Flower Basket Cake

So I mentioned I’ve been doing a lot of cakes lately and I wanted to share one of my favorites with you.  This custom flower basket cake is a special cake I created for my mom on Mother’s Day.  My mom is all about flowers and I wanted to make a cake that was full of them!  Loads of pretty blooms in bright colors all parked in a little white basket has her name written all over it!

The basketweaving technique is something I learned in pastry school, and it’s just one of those things I immediately took to.  It’s a little tedious, but I just love it.  I think it has a classic, elegant look, and quite frankly I don’t think it’s used enough!

The flowers are all done in buttercream, of course!  I never really know exactly how these flower cakes are going to turn out.  I have a basic idea in my head and then I just go for it.  As it starts to take shape, I add more colors and then some green leaves to give it a pop.  I have to say, I think the purple is my favorite!

Needless to say, my mom was thrilled with it, and I hate to be such a tease, but the inside was just as good as the outside.  It was a chocolate layer cake filled with cookies and cream filling and topped with vanilla Italian meringue buttercream.

It was pretty damn good, If I do say so myself!  I’m just sorry I didn’t snap a pic of the inside – it kind of disappeared very fast…  Next time, I promise!