Babee Shower Cake

Let's get started!

Fondant Prep

1. Work with fondant on wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar.
2. For the bee bodies, roll the yellow fondant into 1 inch oval balls. Roll out the black fondant to 1/8 inch thick and cut out strips 1/8 inch wide and 3 inches long. Attach to the bee bodies using water. 
3. For the wings, roll out the white fondant to 1/8 inch thick and cut out small teardrops with the teardrop cookie cutter. Once hardened attach 2 wings to each bee body.
4. Draw eyes and eyelashes on each bee with a black FoodWriter pen.
5. Set aside to harden.

Let's get started!

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottoms of three 6-inch round cake pans with rounds of parchment paper and heavily grease the paper.
2. Make the honey cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and honey until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Beat in the vanilla.
6. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes.
8. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Level off the tops of 2 cakes with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife; leave the third cake unleveled.

Time to decorate!

1. Scoop 1/4 cup of the frosting into a small bowl and tint black, then scoop into a decorating bag fitted with a #12 tip. Tint the remaining frosting yellow and scoop a small amount into a decorating bag fitted with a #12 tip for step 8. Scoop the remaining yellow frosting into a decorating bag fitted with a #809 tip (you may have to refill it, depending on the size of your decorating bag).
2. Stack the cakes with thin layers of yellow buttercream frosting in between the layers and the unleveled cake on top.
3. Freeze the cake for 15 minutes to harden.
4. Using a serrated knife, carve the cake into a beehive shape.
5. Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Pipe a door with black frosting.
7. Pipe horizontal stripes of yellow frosting around the cake, starting from the bottom and working to the top, making a beehive texture.
8. Using the decorating bag fitted with a #12 tip, pipe a border around the doorway.
9. Place the bees on the cake.