Posts tagged mousse

  Aunt Jill asked me to make a birthday cake for a sweet relative who will be 99 this weekend. I think it needs to be over the top… After all, 99 is major achievement!

So the birthday girl’s favorite flower is the African Violet. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any decent-looking real ones, and no fake ones. I did find this lovely dark purple hydrangea, and since her eyesight isn’t so good anymore…. she’ll at least appreciate the pretty color. Then I thought a baby picture of her would be a nice finishing touch, and give the creation some personality. Can’t wait until it’s done!

Here she is- the 3-tiered lavender cake! The largest cake is lemon with Pastry Pride/vanilla filling, and the middle is raspberry and vanilla swirl cake with the same vanilla pastry filling. I used buttercream for the frosting underneath the fondant. The photo is edible with a buttercream “frame”. The birthday girl cried when she saw it. It thrilled me to see how a beautiful cake could make her feel so loved and appreciated. 

So, what exactly is Pastry Pride? It’s like whipped cream, but non-dairy. This means you can frost or fill a cake with it, and it can sit out for hours. It tastes smooth, creamy, and not too sweet. It can be purchased at cake decorating stores (it will be in a freezer), or at Smart & Final. I’ve had great success mixing in Nutella, raspberry freezer jam, or pudding to make a mousse-like filling. I just fold them into the whipped Pastry Pride. 

I do not recommend using Pastry Pride as a base frosting for fondant cakes. It is too fluffy and soft. However, as an outside frosting alone it is wonderful, and I have been able to get it as smooth as buttercream.