Sesame Street/Elmo

I took a project class Saturday for tiered cakes and I was required to make a 10" and a 6" round cake both 4 inches high  to stack in the class. I don't like having that much cake around the house so when my fiance's cousin asked if we could make a cake for her daughter's birthday on Sunday I knew exactly where I was going to send that cake!

My fiance was also taking the tiered cakes class with me and we were going to work together on our cake for class, so I only thought it was fair he helped me with the decorating too. He helped and he was a good sport. He was actually very excited to work with fondant when he realized it was like play-doh and you could make whatever you want out of it.

All decorations for the top tier of the cake and to rest on top of the bottom tier.

Dots for the back of the bottom tier.

Thank goodness I just got a new cookie cutter set to make the letters! I let this harden around the outside of my 6" cake pan for a couple nights so it would be a plaque I could just slide into place.

Balloons! Made from fondant/gumpaste, threaded onto lollipop sticks and held in place with gum glue. I added a glaze that was a mix of equal parts clear vanilla extract and corn syrup to give them that latex shine.

Have to start with smooth, straight sides.

In the class itself, I doweled and stacked the cakes, piped on happy birthday, and piped on E's face with grass tip 233. I put the fondant half-moon shaped mouth down first, piped around it to create a fur texture, then added the fondant eyes and nose.

I also added the dots in class. Just piped a little dot of buttercream on the back and stuck them on. Later after I was home I placed the crayons and  goldfish. On the top tier, I did a sun and clouds with a white bead border tip 10 and stuck in the balloons.

 The plaque fit perfectly. See the little "2" peeking out?

I love the look of the glaze on the balloons!

I cut the goldfish using a cookie cutter out of yellow-orange fondant. Painted a bit of orange food coloring with clear vanilla and used a black food writer.

My fiance did most of the work on the street scene. The lampposts are threaded onto lollipops sticks and We even brushed the globes with the glaze that we used on the balloons to make them glossy.

Final Sketch

Rainbows and Unicorns

Vanilla cake with rainbow layers inside and pink buttercream! I followed this tutorial from Betty Crocker. I added the 2 tsp of cocoa powder to the no-taste red to make it deeper and I used my Wilton gel colors because they are less watery than the regular store food colors.  The stand up cake behind the rainbow is a 6" strawberry cake cut in half.

 

Hand-painted unicorn on fondant. I used a combination of food writer markers and gel food coloring mixed with a bit of clear vanilla  to draw and paint the unicorn. I added shading with pink and purple color dust then went over the whole thing with silver pearl dust.

Fondant rainbow ball border. Roll fondant out 1/4 inch thick, use a medium sized circle cutter, cut each circle in half, then roll each half into a ball.

Fondant: Hearts, Stars, Rainbows, Flowers, Butterflies, Clouds, Name. The stars are threaded on unwrapped floral wire which I went back and hand wrapped with floral wire. The number 4 I cut out and sprayed with silver edible food mist.

I shaped the flowers in small flower formers and put the butterflies in my wavy flower former to give them shape.

Lisa Frank inspired

Final Sketch

"Sweet" 16 Candy Cake

This cake was so fun and easy to make!

I used store bought lollipops, whirly pops, swizzle sticks and gumballs, and add the 16 and name with fondant. The swirls on the fondant are handpainted with food coloring mixed in with clear vanilla extract.

How stinkin' adorable is that sprinkle lollipop?

The cake itself was a 10" round, two layer strawberry cake with white buttercream.

Happy Birthday Steph!

My sister turned 23 and my dad wanted me to make her a cake for her birthday dinner. He sent me a few ideas and this is what I came up with. Cherry Chip cake 8" round 5" high on the bottom, and 6" round 5" high top tier. The bottom is done in white buttercream with pink fondant polka dots, pink happy birthday banner, white gumpaste/fondant daisies with pink centers. The top tier is pink buttercream with white buttercream ribbons topped with a gumpaste/fondant bow. Inside each tier were 3 layers of the cherry chip and buttercream.

Mermaid

My cousin Jaiden turned 4 and wanted a Little Mermaid/under the sea themed party.

I used this under the sea mold for fondant using this idea and then this idea. Dusting the mold with cornstarch/powdered sugar mix, pressing the fondant into the mold, cutting off the extra fondant, repressing it, then flipping it out. I laid each piece on wax paper dusted with more cornstarch and powdered sugar, and let dry for 2 days to harden.

I had extra fondant and Jaiden told me that the cake needed a trident for the king when we were discussing her cake a few days before. I made a trident by rolling yellow fondant into a thin short rope. Then using a rolling pin, I rolled a small amount flat and used a sharp knife cut out the shape of the speared end. Laid the shape over the rope and used the rolling pin to roll everything flat and fuse the 2 pieces together. Then I cut out the king's crown shape and laid it on a curved bottle dusted with corn starch so it would have a rounded shape as it hardened. I dusted everything with pearl dust. White on the yellow, pink, and ivory fondant, green on the teal fondant, purple on the purple, and red on the coral fondant.

See that Flounder? I rolled out another thin sheet of fondant and using food writers, drew out the shape of Flounder by hand. Then I used a small paint brush and dipped it into a small amount of food gel into my palette, added a drop of color and used it to "paint" his light and dark blue stripes on. I could have (should have) used vodka instead of water, since the alcohol evaporates faster; it took a long time to dry. I also made a Sebastian and then Dory and Nemo. Under the sea right?

Detail. The king's trident and crown. Purple shells and a little piping makes Ariel's top. Sebastian and Flounder.

Top tier is chocolate cake. I used the wonder mold pan. I frosted it with a large piping bag and the frosting tip. After it crusted I used a viva paper towel and my hand to smooth out any bumps.

Bottom tier is yellow cake dyed sea green. Its a 12x3 inch round with the heating core.

I used a new frosting recipe that I learned in the Wilton class I'm taking, its too good to share!

Make sure to cut dowels to fit under your top tier. It supports your cake from collapsing and keeps it level. 

I piped on the dark blue water border instead of using the mold just because I was becoming impatient with the process. Used a dot of frosting to adhere the fondant to the cake after it has crusted.

A problem I ran into with using this Ariel doll I found for cheap at walmart, was that from her hips to the bottom of her feet was about 6 inches. The wonder mold pan yields cake that is only 5 inches tall. I had to cut a 2" hole in the bottom of the 8" cake board and thread her feet through the bottom. No biggie. After she was in, I piped her tail using tip 104, let down her hair and positioned her arms.

Disney/Pixar movies always have "Easter Eggs" in them so I thought it would be cute to sneak in Nemo and Dory on the back of the cake.

My sea creatures came out great! The cake was a hit at the party and Jaiden couldn't get over her Mermaid cake!

Hard to believe something that started this sketch came into reality.