I got the assignment of making refreshments for a Young Women event that was themed around princesses and castles. I knew from my sister that you could easily make a castle cake like this (photo taken from www.bettycrocker.com):
The problem is, this cake isn't very accessible to eat. It's three layers of 8 x 8, topped with 3 layers of 4 x 4, topped with 3 layers of 2 x 2, topped with a sugar cone to make the center spire. I would have to make a separate cake to make sure every girl got refreshments.So I decided I should do a 9 x 13 cake. But I also wanted to make sure I had something that would look good. So I kept looking for other designs. And I found this one (photo taken from picsicio.us):
It works. And the towers add a lot (photo taken from www.thebamboosprouts.com).
Of course, the photo didn't have instructions with it, so I wasn't sure how many layers the cake was . . . but I made three cakes, since I figured that was how many we would want to eat overall.The first layer of cake. I cut out the corners so the ice cream cones would fit.
I also discovered that it is almost impossible to get a 9 x 13 cake out of the pan without it breaking. Especially if I make it to be a super moist cake. So I cut it in half.Layer 2:
Clearly, two layers is not enough, so I stacked all three.
The filling is raspberry jam that we made as a YW activity last month. I thought it was overly sweet for bread, but perfect for cake.
Here it is after 1 lb of powdered sugar. There's even a side that's not covered. Isn't that disgusting? As I cut the cake later, the frosting just fell off one side.
There is a reason to do a crumb coat. Here's the cake after its 2nd coat of frosting (another pound of powdered sugar)--much more elegant. Yes, it did end up a kind of weird color.
And then I added another half pound of powdered sugar with decorations! (Can you tell I don't generally like frosting?)
Top view:
Side view:
I filled in spots with more frosting.
And here's the finished product at the event. (The young woman who took this picture also posted it to Facebook from her phone, right then.) 
In case you're wondering, it tasted good, too. (Except for the frosting.)