The shower is taking place in about two weeks, and I am in charge of the cake and cupcakes. Oh course, being the planner I am; I wanted a test run prior. I needed to make sure the cake was not dry and my icing recipe held up under pressure. So, Saturday afternoon while The Mr. was watching basketball I was getting dirty in the kitchen. Since the shower theme is tropical (so to speak) I had talked to my SIL about doing a pineapple cake, but decided against that and went with a white cake recipe that I know is delicious.

So, I started with the cake batter and used only egg whites to produce the whitest cake possible...then I moved on to my favorite part: homemade buttercream frosting. Yummo! Here are some pictures of my adventure in the kitchen:

4 moist layers...though I plan on doing 6 or 8 for the actual shower cake!

First layer of icing, this is like the rough draft :)

Almost done, complete with blue pearls to match wedding colors! The icing dots around the cake will look different the day of. I need a different icing tip to make that happen...

It is too bad you cannot smell it though your computer, because it is divine!

Ta-Da, it is complete!

Freshly baked and ready to be eaten!

Doing a test run was a good idea because I did learn lots that I need to keep in mind when baking/decorating the cake for the wedding. I know that I need wooden rods to help hold the cake up on the day of, and I need a smaller icing tip for my bag while decorating. Also note, that her cake will have tropical flowers too. I can't wait until her shower and I will be sure to take pictures of the cake and cupcakes!

I am going to go try and do something to make me stop thinking about cake now! Hope everyone has a great Tuesday and gets to enjoy the sunshine if you have it! :)