Baby Carriage Cake

This baby carriage cake is perfect as a centerpiece on the food table for a baby shower. To make this cake, you will need basic cake decorating skills.  The decorating tips mentioned are pictured on the Wilton site.  I make the body of the baby carriage from an 11" round pan and use two cupcakes for the wheels.  One cake mix will fill both the 11" pan and two cupcake liners.

My favorite flavor of cake mix to use is banana but I couldn't find it at either WalMart or Reams.  Today I saw one at Target so I should have waited as I ended up using a Funfetti cake mix.  When using a banana mix, I flavor the frosting with half coconut flavoring and half almond extract.  It is a yummy combination.  For the Funfetti cake mix, I just used all coconut and it seems to taste pretty good together.
I've tasted many decorative frostings but I much prefer this recipe to any.

Basic Butter Cream Icing

2 lbs. powdered sugar (7½ cups unsifted)

1 cup Crisco shortening (do NOT substitute)

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cream of tartar

½ cup milk or water

2 tsp. flavoring

Mix all ingredients together adding liquid as needed.  Beat at high speed for at least 5 minutes.  Take out amount to color; fill bags with tubes requested.  Keep covered with damp cloth.

After you bake the cake, put it in the freezer.  This will make it much easier to cut later.  When you are ready to decorate and the frosting is all made, take the cake out of the freezer and place it on a piece of cardboard with a dollop of frosting.

This makes the cake stay in one place and not move around.  You can cover the cardboard with foil or use a decorative piece like this one I found at WalMart.

Now attach the two cupcakes to the board with dollops of frosting as well.  Cut out ¼ of the cake as shown.  A frozen cake makes this easy.

Take a portion of the frosting and thin it down a bit with water or milk so that it is easy to spread.  This will be what we call the "crumb icing".  Spread a thin layer on the top and sides of the cake.

Note how I've sealed it to the board so there aren't gaps under the cake.

The cake will still look pretty rough at this point.  Let this crumb icing dry for about 30 minutes.  Crumb icing is a must and well worth the extra time to do it.  When you put your final coat of icing on the cake, the crumbs will be dried into this icing and won't pull out into the outer layer of icing.  Nice!

Now put another layer of icing on the wheels.  You don't want the crumb icing to show through when you put the spokes on.  To smooth out the icing so it looks nice and flat, dip your spatula into a glass of very hot water and shake the water off.  The spatula will be warm enough to melt the icing and make it look smooth.

Next, apply basketweave to the side of the main body using a #48 basketweave decorating tip.  Now apply the basketweave to the top, leaving a portion around the cut-out quarter for the lining and ruffle. Don't look too close--I'm not as steady as I once was.

Next pipe a rope border along the top edge using a #17, 18 or 19 open star decorating tip.  This will cover up where the side and top basketweave meet.

Now put the spokes on the wheels using a #7 round decorating tip. Then decorate the sides of the wheel with another open star tip #17, 18 or 19.

Now place a ruffle around the baby carriage opening using a #104 petal decorating tip.  You could use a ruffle decorating tip but I don't have one and this seems to work just fine.

After the ruffle is applied, you need some blanket lining so I use an open star tip to fill this in around the ruffle and on the inside of the quarter cut.  A #17, 18 or 19 open star decorating tip will work.

Now you need a center for the spokes on the wheels.  I've used an open star #199 decorating tip with a #11 round decorating tip for the dot in the middle.  Next we need a rose using a #104 petal decorating tip and add some leaves around the flower with a #352 leaf decorating tip and voila, we have a completed baby carriage cake.