A few words about the cake - Nancy sent a photo of her inspiration cake, a fondant-covered cake that looked like a baby's onesie. The inspiration cake had little nautical flags on the bib. Nancy asked for jungle animals. I'm not an expert at fondant-covered cakes, so I told Nancy I'd be happy to do it in buttercream with fondant decorations. The cake was a black-and-white marble cake, the marble made with two batches of a white cake recipe marbled with one recipe of dark chocolate fudge cake. I let the BIG cake cool overnight and carved its shape the next day. I made a sketch indicating just where I needed to cut away, and did just that. I crumb-coated the sides and top and allowed that to sit for a few hours to make sure the crumbs stayed contained, which is important when you're frosting raw, crust-free edges. I liberally frosted it in a pretty periwinkle blue, and smoothed out the surface with a paper towel (great trick!) and a fondant smoother. Then I started to make defined marks on the cake with a skewer and other gadgets (like a fondant wheel). I loaded up my pastry bag and added shell borders. The bib, jungle animals, and buttons were all shaped with fondant that I colored, molded, and even painted (with paste food coloring). I loved making this cake for Erin's new little bundle, and I am thrilled that it got such great reviews, not only for its appearance, but also for its flavor. Here is the Onesie cake:
The other cake I made for Saturday was for my great-nephew Carriag's 4th birthday party. Carraig's mom, Emily, told me Carraig really wanted a tuba cake. OK. A first, but who's to deny a 4-year old the cake of his dreams? Not me! So, I looked up images of tubas all over the internet, got a bit of inspiration, and made this cake -- in true family fashion, chocolate on chocolate! -- as well as cupcakes for one of the cutest and sweetest little guys in the world! Here are Carraig's cupcakes and dream cake:
Hope you've enjoyed seeing these cakes as much as I enjoyed telling you about them!
