A beautiful layer cake always has some “wow” factor to it, but there are always ways to add a little more. You can use unusual flavor combinations to surprise tasters, or add unexpected fillings, like ice cream or lemon curd, to go with layers of frosting. If you want your cake to make a big impression, however, you should try making a piñata cake. A piñata cake is a cake where the center has been carved out and replaced with candy (or some other filling), in much the same way that the center of a piñata is stuffed with candy. The difference between the two is that the cake can simply be sliced open to reveal the surprise inside – you don’t need to get quite as aggressive with the cake as you would be with a piñata! Over on the Craftsy blog (it’s free!), I wrote up a tutorial on How to Make a Piñata Cake that will walk you through each step of putting together one of these unusual layer cakes.
For the cake in the demo, I used a classic vanilla cake recipe and a vanilla buttercream frosting. I like the contrast between the brightly colored filling and the relatively pale cake. I used a mixture of M&Ms and rainbow sprinkles for the piñata filling, but you can use almost any candy that you can think of inside. Red, white & blue candies would be a good choice for the Fourth of July, while red and green might be a good choice for a Christmas party!
What do you think?