Fault line cakes are the hottest trend in the cake world of 2019. Everyone is trying them and putting their own spin on them. So who would I be if I didn't try this trend?
Well, it didn't go well. Some of the photos turned out nice, which I am happy about and I love some of the features of the cake.
Jenna if you think this cake was a flop why are you sharing it on your blog? Good question.
I like authenticity. I hate people who don't talk about their weaknesses and failures, you shouldn't be ashamed of them, they help model you into the person you are.
I LOVE fault line cakes. They are so creative and fun, but fun and creative come with a price. To try this fun trend, I used good ole Duncan Hines cake mix. If you haven't caught on by now, I doctor up cake mixes for the most part. It is a great way to learn the decorating side of "caking".
To create a fault line cake, you stack your cake layers, make your crumb coat, let everything set, and then make the middle first. When I was trying this trend, I knew I wanted to do pink, gold, navy, and white. So I used NeonYolk sprinkles and Wilton sprinkles to make this custom mix for my cake. I also use CakeSafe discs to create those smooth and crisp edges. Heres where my big mistake comes in. I did not do all of my research, some of my sprinkles jetted out farther than my cake discs......
so when I was adding the beautiful Navy vanilla buttercream, my scraper kept getting snagged on the larger sprinkles.
It was EXTREMELY frustrating. However I knew I wanted that raw top edge that you see to the left. So, I took the cake disc off and just went for trying to smooth the butter cream on my own. This is where the bowing comes in,
because I have very shakey hands. I have had this issue for years, and usually its fine I can maneuver around it. This time I overcorrected for my shakey little hands and was holding my scraper at an angle. This made my cake appear to be thicker int he middle.
In an attempt to fix this disaster, I made a cute swirl on top, threw some sprinkles on the op and started painting the edges in gold. This was a technique I had seen quite a few insta-bakers do, so I thought it would fix everything.
It kinda did. the gold is bright and stunning against the navy.
But since this is a blog and you're probably here for some tips, techniques, or recipe, here is how I achieved my magical navy blue buttercream:
Navy Blue Buttercream
3 sticks of butter
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
Wilton Royal Blue food coloring
Wilton Black food coloring
Make sure your butter is room temperature. I learned the proper way to tell butter is ready from Mandy Merriman's cookbook "Cake Confidence". You should be able to just slightly push your finger into the butter when it is ready to go. If your butter is starting to melt on the edges, abort mission and put the butter back in the fridge until it firms up a little.beat the butter in a stand mixer until fluffy, then add in the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt.
DO NOT substitute heavy cream for skim milk. If you are going to substitute it for milk, use 2%. No one likes watery buttercream..... this I have learned the hard way.Once combined and creamy, slowly add in powdered sugar. I do a 1/2 cup to a cup at a time. I also mix on a low setting to prevent that dreaded sugar cloud Kitchen Aids love to make.
Repeat this last step until you reach a good consistency and has reached your desired taste.
Final step, add in about 8 drops of royal blue and about 3 drops of black. Mix on HIGH until you get a good blue. Then LET THE BUTTERCREAM SIT. Leave it alone and you will notice it gets darker after 30 minutes. Then it is ready to be placed on your fault line cake that I truly believe you will master if you do not make the mistakes I did.
And yes, I will be trying this fun cake trend again... Where I will do a full tutorial on how to not fail.
Follow me on Instagram to learn more about my techniques on how I achieved this design! Instagram: livingthebuttercream
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