Strawberry Cake with Champagne Buttercream & ruffled Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

look at that. ruffles are so pretty.


and rather delicate


and very forgiving


i'm making a ruffled cake for my friend's bridal shower so i decided to do a test run.
the cake was so so- but the frosting looked lovely (well sort of- it was my first time afterall)

Strawberry Cake with Champagne Buttercream
Go here for the recipe.

The cake was good- but a bit dense. This may have had something to do woth the fact that i used 4 whole eggs instead of 6 egg whites.
But i'm going to nix it anyway- i want something else...

as for the Swiss Meringue Buttercream- go here for an awesome recipe


i tweak it depending on the humidity & consistancy i seem to be getting. but i strongly suggest at least 2 tsp of flavoring (vanilla or what not) and a good quality butter. i also add a pinch of salt.
also- make sure your butter is soft, but still somewhat firm (room temp) not completely softened like when baking cookies. and you NEED a stand mixer- it's a must. my batches take over 15 minutes of beating. imagine standing there & doing that with a hand mixer.

omg no. never ever.