Double Wreath Christmas Cake

Taking the Wilton Method Cake Decorating Classes during the holidays is a great idea! Mainly because you can work the seasonal themes into weekly assignments but even more so because you usually have more reason to celebrate... and therefore eat cake!

My final cake for course 3 had to be a tiered cake. It was near Christmas (last year) and I had a friend's holiday party to go to so I wanted to make something festive. I had some royal icing poinsettias already made from a prior class so I wanted to work them into my final. I came across an photo of a round wreath cake somewhere and decided to make my own double tiered verion.

A few days before class I made a bazillion green fondant holly leaves using a mini cutter from Wilton's holiday mini metal cutter set. Okay, well not a bazillion but I kept cutting until I thought I would have enough and then cut out a few more. I kept myself busy by watching a 1945 Sherlock Holmes crime film.

The night before class, I made the cake and covered it in fondant. Then Saturday morning I nearly cried because it was raining and I had to walk my 2-tiered cake and all my supplies the half-mile from my apartment to Michael's. Luckily I found a ride at the last minute... crisis (and tears) averted.

At class, I assembled this:

My Wilton Method Instructor helped me figure out the best way to lay out the leaves and I attached them to the cake with royal icing. To finish it, I made the bow from red fondant and draped it over the top tier of the wreath.

I really think this came out awesome! I can't believe I went from not knowing how to make icing or use a pastry bag to making a tiered cake in just a few weeks!

I was skeptical of using the pillars and separation plates at first but they made travel easier because I was able to stack the cakes for class and then take them apart to transport them to my friend's party. Yay!