Tribeca Treats

So typically in the days leading up to Valentine's Day, I can barely find time to talk to my husband, let alone answer all the emails or phone calls that come in to the bakery (try as I might). But, sitting at home on the evening of February 11th, an email came through that particularly caught my attention.

Addressed generally to the bakery: "I am writing from Paris Hilton Entertainment and am looking to get the price quote on a birthday cake for Paris. Please see the attached pictures of what we're looking for." (Photos of "Barbie" cakes were attached.) Now, these kind of inquiries are not infrequent to us--assistants or publicists needing something fabulous, usually at the last minute, send out a "fishing expedition" requesting price quotes from all the bakeries they can think of. Usually, by the time I decide if we can complete what they're looking for in their time frame and maintaining our level of quality AND come up with a price quote, the business has gone to someone else.

But this time was different. Having been recommended by the SoHo Grand, we were the only bakery she had reached out to, and, as luck would have it, she was giving me almost a week's notice! That is definitely a luxury when dealing with celebrity orders. To make things even smoother, when I got on the phone with her the next day, she couldn't have been nicer. "Just make it pink and princessy and fabulous." I was not super-thrilled to do a Barbie cake, as I had always thought they were kind of cheesy, but, with my 3 year old daughter as co-designer, I was starting to find the project pretty exciting.

For those of you who might want to attempt this at home for your own daughter (or son?) or 28 year old socialite, here's what I did:

1. Buy the Barbie - Obviously what the Barbie is wearing in the box makes no difference for the cake, so pick your Barbie based on hair color/style, accessories and arm positioning. I purposefully wanted to find a Barbie with bendable arms (which is not easy to find), so I could get the "Paris pose" right.

2. Bake the cake - I made two 8 inch round layers and two 6 inch round layers (in this case red velvet). Save the domed tops that you cut off to level the layers (you'll use them in step 4). I stacked them (with cream cheese icing in between) so that the layers were all flush on one side and cascading in the back. This creates a bigger train, or you can center the smaller layers if you want a full skirt in the front as well.

3. Insert the Barbie - I measured the center of the cake toward the front (where the layers were flush) and carved a 1.5" x 1" rectangular column out down through all the layers. (Save the cake and icing that is carved out.) I then wrapped the Barbie's legs in plastic wrap and placed her into the hole, piping icing into the rest of the cavity to stabilize her.

4. Shape the skirt - With a serrated knife, I shaved off portions of the cake layers to round it slightly. Then I mixed a "spackle" - the cakes crumbs that have been trimmed mixed with icing to create a clay-like consistency. I applied this spackle to the cake to fill in areas that were still more angular, until the cake was shaped as I wanted. Then I applied a thin crumb coat of icing around the whole thing and put her in the fridge to chill.

5. Decorate the skirt - I used fondant, which gives it a more finished look, but if you don't have access to fondant, you can use tinted icing as well. I had designed the "dress" in advance and rolled out the fondant in several pieces to be applied to the cake. I found that the ruffle design of the side and back of the skirt allowed me to cut pieces without measuring as precisely as if I were finishing it with one smooth piece of fondant. I then used royal icing to pipe a pattern on the front and apply little fondant flowers.

6. Add details - I made Tinkerbell the dog out of fondant and created a deep v-neck halter for the top, as well as a "diamond" necklace. I think this personalized it for her a little, and made it slightly more modern and appropriate for a 28 year old than the classic "Barbie Fairy Princess" cakes I've seen.

In all, it was definitely a fun experience, and, surprisingly to me, I decided I would be willing to do Barbie cakes again. Granted, the temperamental artist in me liked having free reign over the dress design!

Coincidentally, a friend of a friend of a friend is "good friends" with Paris Hilton, so I did get to see a snap shot of her posing with the cake, but made a promise to keep that picture under wraps. However, I am happy to share the picture I took of my finished product. It almost makes me want to turn 8 (or 28!) all over again....