Red with White Polka-Dots

This was absolutely a test cake.  I was asked about producing a very specific cake – red with white polka-dots.  All the other cakes of this style were constructed of white cake with colored dots.  Now I needed to reverse that color scheme – how well could it be done?

My biggest concern working with red is getting the color right (I’ve blogged about it here and here).  It’s so easy for the red to look like hot pink.  And, the request was for vanilla cake (my White Cake recipe includes almond along with the vanilla, so the flavoring needed to be adjusted).

Two of three layers stacked.

That’s my iPhone for scale .. this was a very tall cake.

A lovely crumb-coated cake ready for decorating.

I struggled with how to decorate this cake.  Since it’s a test cake so I could choose any type of technique to practice.  I chose to attack scroll work – first attempt.

Not that great, but not so terrible for a first attempt.  I didn’t trace any designs, this was free-hand.  Maybe some templates are in my future.

Errrr… let’s see the other side of this cake again.

Aaaand that takes care of the first attempt at scroll work.  Time for Plan B.

Our youngest daughter was a great help in the kitchen!  She took some great snapshots for me and was rewarded with the first slice of cake.  We gave away the remaining cake; the sexy goodness of the vanilla is just too tempting for me.

I’m very happy that I made the time for a test cake and I like the results.  For some reason, I still think each layer could accommodate more dots, but every time I put this cake together I think “not too many dots, there won’t be enough cake!”

I love the bow as foreshadow of the interior.

This lovely slice of cake was sitting on a Scarlet Fiesta Ware Bread Tray (roughly 12″x5″)

This one is a winner.  Now I’m imagining all the additional options of what a colorful cake with white polka-dots can look like… black with white dots or chocolate with peanut butter dots….

It’s a great feeling when something works out well.  It’s a great feeling when I get to share cake with friends. 

It’s a really great feeling to have family working beside me in the kitchen.