The Princess Cake

My most challenging cake yet was the princess cake I made this weekend.  It was for my second cousin who was having her 3rd birthday.

The cake was a two tier creation, all in purple, pink and white. Since my cousin wanted fondant and gumpaste elements, I had to being working a week in advance.  Actually, I began on Monday night and that gave me plenty of time to complete things.  On Monday night, I created the gumpaste  bow, which turned out pretty well.  I used a mixture of white gumpaste (I bought the mix) and very hot pink Satin Ice fondant.  The blend made it a nice color -a bubblegum pink.

The next night I constructed the crown.  I read on a website to make two, just in case one breaks, so I made two.  Luckily, the first one never broke. This photo was taken after the crowns were dry enough to remove their "stablizers" which turned out to be a vase for one and a can of bread crumbs covered in wax paper for the other.  I greased both of these well with shortening before wrapping the crowns around to dry.  That way they slipped off easily.  The bow is also here as well.  I stuffed it with tissue to help it keep it's shape while drying.

I made other elements out of gumpaste and fondant - including small crowns, fondant balls for a border, stars and a scepter for the topper.  I painted all of it with a mixture of luster dust and vodka and let it dry for a few days.

I also made a nameplate for the front of the bottom tier.  This was a slight challenge because since it was going on a curved cake, I'd have to dry it on a curve.  I searched the house looking for something (other than the cake pans) that measured 9 inches around.  Luckily, a tin of popcorn my son had worked perfectly.  I covered it in wax paper and laid the nameplate on to dry. The name and decoration was done in edible marker.

The cake was just three 9-inch rounds for the bottom and two 6-inch rounds for the top.  All was iced in a violet purple frosting.  I put all decoration on each layer (minus the crown and scepter) and boxed them up.  I would wait to assemble them until the party.

On a whim, I decided to make a figure of the birthday girl.  This was my first attempt at figure making, but I'm quite pleased with the results.  Unfortunately, as soon as I finished the figure, I realized there was no place for her on the cake anywhere -not the board, the top or the sides.  So, I figured I would have to make a mini-cake for the birthday girl where I could put her little figure.  After speaking with her grandmother, I learned that she's quite obsessed with their dachshund Missy, so I added a dachshund figure that would stand on the board and "beg" for cake.

Here is the result:

And finally, the Princess Cake.  Assembly was quick.  The crown went on perfectly, but - the bow was a bit big.  This was my first bow attempt, so now I know that I don't need a bow with loops quite as wide for a cake like this.  Oh well - it still turned out okay I think.

Other elements on this cake are edible pearls for the crown points that I found at Ross Dress for Less of all places!  I love these pearls and have used them over and over.  I have them in about 6 colors.

Overall, it turned out very well and my customers were pleased.

Scarlett O' Hara Cake

I was also commissioned to make my mother-in-law's birthday cake last weekend.  And since she's a huge fan of Gone with the Wind, I decided to do something based on that theme.  I had a few very big ideas, but since the party was going to be pretty small,  I decided to do something on a smaller scale.  After a few Google image searches, I was inspired to make a doll cake and turn her into Miss Scarlett.

I had to buy the Wilton Wonder Mold pan for this, but I figure I will use it again for other things.  I then found a doll which looked as much like Scarlett as was possible.  Apparently they don't make doll picks with dark hair and green eyes.  And I wasn't about to invest in a full sized Scarlett doll.

Dressing her torso was a bit of a challenge, as I don't sew and wasn't sure how to even begin putting on her "fondant clothing."   I wrapped her in fondant, and then cut away the excess.  For the ruffly collar, I simply took a circle cutter and cut a few circles. Then I made a hole in the center and gently stretched it with my finger and then over her head.  I rippled it where needed.  I did three layers like this, stretching them to make them look layered.

For the skirt, after icing the cake, I rolled out strips of white fondant, then placed them onto the cake one strip at a time.  I also creased them as needed with the side of my hand and folded under any ragged looking edges. I found that it gave the cake a very nice look.

Once all of the fondant skirt was on, I then took my tiniest paintbrush and with a mixture of vodka and Leaf green gel color, I hand painted all the little botanical elements on her dress.  I have to say that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The brush was quite small and so it was fairly easy to do intricate designs.

Finally, I attached the hat and I did use the same green ribbon around her waist.  I know that I could have done fondant here, but I was all out of green.

Here she is:

Foo Fighters Drummer Cake

This weekend I was challenged to make THREE cakes!  And I took this one on pretty late in the week.  However, I must say that it turned out quite nicely.

The recipient is a drummer in a local band and one of the Foo Fighter's biggest fans. So, his wife and I came up with a concept that would include both drums and the FF logo.  I found the logo online and created a template for myself.  I cut out a six inch circle of red fondant and drew the logo on with edible marker using my stencil to outline it, then filling it in.  Once on the cake, I added silver dragees to give it a better look. Although dragees are elegant, they're also pretty rock and roll too, I think.

I made the little drums out of krispy treats and then covered them with fondant. The sides of the drums are marbled fondant made by putting a few drops of black food coloring onto white fondant and not blending all the color in. I used edible marker to make accents on the drums.  I made tiny drumsticks out of tan fondant.

Surprisingly, this was my very first sheet cake. I've shied away from them, because I feel like they're more difficult to remove from the pan - being an awkward rectangular shape.  I know that they probably seem like the easiest cake there is, but I was intimidated.  And, although the cake came out like a dream (thanks to Baker's Joy which IS truly a joy) icing the corners of a sheet cake is a pain! A MAJOR pain!  I had so much trouble with it, it drove me insane.  Will have to work on that some more.

Will post the other two cakes soon!

Here are the results: