I’ve been fortunate to have an herb and vegetable garden for many years now. There was even a time a few years ago that I went pretty viral for planting and harvesting potatoes (more than a few people accused me of faking the whole ordeal which is pretty funny, and a story for another time).
But this year I’ve been getting more and more inspired by the beautiful cakes my friends have been making that have taken advantage of edible foliage. Folks like Erika, Kassie, and Rose have been pushing the boundaries of combining floral arrangements with cake. I’ve been experimenting, too, and I knew that this spring/summer I wanted to delve into the world of growing edible flowers, not just fruits and veggies, so I did just that. I planted a variety of nasturtiums, with their beautiful round leaves and brightly colored flowers, borage with its slightly spooky branches filled with fluorescent indigo blooms, and multiple types of lavender, which needs no introduction.
Everything started blooming a few weeks ago after all the rain here in LA, and when my friend Leon’s birthday came around I knew I wanted to do something to utilize all the beautiful plants I have in the backyard.
Simultaneously I’ve been experimenting (with varying degrees of success) with using gelatin to represent water on various cakes. I made a cake that I wanted to look like bunnies in a natural cedar hot tub, and a marine-themed cheesecake for my childhood friend who just completed her PhD program in marine biology (I don’t have any photos unfortunately).
For Leon’s cake I settled on bringing my outdoors garden indoors. I had a few bunnies leftover from the bunny cake, too, so I thought it would be cute to make a garden scape from the perspective of one of these tiny bunnies, and I have to admit that I am *so* happy with the result. As far as flavors go, Leon requested vanilla, peanut butter, and banana, so I obliged. I ended up making Stella Park’s White Mountain Layer Cake — which tastes like boxed cake mix but x10 — with a touch of extra salt and I folded fresh sliced bananas into the peanut butter Swiss meringue buttercream (recipe for which I’ve included below). The resulting cake was so well balanced and perfectly captured the nostalgia of a peanut butter banana sandwich, but without being “too much.”
You can see how I built the cake in my video on TikTok.
If you want to make your own garden scape cake, here are some of my recommendations:
- Ideally you’ll want to assemble your cake the morning you need it. Often I’ll make and decorate cakes the night before I need them and store them in the refrigerator, but unfortunately the plants on top of your cake will wilt. If you’re okay with this, then that’s fine, but if you’re not…then you’ll want to make sure you schedule your day accordingly.
- Make sure you have enough time to chill your cake for a couple of hours after decorating it. This will ensure that it’s sturdy enough to transport, and that the gelatin in your “lake” or “pond” (if you’re including one) firms up.
- Reserve enough buttercream for the top of the cake. If you’re including a water element, you’ll want to make sure that you reserve a good amount of your buttercream so that you can mound the frosting in order to create a well for the gelatin.
- This maybe goes without saying, but be careful about what plants you include on the cake. Lots of plants are harmful to humans and animals, so I don’t recommend going out to your backyard and picking any old plant or flower to include. Make sure you know what you’re including, and if you’re not sure if it’s edible, I think it’s better to err on the cautious side. Trader Joe’s can be a great place to pick up some edible blooms (again do your research) if you don’t have your own garden.
- This maybe also goes without saying, but make sure you wash the plants that are going on top of your cake. Again, the last thing you want is to make your party guests sick.
- Use a mix of crumbs to get the desired look of your soil. I used Oreos and Nilla wafers, but depending on the look you want to achieve you can also consider graham crackers and other types of crunchy cookies.
And here’s how to make a tiny pond or lake when decorating your cake:
- Prepare some plain gelatin. Sprinkle 1.25 teaspoons plain gelatin to 1 cup of water while whisking with a fork. I use granulated gelatin (leaf-type gelatin is less common in the US, so I don’t have much experience with it unfortunately).
- Let gelatin water mixture stand for about 10 minutes until it’s thickened a bit.
- Microwave gelatin water in 15 second bursts, making sure to keep a close eye on it, until the gelatin has completely dissolved, but before the mixture boils at all (excessive heat can damage gelatin’s ability to gel). Remove from the microwave, add a tiny bit of honey or maple syrup (optional), mix, and let cool to room temperature.
- Dye the gelatin with food coloring, to your liking — you’ll only need a tiny bit to achieve the color on my cake.
- Make a well in your buttercream on top of the cake, making sure the sides are sturdy so the gelatin doesn’t spill out.
- Add the rest of your decorations.
- Add the gelatin and carefully transfer the fully decorated cake to the fridge to chill.
Peanut Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer
- 1 food thermometer
Ingredients
- 170 g boxed egg whites or from 5-6 eggs
- 300 g brown sugar
- 1 tsp Diamond brand kosher salt half as much if using table salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 565 g unsalted butter 5 sticks, softened to about 65°F
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 170 g smooth peanut butter*
Instructions
- Fill a wide pot with at least 1 1/2 inches of water, with a thick ring of crumpled tinfoil placed on the bottom to act as a "booster seat" that will prevent the bowl from touching the bottom of the pot. Place over high heat until steaming-hot, then adjust temperature to maintain a gentle simmer. Combine 170 g boxed egg whites, 300 g brown sugar, 1 tsp Diamond brand kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer** (see notes for an important caveat!).
- Set over steaming water, stirring and scraping constantly with a flexible spatula, until egg whites hold steady at 185°F. This usually takes about 15 minutes, but if it's taking longer you can turn up the heat. Once ready, transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip at high speed about 10 minutes, until meringue is glossy, stiff, and the outside of the bowl is cool to the touch.
- With mixer still running, add butter, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time. Initially, the volume of the meringue will decrease dramatically; it may even seem soupy along the way, but as the cool butter is added, the mixture will begin to thicken and cool. In the end, buttercream should be thick, creamy, and soft but not runny, around 72°F. Mix in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 170 g smooth peanut butter* on low speed until well combined.
- Use buttercream right away, or transfer to a large zipper-lock bag, press out the air, and seal. Buttercream can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks and frozen for up to several months. (The main issue with longer storage in the freezer is odor absorption, not spoilage.) Rewarm to 72°F and re-whip before using.
- Troubleshooting: If warmer than 74°F (23°C), the buttercream will be soft and loose; pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and re-whip to help it thicken and cool. If colder than 68°F (20°C), the buttercream will be firm and dense, making it difficult to spread over cakes and slow to melt on the tongue, creating a greasy mouthfeel; to warm, briefly set over a pan of steaming water, just until you see the edges melting slightly, then re-whip to help it soften and warm. More troubleshooting info can be found on Serious Eats (linked in the notes).