New Cake Recipes

A coworker asked me to make a cake for a family gathering she was having in honor of her mother's 80th birthday. She left it entirely me up to me how to decorate it, what flavors to use, etc. The only information she gave me was that she needed to serve about 40 people and her mother really likes music. So here's what I came up with.

The roses on top are hand-shaped from dark and white chocolate.

The top tier is 3 layers of lemon-coconut cake filled with lemon-curd buttercream.

The bottom tier is 3 layers (chocolate fudge, banana, chocolate fudge), filled and frosted with ganache.

I used all new recipes for the cake--and, based on crumbs I tasted from the tops I cut off, they are all incredibly recipes! The chocolate fudge cake ties with my favorite fudge cake--although the texture is quite different. The banana cake tastes like a fabulous banana bread. The lemon coconut cake tastes light and refreshing with both the lemon and coconut flavors coming through very well.

P.S. When I carried the cake out to Jan's car for her, she had the paper plates she had purchased for serving the cake in the car. The plates were white with accents of blue and dark brown--the exact same shades of blue and brown on the cake. She couldn't have matched it better if she'd seen the cake first!