ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — /swah-rey/

Want to see something impressive? How about a talented chef icing a vintage cake.

Stacks of cakes have the perfect amount of icing in between them.

And the outside of the cake is all crispy lines and perfect form.

Kate Bates is the talented chef who tried pass on some of her skills.

I’ll just say this: Icing a cake is super nerve-wracking.

At one point I was balancing the entire cake on the palm of my hand, trying to lightly smoosh fine French chocolate chips onto the sides of the cake.

And then when we were dripping the ganache, you only have one shot to make it look cool.

How much ganache makes a drip look good?

How many drips and how close together?

Bates eyes it – gorgeously.

I continue to be a nervous wreck.

God bless our bakers.

Cookie Dough Buttercream

Ingredient

2 lbs. Salted Butter, softened to room temperature

3 cups packed Light Brown Sugar

4.5 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

2 tbsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and brown sugar.

Gradually add sifted powdered sugar, scrape sides of bowl, and mix to combine.

Add Vanilla extract.

Use while soft.

Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip

Ingredients

8 oz. semisweet chocolate

1 cups heavy (whipping) cream

2 tbsp. corn syrup

Directions

Heat cream and corn syrup to a simmer, just before boiling.

Pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Use hot ganache to drip on to a thoroughly chilled cake.