Barbie Cake Day 2: Icing

Decorating commenced last night after work, starting with the making of a double batch of Swiss Buttercream, which I'd been told was easier to work with and didn't crust like traditional buttercream does. The ingredients are simple: 1 cup sugar, 4 egg whites, 3 sticks of butter (plus 2 Tablespoons), and a teaspoon of vanilla. Surprise! It tastes like butter.

To be fair, I hate icing, so I'm the last person you want when judging the quality of the sweet stuff. I prefer, if forced to select one, that really fluffy whipped icing that really isn't icing at all, but more like cool whip. Anything that starts tasting sweet is a huge sweets turn-off for me. Good thing I was in charge of sweets for the party. (Planning Tip: Pick something you won't be tempted to nibble on!)

So I got my buttery basin of icing and then began dying it pink, because white barbie is wedding barbie and nobody wants that. First she was Tums pink. Then cotton candy. Then Pepto Bismal. Then Bubble Yum. I finally stopped somewhere between Bubble Yum and Laffy Taffy, and started decorating.

Now, I have zero decorating tools that I need. No icing spatula or piping bags. I have a regular rubbery scraper and Ziploc bags with one corner snipped off. (Planning Tip: Spring for the icing spatula and pipings bags.) So first I put white icing between the layers (3 layers total), then covered the entire mound with pink icing. Next, I added barbie, who remained naked for the next hour or so, I'm not ashamed to tell you, as I worked on the details. I'm actually pretty ok with the finished product, though I'd love to get better at working with icing. Maybe I'll take a class. The only thing I know for sure is that my (nonexistent) daughter will be staying far, far away from anything from the offices of Matel, at least in her desserts. And that I may never get the pink stains out of my cuticles...