DIY: Ruffled Strawberries

Remember the cake I made for my first craft party? It looked pretty good, but the frosting was WAY too sweet...Of course, everyone who tried it politely pushed their globs of unwanted frosting to the side of their plates.  I decided to try it again, so I volunteered to make the cake for my Bridal Shower.   I found a recipe for strawberry frosting on food.com and decided to try it out.

Initial ingredients included: Powdered sugar, butter, and strawberries (fresh or frozen)

 I pureed the strawberries in the food processor for two reasons: (1) I didn't want chunky frosting, and (2) I used a piping bag to decorate so I needed the frosting to flow smoothly through the tip.

Next I added the strawberries to my powdered sugar & butter mixture...and vuala! 

The scrumptious strawberry frosting was still too sweet, so I added salt and some flour.  It tasted just right... but I needed about three times that amount.  I made a my second batch and it still wasn't enough (this cake takes lots of frosting!).  By this time, I was running low on supplies, so I had to get creative.   *Make sure to refrigerate your frosting if you are using fruit.

My final recipe:

7 1/2 cups Powdered sugar

1 1/4 cups Butter

1 1/4 cups Strawberries

1 1/6 cups (1/2 cup + 2/3 cup)Flour 

1/8 tsp. Salt

It turns out that the extra flour made this frosting quite heavy.  While decorating, I noticed my ruffles started sinking! (thats why the bottom half of the cake looks melted)  So, I had to stick it in the refrigerator for a bit to harden up. After multiple trips to and from the fridge, the cake was finished!  The cake was a hit and the perfect amount! 

No globs of frosting left over on people's plates = success :]

My mom collects Precious Moments, and this particular one has a boy proposing to a girl.  :]  On my actual wedding cake, my cake topper is going to be a Precious Moments bride & groom that my great-grandmother gave to my mom to put on her wedding cake.  Total cost: $15

48 MORE DAYS!!