Basket of Flowers Cake

I made this cake for Christmas at my grandma's house and it was quite popular. The cake and icing themselves are very simple and so is the decorations they just look complicated. 

CAKE:

Ingredients:

- 12 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large egg whites 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour two 9 x 2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper.

To make the cake: In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour in three parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, on the high speed of an electric mixer, beat the soft egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter, making sure no streaks of white are showing.

Divide batter between the cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack. When cake has cooled, ice between layers, then ice top and sides of cake. Make sure you brush all crumbs off the sides of the cake layers and place the layers top side up on a level surface.

ICING:

Ingredients:

-3 sticks butter (room temp)
-2 lbs powdered sugar
-2 tsp. vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp. almond extract
-1/4 cup milk
-gel food coloring

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle cream the butter until smooth. Gradually mix in the vanilla, almond and powdered sugar until combined then add the milk turning the mixer on high until thick and smooth.   Dye 2-3 large spoon-fulls of frosting green and spread over the top of the cake. Set aside leftover green icing for leaves at the end. 

        Next, spoon white frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a basket tip to make the basket weave on the side of the cake. Starting at the bottom of the cake with the ridged side of the piping tip facing outward, pipe a line of icing as straight as you can eyeball it up the side of the cake. Then, starting at the top of the line you just piped, still with the ridged side facing outward, pipe a horizontal line about 1-1 1/2 inches long along the top of the side of the cake (make sure that your not piping on the top of the cake). Then make an identical horizontal line about 1/2 inch ish below the first line you piped (The gap between these lines should be about the width of the piping tip). Continue this until you reach the bottom of the cake (you can stop a little above the bottom to save room for a border). Then pipe another vertical line along the edges of the horizontal lines you made. Lastly, in the gaps left from the previous weave (you'll see what I mean when you do it) pipe horizontal lines that go over the vertical line and about an inch past it. Continue this pattern around the sides of the cake.

       Next, switch from the basket tip to a star tip on the white icing pastry bag and pipe a shell border along the top ridge and bottom of the cake. Then dye another 4-5 spoon-fulls of icing red (or as close to red as you can get) and spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a flower tip. Pipe one rose at a time and place strategically along the top of the cake covering as much surface area as possible without smashing flowers. Then spoon the remaining green icing into a pastry bag fitted with a leaf tip and pipe leaves in all the empty spaces around the flowers on the cake. 

I used the same piping technique on a red velvet cheesecake I made for
another Christmas party the next day