New Orleans Saints Cake

Every fall I get a bunch of family requests for New Orleans Saints themed cakes.  Here is one for Evan.

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First thing I made for this cake was the fleur-de-lis for the Saints's logo.  I cut the gold section using Satin Ice Gold Shimmer fondant.  The shimmer fondant is not as sparkly as fondant painted with gold luster dust mixed with alcohol, but the shimmer fondant looked fine on this cake.

For the black section of the Fleur-de-lis logo I used black Fondarific fondant, and for the white sections I used Renshaw fondant.  (I have been testing white fondants again since my goto fondant - Mona Lisa - was discontinued.  That was a sad, sad, day.)

Here is the Fleur-de-lis all cut out and the three colors of fondant stacked.  It is not perfect, but hey, it is just cake!

For the distinctive "Saints" lettering I used a paper template cut from an actual logo, and for the "New Orleans" portion I used FMM Block Alphabet Tappits.

For the strips on the cake I cut out strips of black and shimmer gold and placed them on my buttercream frosted cake.  The toothpicks mark where the circular logo will be placed.

I put a black circle of fondant in the center so my logo would be at the same height as the stripes.

I purchased a little plastic Saint's quarterback player for the top of the cake, and used a bit of white fondant for a base.  The base kept the guy from flipping over and also kept the non-food safe plastic from touching the edible parts of the cake.

For the jersey I used a cookie cutter to cut out the shape.  For the "BREES" lettering I used mini push letters I found at Hobby Lobby, and painted the depression with gold lust dust mixed with vodka.  The large "9" on the jersey is the FMM Magical Alphabet Tappits. 

For the footballs I used a sports ball mold, and added the white strips after I removed the fondant ball from the mold.  So here is the finished cake - I hope Evan likes it.

Happy Decorating,

Carol


Supply List: 

Satin Ice Gold Shimmer fondant
Roxy & Rich Gold luster dust
Black Fondarific fondant
Renshaw white fondant
FMM Block Alphabet Tappits
FMM Magical Alphabet Tappits
Plastic Saint's quarterback player
Anne Clark jersey cookie cutter
Sports ball mold

LOL Surprise Bon Bon - in Cakesicle form

I'm not sure who or what LOL Surprise Bon Bon is, but when a co-worker asked for an edible version this is what I came up with.

LOL Bon Bon in Cakesicle form

Here they are all ready to go to the party - 36 of those little buggers.

I hate the mushy combination of cake and icing that most cake pops are made of, so instead I use a combination of brownie and chocolate chip cookies.  The brownies are a little under baked so there is no need to mix them with frosting, and they stay moist and delicious for days.

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I coat my cakesicle mold with Ghiradelli white melting wafers, and once that is set I pack the brownie mix into the cavity.  More white chocolate goes on the top, and then I just let it firm up overnight before I start decorating.

For the Bon Bon cakesicle decorations, I made a paper template from an image of Bon Bon.  I had one template from the blue hair in the front and one template each for the yellow and pink portions of hair.  For the decorations I used Choco-Pan's White Covering Chocolate instead of fondant.  I think the covering chocolate just tastes better.  I cut out the blue portion of hair and stuck it on the front of the cakesicle.

The yellow and pink pieces were cut next....

I stuck the two together before I curled it around the top, back and sides of the cakesicle.

Next I rolled out some rope from the yellow and pink chocolate, cut them into 3" lengths, and curled them into little Bon Bon's hair buns.  I stuck them to the cakesicle with a little dab of melted white chocolate.  I tried using water as a glue, but they kept falling off.

The eyes came next.  I cut out thin circles of white, blue, and black and stacked them together.  I stretched them a little to make them more oval shaped.

I rolled a thin rope of black fondant, tapered it at both ends and positioned it over the top of the stacked eye to form a sort of eyelid.

I put the eye on the cakesicles and added pink eyebrows, a mouth, and a little ball for a nose.  Notice that the color of the nose doesn't match the color of the skin?  To make the white chocolate match the skin tone of the actual Bon Bon doll, I added a touch of Fleshtone/Copper food gel to the white chocolate before I coated the cakesicle mold.  I forgot to tint the white covering chocolate but once I put the nose on the cakesicle I realized my mistake and made the nose color match the skin color.  I also couldn't get the nose to stick to the face.  I tried pushing some nostrils in the nose hoping it would make it stick to the face, but the nostrils made the nose too pig-like.  In the end I just stuck the round ball to the face using a touch of melted white chocolate.

Making Bon Bon's eye glasses were a PITA.  I rolled out the covering chocolate (stiffened with a bit of Tylose powder) and cut it into strips.  I used a wider strip for the top part of the glasses, and two narrower strips to form the loops.  I pushed the looped section into the top section and used a bit of water as glue.

After allowing the glasses dry overnight, I stuck the eye glass to the face using - you guessed it - white chocolate.  So what do you think?  Do they look like Bon Bon?

Happy Decorating,

Carol


Supply List: 

Cakesicle mold
Ghiradelli white melting wafers
Choco-Pan's White Covering Chocolate
Mini Circle Cutter
Fleshtone/Copper food gel
Sky Blue food gel
Pink food gel
Buttercup Yellow food gel
Tylose powder

Patron Drip Cake

It is the season for liquor inspired cakes!!

This one is a Silver Patron Drip Cake with Salted Patron Margarita Macarons, Slutty Rum Brownie Balls, and Tequila Key Lime Cookies.

Cheers!

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The drip on this cake was made from a ganache recipe using Nestle White Morsels, heavy whipping cream, and Vivid Green food gel by GSA.  I usually use real white chocolate to make the drip, but I had some Nestle morsels in the pantry so I decided to use them.  The drip recipe is just 175 grams of morsels and 1/3 cup of heavy cream (70 grams) warmed in the microwave at 30 second intervals till melted.  The ganache came out a little oily looking and a little thin, but it looked okay once it was set.  The green color came out a very vivid shade and exactly matched the ribbons on the little bottles of Patron.  The ganache did look a little translucent, and in hindsight I should have added some Bright White Food Gel to make the color more opaque.  But, hey,  live and learn.

To decorate the cake I used some little bottles of Silver Patron, some green Macarons filled with buttercream laced with lime juice, tequila and Margarita salt,  and some cake balls made from my Slutty Rum Brownie recipe.  I used this cake pop press to form the balls, and coated them in Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers. 

All-in-all this was a really boozy cake - good thing there were no kids at the party.


Happy Decorating,

Carol


Supply List: 

Wilton Gum Paste
Nestle White Morsels
Vivid Green food gel
Bright White Food Gel
Cake Pop Press
Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers
Almond Flour

Crown Royal Apple Pillow Cake

I made this Crown Royal Pillow Cake for the groom's cake at my cousin's sister-in-law's wedding.  She wanted the pillow to be green instead of the normal purple because the groom loves the Apple flavored Crown Royal.

The only thing difficult about this cake was the crown.  I found a paper template on Red Ted Art that resembled the Crown Royal crown and used that as a starting point.  

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I cut out the head band section from gum paste and propped it on a canister to dry.

Next I made the red section that goes inside the crown.  I covered a foam half ball in some red fondant.  I also set the half ball on a circular piece of Styrofoam to give it additional height.

For the flaps/feathers/petals (not sure what they are called) that stretch from head band to the top of the red ball, I cut each one individually and glued one end to the head band and one end to the top of the red ball.  I molded some aluminium foil to match the arc that I needed in the flaps and placed it under the flap while the gum paste dried. (Note: for the "glue" is mix gum paste with water till it forms a glue-like paste.)

For the top part of the crown I covered a little foam ball with gum paste and stuck it on the top.  Once everything was dry, I painted the crown with Roxy & Rich edible gold luster dust.

I made some gems from red and green colored Isomalt and a gem shaped candy mold.  I glued them to the crown using melted white chocolate.

The cake itself was red velvet which I carved in a rough pillow shape.  I really couldn't carve too much detail into the cake because my red velvet cake is so soft and crumbly.  The cake was filled and crumb-coated in cream cheese frosting, covered in white chocolate ganache, and then covered in green-tinted fondant.

For the trim on the cake I used Satin Ice Gold Shimmer fondant and my trusty Food Safe Extruder.  The extruder has special "disks" that let me form the rope shape.  I used two different sizes of rope and the "string" shaped disk to make the strings of the tassel.  For the circular shaped piece I used a Wooden Stamp Set to push the pattern into the fondant, and then I used a metal piping tip to cut out the shape.  I cut the Crown Royal words out of the same Shimmer fondant using a paper template.  As a final step I painted the Shimmer fondant with some edible gold lust dust to give it a little more shine. 

So here is the finished cake.  I hope the bride and groom like it, and I hope the kids at the party enjoy the strawberry and apple flavored gems.  For some reason the kids in my family always try to EAT the toppers.  I tell them that gum paste taste gross, but they want to try it for themselves.  Strange creatures.

Happy Decorating,

Carol


Supply List: 

Wilton Gum Paste
Foam Half Ball 4.5"
Fondarific Red Fondant
Multipack Foam Ball
Roxy & Rich Edible Gold Luster Dust
Isomalt
Candy Mold
Satin Ice Gold Shimmer
Food Safe Extruder
Wooden Stamp Set

Messy Teenager Bed Cake

My next door neighbor asked for a Messy Bedroom cake for her daughter.  LOL.  I can relate to Raelynn's messy, borderline hoarder personality.

This cake started with the bed.  This is a photo of Raelynn's real bedroom - after her mom made her clean it up.  I wanted to make the cake resemble her room so she would recognize it.

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First I made the headboard and foot board of the bed out of gum paste.  I used a PME #3 strip cutter to make all the molding strips the same width.

After making the bed's two sideboards, I propped all four pieces up with a piece of Styrofoam and then glued everything together. To make the glue I mix gum paste with some water and smash and stir it together to make a thick paste.  It dries just as hard and strong as the original gum paste.

I covered another pieces of Styrofoam with pink fondant and used this as the sheet covered mattress.  I could have used cake or rice crispy treats for the mattress and box spring sections, but I wanted Raelynn to be able to keep the bed.

I used a face mold for the head and face and fashioned a stick figure body.  I didn't put any effort into the body because I knew it would be covered with a fondant blanket.  For the pattern on the blanket I used wooden ink stamps.  And that thing poking up at waist level is her arm and hand.  I didn't like how it looked so I later covered it with a book.

I made some hair from thin strings of fondant...

And then stuck the hair onto the gum paste head.

I had planned on covering the cake with wood-like flooring, but I was running short on time so I just made a big rug.  I used an impression mat to put a pattern/texture on the fondant rug, and I used some cheap-o crimping tools to give the edge of the rug a finished look.

Next I made the cloths - lots and lots of cloths.  I used images of paper doll clothing as templates and cut my fondant clothing to match.  I also made some hats, shoes, a backpack, a hairdryer, a Starbucks cup, some electronics (a teenage girl must have a phone), and some books.

For the letter on the cake I used FMM alphabet Tappits.  I used the block letter set and the funky  letter set.

And guess what?  Raelynn did recognize it as her room.  She kept screaming, "That's my room."


Happy Decorating,

Carol


Supply List: 

Satin Ice Gum Paste
Face Mold
PME #3 Strip Cutter
Wooden Stamp Set
Crimping Tools
FMM Uppercase Funky Alphabet

Toy Story Cake - Buzz and Woody

Buzz and Woody seem to be a favorite with my young great-nephews this year.  I was asked to make two within just a few weeks.

This was the first cake....

and this was the second one...

And cookies too...

And now a third cake - my family sure does love Toy Story....

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Construction of the cake started with Buzz's wings and Woody's star and buckle.  I made them ahead of time using a combination gum paste and fondant mixed with Tylose Powder.

The cake itself started with the cake drum that I covered in strips of fondant made to look like planks of wood.  I used (leftover) shades of brown, black, and yellow to give it a multi-toned look.  I rolled out the marbled fondant, impressed it with a wood-grained mat, and then cut it into strips.

I then placed the strips onto my drum.  I don't like to waste fondant, so I didn't decorate the section that would be covered by the cake.  The round piece of parchment paper under the fondant shows where my cake will be place so I know where to place my strips of fondant.

I pushed the round tip of a paint brush into the fondant to simulate nail heads, and as a final step I dusted the "nail heads" and the edges of the strips with black powder food color to give them a weathered look.

Now onto the cake.  For this cake my first tier would be Woody.  I covered the front section with some yellow colored fondant.  In hindsight the yellow section was much bigger than it needed to be.  With the yellow in place I made some thin red strings using Red Fondarific and my trusty fondant extruder, and then I stuck the red strings to the yellow base using a tiny bit of water.

See all the yellow and red - I covered way too much of the cake with the yellow but I didn't realize that until later.   After the shirt was in place I added a strip of blue for the pants and a strip of brown for the belt.  I put a little texture on the belt using a texture mat, and punched a few holes to mimic the holes in a belt.  I also added a little bit of "stitching" on the pants using a stitching tool.  I was just trying to make it look realistic.

Next I glued on the gum paste belt buckle so I would have a reference when I positioned Woody's vest.

But before I put on the vest, I placed the top tier on the cake and added a ribbon of purple fondant along the seam between the two cakes.  The fondant ribbon was made with my trusty fondant extruder and some Purple Choco-Pan Covering Chocolate.  After the top tier was in place, I rolled out some white fondant and draped it over the yellow to represent Woody's vest.  But see how far apart I had the two ends of the vest?  After I had EVERYTHING in place I realized the ends needed to be closer together.  Stupid, STUPID, me!  I had to take the completed vest off and start again.  I also realized that the red strings where showing through the white, so I removed most of the string before I put the white fondant back on.

I made the black and white trim of the vest by extruding thick strings of fondant and then twisting them together.

Here is the twisted trim going on.  See how far apart the two ends of the vest are?  When I tried to position Woody's star I realized I had a problem.

Here is the vest after the fix.  I put the ends closer together, trimmed the edge of the vest with the rope of twisted black & white fondant, and added random black cow spots.

The top tier was going to represent Buzz and I used some simple cutout of electric green colored fondant, some circles of red, green and blue, and some images I printed on wafer paper and then glued to thin pieces of gum paste.  I put my wafer paper images on gum paste to stop the images from running and smearing due to moisture from the buttercream.

The final step for the Buzz tier was to added those blue, green and red buttons, and to some purple accents.

Buzz's wings and Woody's star were the last elements to attach to the cake.   At this point the cake was finished, but the top of the cake looked a little plain so I made a simple topper using my Cricut Explorer.  I also added a red ribbon around the cake drum for the final touch.

On the other cake I made Buzz the bottom tier and Woody the top tier.  Everything was pretty much the same construction-wise, with the only major difference being the decorations on the cake drum.  The name Leland and the clouds were cut out my hand, and I used some discontinued Wilton letter cutters for the "Birthday".

So I think they turned out well.  My grand-nephews and their moms seemed very happy with their cakes.

Happy Decorating,

Carol



Supply List: 

Cake Drum
Gum Paste
Fondant
Tylose Powder
Wood Grain Impression Mat
Wilton Ribbon/Strip Cutter
Black Powder Food Color
Wilton's Buttercup Yellow Gel Color
Americolor Electric Green Gel Color
Choco Pan Purple Covering Chocolate
Choco Pan Bright White Covering Chocolate
Fondarific Black Fondant
Fondarific Red Fondant
Food Safe Extruder
Cricut Explorer 2