This 3-tier castle cake was created for an “Enchanted Forest” themed Sweet 16 party in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The bottom tier is vanilla cake with lemon zest buttercream filling, the middle is chocolate cake with raspberry chambord filling and the top is vanilla cake with strawberries & cream filling.

The cake was covered in vanilla and chocolate marbelized fondant, finished with sugarpaste ivy, a golden cobblestone pathway and a fondant ‘rock’ border. The castle was embellished with edible gold dust and sugarpaste flags with the birthday girl’s monogram.

We also hand decorated 100 unicorn, fairy and crown cookies for the birthday:

Yesterday we went apple picking with my husband’s parents in Warwick, NY. It was exceptionally fun tasting all of the different kinds of apples. Although slightly dangerous, as we found out shaking the branches can lead to a plethora of falling apples …..on your head at a much more rapid speed than might be imagined. Like large BB’s shooting down on your cranium. But no concussions or any internal bleeding (that we know of) occurred. Then on the way home, we witnessed a high speed motorcycle chase around the windy roads of Greenwood Lake. The guy somehow got away on foot….he must have had his V8 for breakfast….

Anyway, I digress….last night I made some apple crisp with some of our 16 pounds of apples….. and I’d like to share this tried and true recipe with you!

Apple Crisp Recipe

Peel, core and slice about 6-10 apples depending on size.

Toss apples with 1 tsp cinnamon, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 cup of lemon juice.

Put apples in an 9×13 inch baking dish or pan. Dot with 1/4 cup butter.

Melt 1/2 cup butter and mix with 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup whole oats, 2 tsps cinnamon.

Make “crumbs” with hands and place on top of apple mixture.

Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes until top is golden brown and apples are bubbling. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream! Enjoy! (If top starts to get too dark, cover w/tin foil and finish baking)

White cake with chocolate filling wrapped in a fondant bow

This chocolate cake with mocha filling was for a bride with a love for shopping.

This 3-tier yellow cake with chocolate filling was for a 3 year olds birthday party.

This monkey sheet cake was for a 1st birthday party. It’s a chocolate cake with chocolate pudding and strawberry filling topped with cream cheese icing.

I often get questions similar to this one regarding the difference between fondant & buttercream:

Which one do you recommend (fondant vs buttercream) based on appearance plus taste? I’m not sure what the difference is between fondant & buttercream. I believe the fondant looks better. Does it taste better too? I think buttercream might be really sweet. Also, what would you do with the inside of the cake? Would there be a filling?

Fondant tastes sort of like marshmallows - it’s sweet. I always cover my cakes in vanilla buttercream first, and then put the rolled fondant on top - so you get the best of both worlds :)! Fondant looks really smooth which is why we use it a lot. Some people really like the taste, and those who don’t generally peel it off.

My cakes are two layers of cake with a thick layer of filling in the middle. For fillings we can do vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate, raspberry, peanut butter, oreos and cream… just to name a few!

Sandra posted the following question recently:

Dear Anne,
I think your cakes are just the most gorgeous things! They look too good to eat–but that wouldn’t stop me! LOL I wonder if you could give me some advice. I’ve been interested in baking for many years now. I tried to sell “cookie trays” for showers and weddings about ten years ago or so, but didn’t do too well. Some people did not appreciate that I used real butter & quality ingredients, and I got pretty discouraged.
Now, after a visit to the CIA in Hyde Park, I am inspired again to take up baking once more. I’ve never really done cakes. What advice would you give someone who might want to do the sort of work you do? How did you get started? Are you able to do this full time? Do you miss advertising? I am in public relations myself, and was formerly a reporter. Anything you can tell me would be very helpful. Thanks!

Hi Sandra,

Thanks so much for your kind words! The best advice I can give you is to follow your dream. I would sign up for some pastry classes to see if you really could see yourself doing this as a career. I know FCI has some ‘amateur’ classes as they call them that introduce you to all sorts of baking basics. I’m sure CIA has many courses as well, but I’m not familiar with their curriculum. Also, we are planning on running our own baking classes starting in ‘07. Sign up here to be notified when the classes are available.

After I started at FCI, I apprenticed with Ron-Ben Israel Cakes in New York City. This type of internship was wonderful experience for me, and solidified my determination to start my own cake business.

At first I had to work at a restaurant until I started getting more business. But now I’m doing this full-time, and no I don’t miss advertising Of course I miss my co-workers and sometimes long for a meeting that I could sit-down in for hours . But the best part of advertising for me was using my creativity …. which is definitely being utilized now! I hope this helps…and best of luck! Keep in touch, I’d love to hear about your ‘pastry’ journey!
Anne

In keeping with the “Mitzvah” theme for the week, I also created a Bat Mitzvah cake with red velvet and vanilla and lemon cream cheese.

This Torah Cake was made with a combination of chocolate and white cake with vanilla filling and covered in buttercream. The cake was decorated with rolled fondant.