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I’m just a hobby baker, so this 3-tiered cake was one of my most adventurous so far. It doesn’t look very complicated, but I had a few miss-steps and learned some interesting new techniques along the way.
First off the painting of the tiers…
At first I was going to use gold leaf, but after being told that gold leaf wasn't edible I decided to paint on the gold color. Next obstacle was deciding on what type of color to use. Who knew there were so many options: pearl, luster and disco dust, gels, and airbrush paint. Then the whole edible vs non-toxic issue came up yet again. I didn’t realize that a lot of the accent stuff that is sold for cake decorating is actually not edible. Some dusts are labeled as non-toxic which essentially means it won’t kill you if you eat it, but it is not designed to be consumed.
So after some searching I finally settled on Edible Hybrid Luster Dust by Chef Alan Tetreault. The Chef Tetreault line has lots of gold colors to choose from, and after much thought I finally settled on Soft Gold. In the end it turned out a little lighter than I was wanted, but I think it still looked okay.
So to paint on the gold color I mixed the luster dust with vodka to form a thick paste and just started brushing it on.
I wanted the cake to have broad, uneven brush-strokes (like the example the bride-to-be game me), but it didn’t quite come out that way. The paint ended up looking more uniform than I wanted, but it didn’t look too terrible. (Hey the “customer” was getting it for free so she couldn’t complain.) But it still vexes me why I couldn’t get the look I wanted…maybe my paint wasn’t thick enough??? I may try it again on a dummy cake just to see where I went wrong. I also used this nifty little measuring tool by Wilton to make sure my painted area stayed the same thickness as I went around the cake. And my Cake Boss Cake Stand/Turntable is so wide and spacious thanks to a gadget by Innovative Sugarworks that expands my turntable to 20". Don't you just love cake decorating gadgets??!!
The next next new thing I tried was the gumpaste peonies. This was the first time I tried to make realistic looking gumpaste peonies, and they were actually pretty easy to construct. I used a center Styrofoam ball and just glued a bunch of individual peony petals to it. Not hard, but very time consuming. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures as I was making the flowers, but this is the end product. I also dusted a little of the dry gold luster on the petals to give them some shine.
But then I remembered a video I saw on the “gunging” technique. In this technique you beat your fondant with milk and vodka until it forms a paste that has the consistency of beaten egg whites. It takes a lot of beating (10-15 minutes), but in the end you get a soft, putty-like mixture that acts like that silicone filler the construction guys use.
You can pipe the gunge into to gaps and then scrape the access off with a straight edge tool. You can also use the gunge to fix nicks and gouges in your fondant. The gunge saved the cake!!
Before:
My next dilemma was the unattractive drum at the base of the cake. My bottom tier was 12 inches and I planned on using a 12 inch drum that would blend into the bottom tier and make it look taller. Sadly it didn't turn out that way. In hindsight I realize that I didn't take into account the added thickness from the ganache on the cake, so the cake drum ended up being a 1/2 inch smaller than the tier above it. Stupid, stupid, me.
You can also see a bit of a bulge on the bottom tier, Sigh... Nothing I could do about that at this point. The bulge showed up even before I stacked the cakes, so I guess the white cake recipe I used was too fluffy and delicate to handle the weight of three layers plus all the buttercream, ganache, and fondant.
But back to the ugly cake drum problem. I couldn't fix the bulge, but I could try and fix the base. I tried a few things: painting it gold, wrapping a gold ribbon around it, adding a ribbon of white fondant, but nothing looked good. Then I cut out some 1x1 inch squares of fondant and started filling the gap. I just keep overlapping the squares and working my way around the cake. And surprise, surprise, it really looked good. They kind-of resembled fancy pleats! In fact it looked like I had actually planed it!! I guess necessity really is the mother of invention.
So in the end it, even with my missteps, the cake didn't turn out too bad. But I really do apologize for the ugly wooden board under the cake. It was all I had the the house that was large enough to hold the cake. I was hoping they would have some decorations at the party that I could use to hide the board, but no such luck. My cake decorating attempts are always filled with misadventures.
Happy Decorating,
Carol
