Test Kitchen: Circus Ball, First Attempt

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream covered with Marzipan

This is the Test Kitchen.

My goal was to make something that looks a bit like a circus ball that will go on top of a layer cake.  A hand-painted paper elephant taped to a bamboo skewer will "balance" on the cake ball.

What I have is something about halfway to there.  I have baked this shape before for a cake last summer, but covered it with buttercream - which was far more forgiving than marzipan.

Things that went well.

Both halves of the cake baked well.  I placed the cupcake in the top of the cake while each was still warm; this helps both cakes mesh together.  The downside, I couldn't fill the center column with candy from the top - I had to fill both sides then flip the top over.  It went well enough.

I had leftover cake batter and baked some cute little cupcakes.  This were a smash hit.

The crumb-coating went really well and I was happy with the results.

I really liked the way the candy spilled out of this piñata cake...it says "party."

Things that could have gone better.

I'm not happy with the color of the plain marzipan - the appears a bit...unfinished?  Now I need to figure out what color to make this ball.  Or, figure out how to cover this in buttercream that will look nice and smooth. 

I used 200gr of marzipan to cover the cake ball and really needed 300gr so, it wasn't quite finished.

 

 

Because I didn't have any leftover marzipan, I couldn't practice coloring and making stars.  I used Laffy Taffy instead... I wasn't the taste profile for this cake, but I really wanted to assess the design/look.

 

 

In the end, I may have to rethink my approach to this cake and will almost assuredly be back in the Test Kitchen to take another run at this cake.

No matter what, it's still good times.  And I love that my life partner is a willing to offer feedback on taste and presentation.