Check out the chocolate confection that I made last week for an inauguration party. It was a delicious ending to a sweet afternoon with friends. And the big day was an excuse for me to play with a book I've been excited to use — Stencil 101. Stencil king Ed Roth of Stencil 1 shares his designs in the book – with simple instructions and project ideas for how to stencil anything from your walls to your windows. Sadly, my landlord is anti-stencil so I'll have to hold off on many of the decorating ideas for now. The book is a great deal since it comes with 25 stencils for you to tear out and use. And let me just share that there are very few U.S. sources for modern stencils — why has Martha's craft line not delved into stencils yet?
I chose the turntable stencil and opted against frosting, since I thought chocolate cake in the afternoon was rich enough. I simply sifted some confectioner's sugar over the cake using my stencil shape. The book highlights a frosted cake with a cocoa powder stencil, which stands out just as well. My cake was a hit! And full-disclosure: I was super pinched for time so I opted for a mix I had in my pantry. I used Barefoot Contessa's Ultimate Chocolate Cake Mix and it turned out moist and yum. Dan typically doesn't dig cake, but he loved it. So I'm thinking of making a cake for the Superbowl, with a different stencil, of course. Maybe I'll go with the Sumo wrestler stencil just for fun. (Plus, Sumo would probably turn out a bit better than the Turntable stencil — I'd go with a stencil with less detail next time for a cake, which the book recommends.)
