Cake of Thrones!

So, as most television watchers know, last Sunday, April 12th, was the premier for the new series of Game of Thrones. Now, I'm know a fan of the show, meaning that I just haven't watched it, but a few friends of mine are and they threw a party. And I, being the amazing person that I am, figured I'd show up with some delicious goodness. I mean what kind of guest would I be if I didn't show up with SOMETHING? A bad one, that's what kind! 

In deciding that I would do this, I had to educate myself on a few things about the show. First off, I learned that that show is hella complicated! I mean, really, who needs to have so many families to follow! So I picked two, which were chosen due to my host's preferences. Without knowing I was already planning on making something, he requested a cake with a wolf and a dragon on them. Silly boy! I was way ahead of you! So I chose the House of Targaryen (weird name, by the way) and the House of Stark, and their family crests look like this: 

Having the design down, I had to figure out cakes which was indeed a challenge. Why you ask? Well, my host was allergic to gluten. And, as I'm sure you know, gluten-free food has a tendency to taste well..... like cardboard. And that just wouldn't do, I don't serve cardboard when I make food! Nope! Personally, I am not skilled enough with gluten-free baking to make my own recipe from scratch so I went in search of recipes that I could stand behind. And I found some! Yaaaaay! 

Cakes!

Seeing as there were two family crests, I had to make two cakes and they couldn't be the same! A vanilla cake and a chocolate cake sounded the best to me, simple yet delicious and crowd pleasing. For the vanilla cake, I used the recipe from Yammie's Gluten Freedom, here. I just made one minor change: instead of butter, I used Crisco shortening. I feel like it makes cakes in general a little fluffier and yummier. And for the chocolate, I made a double batch of the Gluten-Free Cake Pan Cake from King Arthur Flour, found here. I have made the chocolate cake recipe before and it is yummy! Also, I go for the suggestion to use milk instead of butter as well and Crisco/shortening instead of vegetable oil. If you do try these recipes, I will tell you that when making the chocolate cake with the shortening, it will be lumpy with shortening until completely mixed but it's not too hard, just don't get scared about it!

I baked both of the cakes in a 9 x 13 inch pan and then transferred them onto a cardboard cake board for transport once they were cooled. After that I cute them into the shape of a shield and split them down the middle, like a hamburger roll, and set them aside while I made the fillings and frostings. 

Fillings!!!

For the vanilla cake, I filled it with pineapple. Simple enough right? Just opened a can of crushed pineapple and drained it before putting it on the cake so that it didn't make it soggy. Moist is good but soggy is just not fun! 

And for the chocolate cake, I made a mixed berry filling. For that, I took 1 cup of water and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, whisked them together in a sauce pan and put on the stove. Then I added 2 1/2 cups of mixed frozen berries (I personally did not thaw them because I was pressed for time but you can and chop them into smaller bits if you see fit) and 1 cup of sugar to the water/cornstarch and turned on the heat to medium. This cooked for about 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce thickened. Once at the right consistency, I removed it from the heat and let it cool completely. I put part of it in the fridge to cool faster since I wasn't going to use all of it at once.

Frosting!!!!!!!!!!

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE buttercream and I just so happen to make an awesome buttercream, if I do say so myself :)  So, buttercream frosting was the only way to go for both of these cakes. 

Vanilla cake all crumb coated and ready for frosting!

For the vanilla cake, I kept it simple, sticking with a traditional buttercream frosting. To make this, it takes 2 sticks of butter at room temperature, 3 cups of powdered sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla (I like a lot of vanilla in mine), and 2 teaspoons of milk. Just beat the butter and sugar together until fully combined, add the vanilla and the milk at the end, and Ta-da! You've got buttercream!

Now, the chocolate had to have a little more Pazaz! but it was still going to be a buttercream at heart. So to get that extra Pazaz! I was going to do a chocolate buttercream but then I stumbled upon a mocha buttercream from Wilton that I just had to try! You can find the recipe for it here and oh my god is it delicious! Just the smell alone will get you intoxicated by sugar and coffee! Yum!

Chocolate cake ready for crumb coating!

Both cakes were crumb-coated with their assigned frostings, after they were filled, and refrigerated overnight to set. Then, they were coated with the frostings for optimal yummy-ness!

DECORATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!! GAH!

Here is where things get amazing! PIPING began! 

I am not someone that does short cuts when I'm going for amazing so I wasn't going to be cheep and print out one of those transferable edible pictures on top of the cake when I have the ability and skill to do it myself and be way more impressive. If you do that, that's just fine but I just couldn't. :)

So, the crests we printed out and piping began. I used frosting coloring gels to color each frosting. Using black for the grey colors (i couldn't quite get pure black sadly but I worked with what I could) and red to make the red frostings. The dark color of the mocha frosting helped getting the dark colors for the Targaryen Family crest so I would advise using a chocolate based frosting if you need to make dark colors. 

To begin, the crests were printed as MIRROR images so that when they were put on the cake they were pointing in the correct direction. These prints were then taped under a sheet of parchment paper and put on a flat surface. I started with the House of Stark because it was less complicated, thus quicker. The outline was laid out in the darker of the grey frosting colors, pictured below. I was very meticulous and used a fine pointed piping tip to get exact lines. Took a bit of time but it was well worth it!

Slow going! 

Almost done!

Once the outline was completely done, it was put in the fridge to set before adding the filler color. And while that set, I worked on the Targaryen crest! And to be frank, that one hurt my hand because it is WAY more complicated than that dierwolf. But so pretty!

LOOK at the detail! It is not perfect but it gets the point across perfectly!

Now for the filling! That, I got a bit sloppy with because as long as the blank spaces are filled, it's all good! I used a brush to push down the frosting in some spots because they were tighter than others and needed some help.

Light grey for the wolf!

Red for the dragon!

Both designs were put in the fridge for a good amount of time (I would suggest an hour if you were to do this but I didn't have that....) while the cakes were iced. Before they were placed on the cake, I added some un-colored frosting to the bottom of the wolf and around the edges of the dragon to aid in stability since there were a lot of pointy details on each of them. This also helped with putting them on the cake because it added some height and girth.

I must say, putting these on the cake was Nerve Racking! I was so scared I was going to drop them or put them on wrong that it took a few breaths before I turned them over and put them on. But thankfully, they were placed on there correctly and I got it on video! So yaaaay!

The parchment paper was NOT removed immediately because the frosting was not cold enough. Both cakes were placed back in the fridge to set and make it easier.

And here is the outcome!

 Both cakes tasted delicious and were a huge hit!

Hope you all enjoyed! if you have any questions/comments/ect. please Please PLEASE leave some, I would LOVE to hear feedback on these babies!

Ta-ta for now!