Friend’s brother wanted a 10” heart shaped cake with black buttercream for her 30th! It was my first time making black buttercream and let me tell you I almost had a meltdown.
I watched a YouTube video that explained how to get swiss meringue buttercream so dark. After whipping and adding color, I had to melt it and then rewhip. All that trauma led to a less stable buttercream, not to mention it’s hot as hell right now so it just was not cooperating with me.
Buttercream was oozing out from the layers and I had to make three batches of buttercream just to cover this entire thing. The payoff is great, but my family had to deal with me being pretty pissy while I was frosting it. I ended up finishing it the next morning when it wasn’t as hot.
I’m mostly satisfied with it, and I’ve definitely improved a LOT with writing on cakes. My only gripe is the top of the cake, which, as you can see, I really struggled with smoothing out since it’s so big and the buttercream decided to separate a little bit.
I also think I should have charged more. My base rate for a 10” round is $70, but because it’s heart shaped and black buttercream is such a pain, I think I should have charged $100 instead of $80. Oh well! Lesson learned.
by blueberriebun
3 Comments
exquisite
If you start with a chocolate buttercream, you won’t have as far to go color wise! And the chocolate also masks that food coloring flavor you get. Just a tip, take it or leave it!
I have yet to create cookies, cake, or cupcakes without learning a lesson. I would love to see everyone smile after eating a piece of this cake. Those pretty black teethy smiles. It looks great, well done!! Really nice lettering.