Birthday Time!

This adorable whimsical birthday cake was made for my friend Esther by our friend Ange a couple of years ago

Ange lived with me at the time, and ordering the supplies for this cake and making it in a small kitchen was quite a challenge and an expense.

Whimsical cake making can be quite expensive to start up between the ingredients, dyes and decorations. Not to mention the space needed to create and store the cakes!

Clifford the Big Red Dog

We chose any children story and made cakes!

This was made from 2 tiers of 13" cakes, carved into shape.

The paws of Clifford and his ears and tail are made out of white modeling chocolate.

Red fondant covered the cake, then the modeling chocolate portions separately (*RED fondant is recommended to be purchased. Dying white fondant by hand requires too much food dye and will change the consistency of the fondant making it too moist*)
The covered paws, tail and ears were then attached.

Clifford's dog house is made out of pastillage (a sugar dough that dries very hard). The bricks, roof accent, opening, and name tag were cut out and glued on top. An airbrush was used to paint the brown. The pastillage was dyed gray for the entrance.

Clifford's friend was molded out of colored fondant and her eyes and smile were painted in food coloring. The grass is green buttercream.

Cliffor's eyes, nose and mouth are created from white and black fondant (*BLACK fondant should also be purchased pre-made*).

The Cake was Vanilla Pound Cake with Coffee Buttercream Icing!

Morning Joe cake

Morning Joe Cake on PhotoPeach

How to Make a Topsy Turvy cake

this method is different than the one I learned but its the same idea and shape

My Topsy Turvy Cake

Whimsical cakes class, April 2010
I remember was sick the day before and had  lot of catching up to do to finish (6 hours of class missed in one sick day!). I rolled out all the fondant in a hurry (it's very thick), but I'm still happy with my first attempt  =)

Want to see a little of how this cake shape is achieved?

 3 cakes are STACKED

 a smaller cardboard circle (the size that the base of you cake will be) is placed on top

 TRIM down the cake so it is at a smooth angle (the layer on the bottom should not get trimmed)

 INVERT the cakes

 sit the top layer of cake on an ANGLED surface (like a binder) and CUT straight across

ARRANGE the 2 layers back on top of the cake with the two thin edges on one side and the two thick edges on the other (creating the steepest angle)

 ice your cake on a turntable

 smooth up the edges..

 ..and the top.

 lay rolled fondant carefully over cake

 smooth quickly to prevent bubbles

 cut a circle in the middle of the top of the cake the size that the next layers' base will be. this divot should have a flat bottom.

 make sure it is flat!

insert straws for supports
.
.
OOPS! remember I told you I missed the next day of class? well I was being serious that I would only show you  "little" of how its done because unfortunately these are the last of my step-by-step photos that I was able to take. well so you know...

the straws are cut down flat and a piece of cardboard is placed in the cake on the straws

smaller cakes are used, but the same STACK, TRIM, INVERT, ANGLED CUT, and ARRANGE steps are taken
again, ice and fondant this level
then the smaller cake is fit into its hole with the tall sides of each of the cakes on opposite sides
DECORATE!!


[examples of this process to follow, sorry to leave you hanging with the pictures]

December 13, 2011

Hello! My name is Catie and I am creating this blog for my Digital Collaborative Tools Class (part of my masters in teaching degree but my undergrad is baking and pastry arts).
I've never blogged before so to start I am just going to post some great whimsical cake blogs that I aspire to create something like someday...

Whimsical Cake Studio Inc.

Whimsical Cupcakes

Carrie's Cakes

CrazyCakes

Crazy Cakes by Design

Classy And Crazy Cakes