Bunny Ballerinas Cake (Baby Shower Cake)

Instructions

Buttercream Stripes (optional)

1. To make the striped pattern, frost your sheet cake as usual but apply the frosting a bit more thick on top of the sheet cake.
2. Comb the frosted top with a cake comb that will work well for the striped pattern. I used a metal cake comb.
3. Comb the cake to create the horizontal "stripes". Repeat if needed. Then chill in the freezer for about 20 minutes until the frosting is very firm.
4. Remove the cake from the freezer.
5. Using a piping bag with the tip snipped away, pipe green buttercream into the space/lines that fall between the raised lines of your combed pattern.
6. Using a metal bench scraper (or the straight side of your comb), Smooth over the top of the cake from one side to the other, removing the excess green frosting. (I heated my bench scraper in hot water first).
7. It will take a couple of passes over the cake before the striped pattern looks neat. Each time, you are removing just a bit more frosting. Re-chill if necessary in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before going back in and fine turning.

Making the Bunnies

1. Roll out fondant to about ⅛ inch thickness. Let it set up for a few minutes. (I kneaded a small amount of tylose powder into my fondant but that is optional)
2. Cut out two bunnies using the template. They will be facing each other/mirror images.
3. Allow to dry on a surface or cookie sheet that has been lightly greased and dusted with powdered sugar to prevent sticking.
4. Once the fondant cut-outs are dry to the touch, you can add their faces with a thin food coloring pen (Mine are Wilton). I dusted on a little pink petal dust with a dry paintbrush for rosy cheeks.
5. I painted on the bunny leotards, shoes, and inside of the ears using a little pink coloring gel + white coloring gel+ a touch of vodka (mixed on a little palette). This "edible paint" detail is optional- you could also layer on thinly rolled pink fondant.
6. Add little pink fondant noses and little fondant bows.

Sign and Letters

1. We used various letter cutters/molds that we had on hand (including a tappit cutter set for the smaller letters).
2. The sign is just a circle of fondant (with a bit of tylose powder kneaded into it) and the letters added with a little piping gel.

Buttercream Ruffles

1. I added buttercream ruffles to the bunnies to create tutus as well as around the sides of the cake. (You could just do a ruffle border if you don't want to use so much buttercream). You will use a piping tip 104 for this.
2. The thin end of the piping tip should be facing away from the cake as you pipe so that the edges of the ruffles will be thin.

Ribbon Roses

1. Buttercream ribbon roses were piped onto a wax paper square (attached to rose nail). Pipe the buttercream using a Tip 104 (for larger roses) and Tip 101 for smaller roses. The thin end of the piping tips will be up as you do your piping.
2. Pipe the ribbon rose as you spin the nail counterclockwise, starting in center of the square and spiraling outward. Remove wax paper with rose and place on cookie sheet.
3. Freeze the roses for 15 minutes or until firm-- then peel away from paper and place onto the cake. We placed a few small ones at the top of the sign (along with leaves piped with a 352 tip). Larger roses were placed in the corners of the cake.