Forget Kim Kardashian: As far as Caked Up Café's fans are concerned, this cake is what broke the Internet. When owner Denise Byrnes Instagrammed a photo and video of her 16-year-old daughter Francesca's Dunkin' Donuts-inspired cake, the likes and the reposts and the views started pouring in. The freak out was just as epic in-person. "People were handing us their phones to take pictures since we couldn't let them in the back of the bakery!" says Francesca.
When we caught a glimpse of the double-decker cake, it spoke so powerfully to our inner Lisa Frank-loving, donut-obsessed hearts that we had to ask Francesca and Denise to show us how the magic happened in their New City, NY, bakery.
Their space is tiny—there are just three café tables—but the Byrnes ladies don't do things small. The original donut cake request came from a woman who wanted a birthday dessert for her husband, a longtime Dunkin' fan. Her only requirement was that it be orange and purple. Francesca made it just that—then added pink buttercream, chocolate ganache, some of the donut chain's jelly-filled and glazed treats, their signature Munchkins and even a cup of "coffee" (it's an empty cup frosted inside with tinted buttercream). See what we mean? Only big ideas here.
Since we scored a front row seat to the decorating process, we picked up a cool technique for the cake's watercolor effect. Here's how it's done: After you pipe rows of colored buttercream on top of the crumb coat, even them out with an icing smoother. Then take a small inverted spatula and draw a squiggly line with the tip where two colors meet. When you smooth the cake again, it'll look as beautiful as the blended "sunset" backgrounds you used to create for middle school PowerPoint presentations.
But that's not Francesca's favorite part. She's just like the rest of us: "I make a lot of drip cakes!" she says. Because at the end of the day, no one can resist watching the #foodporn that is chocolate sloooowly falling down the side of a cake.
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