Graduation Centerpiece Cake

Instructions

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1. - Prepare cake batter following recipe instructions to bake in a 9x13-inch pan, then cool completely on a cooling grid. Repeat with two more 9x13-inch cakes until you have three cakes.
2. - Level the cakes to even heights with flat tops using a cake leveler. Then, cut the cakes in half lengthwise.
3. - Separate 2-3 cups of buttercream frosting. Tint this 2-3 cup portion with Black Gel Food Coloring and leave the remaining portion the natural/white buttercream color. Prepare two decorating bags, one fitted with Decorating Tip #32, and the other fitted with Decorating Tip #789. Divide the black frosting between the two bags and set aside.
4. - Layer cake on two overlapping cake boards starting with two of the pieces arranged next to each other to create one long cake layer. Use a spatula and white frosting to ice top layer smooth and stack with next layer. Continue icing and adding layers until you have a three-layer cake.
5. - Add a white crumb coat layer and let it dry before adding a thick layer of white frosting. Smooth with the Stainless Steel Icing Smoother until very smooth on the top and sides.
6. - Prepare Candy Melts decorations on wax paper. Melt Candy Melts, one color at a time, according to package directions. Place melted candy into a decorating bag and snip off the tip. Pipe the following designs onto a large piece of wax paper (Tip: you may want to make multiple of each so you have several to choose from and in case any break when removing from the wax paper), then allow to cool completely: a. Black mortarboards b. White diplomas c. Red tassels on the mortarboards and red bows on the diplomas after they have dried
7. - Using the prepared decorating bag fitted with Decorating Tip #32 (star tip), add a border around the bottom edge of the cake with asymmetrical, alternating swirls all the way around. Fill in any gaps with stars.
8. - Using the prepared decorating bag fitted with Decorating Tip #789 (oversized basketweave tip), create asymmetrical and funky swirls on top of the cake.
9. - Spray the cake and frosting with Edible Glitter Spray (if using both Gold and Silver, spray each color separately and randomly alternating them).
10. - Add random sections of the different sprinkles assortment from the 6-Cell Metallic Sprinkles Mix to the top of the cake over the swirl and onto the white surface, as well as lightly over the bottom border. Sprinkle Edible Glitter Stars (Gold and/or Silver) evenly over the top of the cake and onto the bottom border.
11. - Carefully remove the dried Candy Melts decorations from the wax paper. Add the Candy Melts mortarboards and diplomas randomly on top of the cake along with the star and shooting stars icing decorations.