HOT TUB REGGIE

My challenge was to create a homage birthday cake for one of my best friends that encompassed his personality - 30, black, gay, political, and temporarily unemployed. After much consideration and significant research in the 3-D cake world, the idea took hold: Hot Tub Reggie.

Supplies 2 eight inch round pans
Mini ball pan
Tips 45, 3, 24
Blue and Red dye
1 can each Vanilla, Milk Chocolate, and Dark Chocolate icing
Tube of Black Decorating Icing
Cookie Stick
Champagne Bottles Candles
Champagne Glass
Candy Hearts Large and Small Blue and White Gumballs

Super-Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup hot black coffee
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 375É. Prepare the cake pans by rubbing insides with shortening, sprinkling a little flour into the greased pan and shaking the pan until coated evenly with flour, and then emptying out excess flour.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until well blended.

Bake at 375É for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean and dry.

	Step #1 Bake two 8" chocolate cakes from the recipe above. Halve the recipe and bake several Mini Ball cakes to make one good round ball (they can be tricky to remove from the pan in tact so you'll want to make extra). Cool the cakes on wire racks.
	Step #2 Brush or rub off all loose crumbs from cake. To protect cake plate while frosting, cut a large square of heavy waxed paper into four triangles. Arrange these on the plate to cover the outer area. (Let triangles extend beyond the edge of plate, leaving a center square of the plate uncovered.) Place cake in position on these papers, ready to frost.

Step #3 For the layer cake, spread the Dark Chocolate frosting smoothly on one layer, then adjust second layer so that edges are even and cake is uniform in height. Ice sides of layer cake with Milk Chocolate frosting and top with Vanilla that has been dyed light blue.

	Step #4 Pipe tip 45 vertical stripes with Milk Chocolate frosting on sides of layer cake. Pipe tip 3 bands horizontally on top and bottom of layer cake with Black Decorating Icing.
	Step #5 Assemble Head by securing halves with Dark Chocolate frosting and then cover with Dark Chocolate frosting. Place Head on cake and secure with a cookie stick to keep in place. Dye a small amount of Vanilla frosting for mouth. Use another cookie stick to decorate face with Vanilla frosting, Black Decorating Icing, and the dyed red frosting. Pipe tip 24 to create stars for hair.
	Step #6 Position gumballs on cake with dots of icing. Remove waxed paper triangles from underneath cake.
	Step #7 Position champagne glass with red candy hearts on top of cake. Secure champagne bottles around base of cake with drops of melted wax.

Step #8 Voila!

All of the supplies you need can be purchased at:
NY Cake Supplies 56 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010
(212) 675-2253