Monday, March 14, 2011

My first wedding cake...

I never thought I would actually do a wedding cake...been kind of caught up in the birthday cake thing I guess.  My friend Brooke asked me to help out with her sister's cake, so of course how could I refuse?  A chance to try something new! 

The idea for this cake was nothing like how it turned out.  It was supposed to be just frosting with some decorative waves/lines on the sides and flowers on each level.
After a couple hours trying to achieve the right look, we made a group decision to go with fondant.  Brooke rushed off to the store before it closed and managed to get fondant ingredients just in time.  Brooke prepared the fondant while I covered the layers and in two hours time we had done both cakes and cleaned up the evidence (as documented by this picture). 


By this time, the frosting had gotten a little warm so it was difficult to get it perfectly shaped.  I had to put it in the fridge overnight and reshape in the morning.  I can't say this was my most perfect fondant as I did have some wrinkles around the back of the large tier and the tall cake.  I probably could have worked them out, but we decided not to spend more time on it (it was already 1am) since they were going to be covered with flowers.  In the end, Brooke and her family decided to wrap some pretty ribbon around the bases, pin them together with boutonniere pins and place the flowers on the tops only.  I really like how it turned out though....very clean and simple, but elegant at the same time.  I can now say I've done a wedding cake and add that to my resume.  I would love to take on some more cakes just like this and learn even more techniques/styles for wedding cakes.        
The tiered cake was made from Rice Krispie treats.  We used a small glass bowl in the top tier and formed the treat around the bowl.  It created a nice spot to place the flowers on the top.  Being that it was a Rice Krispie treat cake, it would have been hard to poke the flowers in otherwise.  The small cake, which was for the bride/groom is made out of vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.  The flowers were inserted right into the fondant to hold them in place.                                                       




Monday, March 7, 2011

Duran Duran cake (for contest)

To say I am a HUGE Duran Duran fan it an understatement, so when I saw they were having an art contest for a chance to win concert tickets and meet and greet passes, I couldn't pass it by.  Hours spent slaving over a cake would be worth it!


I have to say, I'm really proud of this cake.  This is the first fondant cake I have done from start to finish that has been all my design.  The art piece had to be something based on their latest album (above), which is how I came up with some of the design

One of the first ideas I had was pretty easy because of a song titled "The man who stole a leopard".  I wasn't quite sure how to make these spots at first, but figured out an easy way.  I just flattened out a piece of black, added a flattened piece of brown to the top and then rolled over them with a small rolling pin.  It helped mesh them together nicely.



I also thought it would be really cool to add a record to the top to help symbolize the 80's, the decade I started listening to the group.  I used a small basting brush to help make the grooves in the record.  It was hard to get them to show up in the photo, but it looked really neat in person.



The band member silhouettes were actually one of my first ideas.  I found the silhouettes online and used Photoshop to make them the right size.  I printed them out, traced them onto wax paper, cut them out and placed them onto black fondant.  I then cut around the shapes with a sharp knife.  I used gumtex in the fondant to help make them stronger.  I also found that dipping the tip of the knife into water helped make a nice, neat line around the shapes.


I definitely couldn't leave out the well known DD symbol, which I also printed/traced onto wax paper.  The eye represents a song called "Being Followed" and the raindrops are for a song "Before the Rain".  This was my first rope and it probably could have been much better if I had more time.  I will have to work on that a little bit.


Here is the end result...The top layer is a Cocoa Krispie treat cake.  My 2 year old is allergic to wheat and eggs so I wanted to make him something he could eat as well.
The bottom layer is dark chocolate cake with chocolate frosting...yummy!!!


I have submitted the cake into the contest...  Voting begins on March 15th and ends March 28th....I will post the link when it becomes available.

If you would like to help me win....THANK YOU!!!!


**I didn't win...came in #14 or something like that.  Someday, I WILL meet them...somehow.