Love and Peace Cakes

Makes 12 servings

Feeling groovy? Then start smashing sugar. While it sounds a bit aggressive, smashed sugar actually creates a very mellow look.

• Love Cake: 1 recipe Perfect Cake Mix (see recipe) made with French vanilla cake mix, baked in two 8-inch square pans for 25 to 30 minutes
• or
• Peace Cake: 1 recipe Perfect Cake Mix (see recipe) made with devil’s food cake mix, baked in two 8-inch round pans for 25 to 30 minutes
• For each cake
• 1 can (16 ounces) plus ½ cup vanilla frosting
• Yellow, green, red, neon pink, and neon blue food coloring (McCormick)
• 1 can (16 ounces) dark chocolate frosting
• 2 cups coarse white decorating sugar (Wilton)
• ¾ cup assorted round candy-coated chocolates (Sixlets; optional)

1 Spoon ¼ cup of the vanilla frosting into each of 4 small bowls for the Love Cake or 5 small bowls for the Peace Cake. Tint each bowl a different color with the food coloring: neon pink, neon blue, bright green (mixing yellow and green), and orange (mixing yellow and red), plus yellow for the Peace Cake. Spoon each color into a separate freezer-weight ziplock bag. Spoon ½ cup untinted vanilla frosting into a freezer-weight ziplock bag. Spoon ½ cup dark chocolate frosting into a freezer-weight ziplock bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bags.

2 Trim the top of each cake level (see On the Level). Place 1 cake layer, trimmed side up, on a cardboard cut to fit (see Getting on Base). Spread some of the remaining chocolate frosting on top of the cake. Place the second cake layer, trimmed side down, on top, pressing to level. Spread a thin crumb coating of the remaining chocolate frosting (see Got Crumbs?) on the sides of the cake, filling any gaps, and smooth. Spread a thin crumb coating of the remaining vanilla frosting on top of the cake and smooth. Place the cake in the freezer until set, about 30 minutes.

3 Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Place the decorating sugar in a large bowl. Place the chilled cake on the cookie sheet. Spread the sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate frosting and smooth. Gently press handfuls of the sugar onto the sides of the frosted cake to cover completely (see Smashed Sugar). Brush the excess sugar back into the bowl (if desired, leave the sides unsugared). Using a large spatula, transfer the cake on its cardboard base to a serving platter.

4 For the Love Cake, Download the template from http://www.hmhbooks.com/cupcakes/templates/cmd/love.pdf and print at 200 percent to fit the top of your cake. Mark the template design in the frosting using a toothpick to score the outline of the letters. Snip a small (⅛-inch) corner from the bag of chocolate frosting. Pipe a thin line around the edge of the top of the cake. Then pipe a thin line from the center of the top edge to the bottom and another line from the center of the left edge to the right, dividing the top into quarters. Now pipe the outline of the letters that are scored in the frosting. Fill in each letter with one of the 4 tinted frostings.

5 For the Peace Cake, use a toothpick to score a circle in the frosting 1 inch in from the edge of the cake to make a border. Score a 1-inch-wide strip down the center, top to bottom. Then score a 1-inch-wide strip from the center to the 4 o’clock position and another to the 8 o’clock position to create the peace sign. Snip a small (⅛-inch) corner from each bag of frosting. Using the chocolate frosting, pipe around the edge of the cake. Then pipe the scored outline of the peace sign on top of the cake. Fill in the peace sign with irregular spots of the 5 tinted frostings, alternating the colors.

6 For either cake, use the bag of untinted vanilla frosting to pipe frosting in the white areas of the design. Sprinkle the top of the cake with a generous layer of the remaining sugar. Using an offset spatula, gently press the sugar into the frosting to cover completely and level. Use a clean pastry brush to remove the excess sugar from the top of cake and the serving platter (any damaged spots on the cake can be repaired with some frosting and sugared again, if necessary).

7 Optional: Pipe a line of chocolate frosting around the base of the cake and attach the candy-coated chocolates.