The first layer turned out awesome. Level, pretty pink, nice and moist. But, dense enough to hold the next layer and the waterfall. The second layer was another story.
When I make white cake I use the Wilton Meringue Powder instead of egg whites for two reasons: first, I hate wasting all those egg yolks. And when I'm making layer cakes for someone, I use 2 cake mixes for each layer. So, that's six yolks I have to waste. I've tried freezing them, but I still end up wasting them.
Second, the powder makes the cake really white and really dense. It also gives it a little "zip" which goes great with a champagne filing. Shh. It's a "Michele Secret". The powder gives it a nice moist consistency and helps it stay level. It's also faster to measure out 6 tsp of Meringue Powder and 6 Tbsp of water than it is to crack and separate 3 eggs for each mix. (AND, it keeps the sprinkles in "funfetti" cake from bleeding and turning the cake gray.)
So, that's why the first layer turned out awesome. It was white cake with a few drops of red food coloring to make it pink. I used the Meringue Powder and it was perfect. Unfortunately, it was after 10 PM when I made the second layer, and I ran out of Meringue Powder. Michaels was closed, and I wasn't driving two miles to Walmart at night just for 6 tsp of Meringue Powder. Plus, I like to use the coupons from Michaels, makes things affordable for a college student.
Instead of Meringue Powder, I used egg whites for half the needed eggs. And one egg yolk; it popped out of the shell when I opened it and broke when it hit the batter.Well, those egg whites made a huge difference in the cake. It was super scrumptious, but it was also so moist that when I turned it out of the pan onto a cooling rack, it all but crumbled. I couldn't use it.
I was tired and a little frustrated now. So, I called it a night, and watched TV. When I woke up this morning, I decided to attempt a made-from-scratch white cake recipe I found online (link posted in the links list on the right near the bottom). It turned out pretty well, even though it wasn't really white. More, tan. I did like that it turned out nice and level, though. Might have to play with the recipe a bit to make it more of a true "white" cake. However, weirdly, I added red food coloring and the cake went in pink, and came out tan. So, I don't know what happened there. Make sure you read some of the comments. They give some tips in there that really make the cake better. The only thing I didn't like was that the entire outside was crunchy. I made a second one and it also turned out very crunchy, but the inside is flaky and moist.
So, overall the cake turned out. The top layer, although white, wasn't that bad. Everyone loved both layers. I used buttercream frosting. My favorite recipe is the kitchen aid recipe that came with my mixer, with one change, I double the recipe and replace half the butter with shortening so it won't harden so much. I used piping gel to create the water and waterfall, I used a 6" circle to make the hill the waterfall came from. I also used graham crackers to make the sandy beaches.
Although it's not what I had pictured, I was so worried about the top layer, that this is what it turned out to be:
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