Black and White Cake

I made this cake for my cousin Ashley's 21st birthday (man, do I feel old). She had a black and white themed party, and the cake was a big hit. This was a cool project for me because I got to a) transport it all the way to Yorba Linda and b) actually eat it! The cake made the drive no problem (that non-slip shelf liner is magic!) I molded the "2" and "1" out of fondant, then attached toothpicks to the bottoms and let them dry overnight. The fondant bow was probably my best one yet, although I found out the hard way that it was too heavy to mount it on the side of the cake. Luckily, when you bake for family they are pretty forgiving. The bow looked just as cute resting on the bottom tier. And lucky it was tasty and no one really even noticed. I get to eat my cupcakes all the time, but I never actually get a slice of layer cake, so this was kind of exciting. And since they picked my favorite raspberry filling, it was an even bigger treat. The top layer was red velvet cake with strawberry and Bavarian cream. And the bottom layer was white cake with raspberry and Bavarian cream. Both pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. Although I have to admit, that it's kind of a bummer to watch someone cut into your artwork. Occupational hazard, I guess. Another hazard I learned from this project: that you should wear gloves when tinting fondant black, and that it takes 3 days for your palms to not be purple if you don't. Fellow bakers take note!