Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

This weekend was a busy one. One of my best friend's sister was in town and it was her birthday. She loves strawberries and even though it's the middle of winter, I decided to make her a strawberry vanilla birthday cake. But with only two hours to bake in between lunch dates and shopping with the hubby, I whipped this cake up.

The cake was inspired by Martha Stewart's strawberry cupcakes. I used the roses I made in my Wilton class this previous week. I used my favorite buttercream, Swiss Meringue buttercream! The Whisk Kid has a great step-by-step tutorial on how to make swiss meringue buttercream. It is daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is a versatile frosting to work with. It pipes great on cupcakes and very easy to ice a cake with.

In the end, I was not very pleased with the rushed job, it could have looked prettier but the birthday girl was very happy and loved it!