Saturday, November 27, 2010

Rapunzel Cake

Made for a special 5 year old...a two tier chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling.   
Completely decorated with fondant - all edible...all delicious!




Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Construction Site Cake

This colorful cake was made for a 3 year old's construction party. It's a two tier vanilla cake with strawberry and vanilla buttercream filling. Everything on this cake is edible, including the custom made Digger, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck and Bulldozer.

The safety cone cake topper is made from gumpaste and is completely edible. It stands 6" tall!

The vehicles are made from cereal treats and are covered and decorated in fondant.


The "dirt" is made from brown sugar and cookie crumbles, and the "rocks", "bricks" and "lumber" are made from fondant.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Brachiosaurus Cake



A real technical challenge, but quite fun! This standing Brachiosaurus cake was made for a 4 year old boy's dinosaur party. He requested a realistic, blue, 3D brachiosaurus made from chocolate cake and vanilla buttercream icing. You can read about how this guy was built here.

The Evolution of a Dinosaur Cake!

In taking on a 3D dinosaur cake (or any "standing" animal cake) there is a lot that goes into the cake design, before the cake is even baked! I read information online on how to create leg and neck support using PVC pipes and other items you can find at Home Depot. I didn't want to go that route...I wanted instead to achieve the look of a standing dinosaur in a more creative (and less constructive) way.

First, I started off with a wire hanger, saran wrap, duct tape and 2 pieces of foam board. I shaped the wire hanger into the "neck" of the dinosaur and then taped the base down onto the first piece of foam board. I took the second piece of foam board and cut it in half and glued each half on top of the wire hanger base to make one thick board, with a wire neck coming from the bottom.

(I wish I had a picture of that, but neglected to take one at this stage...)

Next, I tightly wrapped the wire hanger in saran wrap so that no part of the hanger would come in contact with the cake. I covered the foam board in green fondant.

Then I put my cakes (1 10"round on bottom, 2 9" round on top, already filled) right up against the hanger on the board and started carving to shape the dinosaur's back and legs. I used cereal treats to cover the wrapped hanger, making a long neck and head. Next I crumb coated it all in vanilla buttercream.
I used more cereal treats to create a tail and to give more depth to the legs. The birthday boy requested a buttercream iced cake (no fondant) but agreed for fondant facial features. I figured the best way to achieve a clean, realistic face was to use fondant for the skin, eyes and teeth. I shaped and added fondant pieces until I achieved this look...


Then I covered the dinosaur in different shades of blue buttercream and added a piece of black fondant under the belly to give a better appearance to the legs.


I kept playing with the icing and shading until I got the look I wanted. Next I added fondant rocks and bushes and trees to give the illusion that my dinosaur was standing on four legs. You can see my finished Brachiosaurus cake here.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Curious George Cake


This fun cake was made for a 2 year old boy's birthday. The Curious George and Yellow Hat are made from cereal treats and are covered and decorated in fondant. George is about 5-6" tall! The bottom tier is 9" round and the top tier is 8" round chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling and both are covered and decorated in fondant.


Saturday, November 6, 2010

Bouquet of Flowers


I've seen this done before and have wanted to try it for a while. I think it's such a great idea for a pretty cake! 6" round chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream. The "stems" are fondant and the flowers are gumpaste.