Cat's Birthday BONANZA!

This is Cat. You've met her before.
She is my best friend in life.

Anticipation :)

She turned 22 yesterday, and it was the first time in the six years we've been best friends that we were together on her birthday. Soon, she's leaving for grad school in the UK, cuz she's that kind of awesome.
My present to her was something I've been working on for months.

                           

It's a Marc Jacobs Handbag Cake. Strawberry layer cake with strawberry buttercream frosting and really yummy buttercream fondant. This is the purse I based it on: Marc by Marc Jacobs Preppy Nylon Mini Natasha bag

I made her keep her eyes closed for a really long time

It was a perfect way to celebrate :)
Here's the recipe I used, plus step-by-step photos of how I built it.

This is a wonderful cake recipe for any occasion, I adapted it for this cake, but I'm posting the original.

Strawberry Layer Cake

Courtesy of Sweetapolita

Yield: Three 8" round layers

Ingredients:

Strawberry puree (from frozen strawberries)- 1/4 c, from 2 handfuls of berries

Whole milk- 1 c, room temp

Pure vanilla extract- 1 tbsp

Cake flour- 3 c*

Baking powder- 1 tbsp

Salt- 3/4 tsp

Eggs- 4, room temp

Sugar- 1 3/4 c

Strawberry-flavored gelatin (Jell-O)- 1 small (3 oz) package

Unsalted butter- 1 c, softened

Directions:

1. Slightly thaw about 2 handfuls of frozen strawberries. Puree in a food processor until smooth, then measure out 1/4 c. Make sure the puree isn't icy before you mix it in with the rest of the ingredients.

2. Combine strawberry puree, milk and vanilla in a small bowl, and set aside.

3. Sift and whisk flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.

4. Cream sugar, gelatin and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, ~5 minutes. 

5. Add eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

6. Alternate adding the wet and dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix just enough after each addition to incorporate, but do not overmix.

7. Divide batter into greased and floured baking pans, and bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until the cake tester comes out clean. Check cakes at 20 minutes, but not before. Be super careful to not overbake. Let cool on the racks for 10 minutes before turning onto greased wire racks. Cool completely.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

(Just my regular vanilla buttercream adapted)

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter- 1 c, softened

Powdered sugar- 3-4 c

Strawberry Essence- 1 tbsp

Milk- 2 tbsp

Drop of pink food coloring, optional

Directions:

1. Cream butter.

2. Add powdered sugar very slowly, one cup at a time, beating after each addition.

3. Add strawberry essence and beat to combine. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. 

4. Add food coloring and beat.

Here's the step-by-step photo documentation. I'm still working on the skill of keeping my workspace neat...

Cutting out the shape & size required

Frost & stack

Carve into purse shape, then do crumb coat
(let sit in fridge for 30 min to 1 hr)

Roll out the fondant

Cover cake with fondant & trim.

Add details using gold edible pen, gum paste, gold lustre dust

Note:

~To make your own cake flour, all you need is regular flour and cornstarch. Click here for a full explanation.

~I used Fondarific fondant for this cake, and I will never use any other kind of fondant. You know how most fondant tastes like crap? THIS IS GOOD! It tastes really good, no additional flavoring required! I highly, highly recommend it.

Me & my bestie :)

ENJOY!!!

PS I'm also using this post as a shout-out for my parents, whose 23rd wedding anniversary is today :) Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! I love you both so much :)