When our little friend Emma Brown decided to have a birthday tea at Smith-Byrd House in Prattville, I immediately volunteered to make her cake. I hope this chocolate cake with buttercream icing was 8-year-old Emma's cup of tea.
The teapot is a Wilton ball cake, baked in two half-sphere pans and secured with icing. The handle and spout are cut from cardboard and inserted into the cake. Covered with icing piped on with a star tip, you would never know! I guess my favorite technique right now for covering a cake is piping swirls of icing on with a large star tip because the varying circles work together to look like roses. Pink rose buds piped on with an angled tip -- accented with green leaves and stems piped on with a V-shaped tip and small round tip, respectively -- complete the design. And this little teapot is ready to be tipped over and poured out for a sweet little girl's birthday.
And speaking of birthdays, today is my 39th! eek!
This birthday moves me swiftly toward that big birthday that many women fear. But I love what Christian Dior has to say on the matter: "Women are most fascinating between the ages of 35 and 40 after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass 40, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely."
So let's raise our teacups to obtaining maximum fascination! Tomorrow, a teatime surprise.
