Sweetapolita's Inside-Out (Mini) Neapolitan Cake

Isn't this sweet? I made this mini cake with 4.5 inch springform fans for a dear friend of mine for her 30th birthday. I wanted to make something special so I thought I'd tackle a three-buttercream recipe. I was inspired from the cover of the latest cookbook from Miette (I just adore the bare edges) but mainly from Sweetapolita.

It was harder to make than I thought because I didn't level the layers of cake properly so one of them was at an angle, and it seemed to me like the cake would tip over.

This cake ended up being a bit of an investment because of the springform pans, but I'm so glad I purchased them because I am always looking for a way to indulge my friends and I think a mini-tiered cake is the perfect way.

I'll be honest. This recipe has completely changed the way I feel about buttercream. I love it now. This buttercream recipe is to die for. And you can play with it to produce strawberry, vanilla and chocolate buttercream as you see here.

Sweetapolita's Cinnabon-style cinnamon rolls

Listen, if you are on a diet, don't make these. Because there is absolutely no way you can exercise portion control if you get a whiff. Maybe you will have the self control to devour only half of one after pulling them out of the oven and smearing on the frosting.  You'd be forgiven for ripping off a piece and swallowing it whole. Indeed.

Martha Stewart's Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

I'm always on the lookout for great-tasting frosting, which pipes well, and isn't necessarily buttercream. I was in a bind one afternoon when I realized I had to make a quick frosting. 

I needed to take photos of our Famous 'Stache Movember cupcake toppers and wrappers for our Etsy shop Frost and Fete (see the entire set here) but I didn't want to waste all my butter on making buttercream I didn't even like.

I quickly rifled through my well-loved edition of Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" and found something I hoped, and prayed would work out. The photo in the book didn't reveal whether it would pipe beautifully or if it was just one of those slather and smear frostings.

Fortunately for me this honey-cinnamon frosting came together just beautifully, piped easily, and to top it all off -- it's delicious. Normally I don't dedicate an entire post to frosting, but this one is a winner and this post jumped to the front of the line. If you don't like honey, you might find this a bit strong and a bit too sweet, but that's how I like it.

Also, you'll need a touch more food colouring than you're used to because this frosting is not snow-white but if you use the good quality colouring you'll be fine.