Cake Decorating Ideas Archives - Page 3 of 6

Superhero Cake

About Nathen

Remember when I made this Superhero Cake for Nathen through Icing Smiles?
Nathen is still in the fight against cancer. He is such a strong, super boy! I encourage you to read more about Nathen here: http://www.facebook.com/nathentrueblood
Consider donating a cake through Icing Smiles to help spread some happiness to a family near you.

Inspiration for this cake

Nathen was having a Superhero birthday party, which included three Superheros.
Since these heroes began as comic book characters, using comic for inspiration seemed a natural, artful fit. I went to the comic book store for inspiration.

The building

The building was carved so that it looked like a perspective drawing from a graphic novel - starting out wider at the top, and tapering at the bottom. The roof was carved at an angle to exaggerate the feel foreshortening. I outlined the building in black so that it looked hand-drawn. Notice the comic textures of ink dots and lines. These were all drawn with edible marker.

Colors

Like a comic book title, the color of Nathen’s name and the Happy Birthday subtitle had to pop, using color and thickness. I used a muted blue-grey color to simulate the background drawings in a comic. The windows, drawn in perspective, were painted a light white wash.
All the painting was done with petal dust paint: lemon extract mixed with petal dust.

The 6 bat signal

This was a really fun element on the cake. We used LEDs behind a gumpaste drum to create a bat signal, which backlit Nathen’s big boy age - 6! To learn more about lights, stay tuned for another post from a special guest, all about lights!

Ask Cakeb0t!

Any questions on this cake? I’ll be sure to include everything you want to know on the upcoming Superhero Cake Insider Video!

Frosting For The Cause

By Cakeb0t 2 Comments

Click on this picture to read my post on Frosting For The Cause!

A couple of weeks ago, I had another opportunity to contribute baked goods to my hospital through an online project called Frosting For The Cause:

Frosting for the Cause is a unique on-line project bringing together 365 volunteer bakers and bloggers from across Canada, the United States and beyond. Our goal is to raise funds and awareness for research into cancers affecting women. At the same time, we aim to share our baking talents with one another and our blog followers.

Each blogger pledges to donate $25 to The Canadian or American Cancer Society. By the end of this year, Frosting For The Cause members will have raised $9,125.00 towards research looking to find a cure of women’s cancers!

Click here to read my guest post about how to make cake pops on Frosting For The Cause, where I share the recipe I used, and I also include tips on an easy way to package the cake pops and give them as a gift!

Sugar Flowers vs Fresh Flowers

By Cakeb0t 4 Comments

White Rose Wedding Cake by S. Weinstock. Image from www.MarthaStewart.com

I recently wondered: why do we decorators go through all the trouble of making sugar flowers when fresh ones are perfectly beautiful (and natural)? I tend to lean toward a “natural” flower, rather than a replicated (however gorgeous) flower.

What decorators say

I took a survey on Twitter, and asked: “Do you prefer real flowers or sugar (gumpaste) flowers on your cakes?” and got some great answers:

“Sugar. How awesome is it to have people go right up to a cake wondering if the flowers are real or sugar.” @AtomikJen
“Both! Usually becomes a budgeting choice for my couples. Those on a tighter budget use real flowers.” Jennifer Roberts - @SweetElement
“Sugar! Some real flowers are poisonous.” Jaime Ho - @jaime_of_wicked

Gardenias can be eaten in the fresh or sugar form, but these handmade blooms are larger than life! - Cake from K. Sullivan, Image from www.CakePower.com

Some real flowers ARE poisonous

…and more great tweets. All with great points. Most importantly, like Jaime of The Wicked Little Cake Company said, some flowers are poisonous. Turns out there’s a really long list of poisonous flowers. Aside from toxicity, there are pesticides, dirt, and other muckety muck things to worry about. The flowers must be properly cleaned and handled before putting them on your cake.

Which leads me to change my mind about sugar flowers. I actually like to make them! Forgive me, gumpaste flowers, I lost my way!

Still, there are perfectly non-toxic, even edible flowers (if you’re into that sort of thing) out there - waiting to be sugared and set atop your cake. It’s probably a good idea to consult a florist before you use fresh flowers.

The two photos in this post are of cakes that have been decorated with sugar versions of flowers that are actually edible. However, can you imagine eating all those fresh roses? Also, the handmade flowers are perfectly customized for each cake. Food for thought. (Teehee!)

The verdict

Like Jennifer of Sweet Element mentioned, it might be better for the client’s budget to consider using real flowers. I’m still rooting for fresh flowers, but for maximum customization, the little-to-no-risk of poisoning your clients, and the fun factor, sugar flowers seem like the popular choice for decorators. Still, it’s all up to you as the artist. Jade Eye (@marzipandoll) of Marzipandoll tweeted: “as long as it’s not silk or plastic…”. So true. :shiver:

Your turn to weigh in!

Cast your vote in the comments - real flowers or sugar flowers?

Italian Flag Birthday Cake and an Update

By Cakeb0t 8 Comments

Oh! I’m bakin’ here!

My hubby and I have been busy moving back to NYC since I last posted. Also, we have been working hard on Cakeb0t’s new website. Those of you who follow Cakeb0t on Twitter have heard me talking about a redesign for quite some time. It is really almost ready. Really!

As soon as we got back to NYC, I had to plan for a cake. I made this cake for my [Italian] in-laws’ dual 50th birthday. I was very literal with the cake, as you can tell. And since Italians like it big, bold, and loud… I had to add the big sparkle candles!

This cake was made from a half sheet cake cut into quarters. Dowels were used for support in the bottom two layers of cake, and then topped with a board.

The cake was coated in chocolate ganache and covered using panels of fondant which were measured and cut to fit. The front panel had priority when it came to hiding seams, and was placed on last.

The topper was made with sheets of cereal treats that were stacked to 3″ thickness. Printed and cut letters were used as a stencil to cut the sheets. The numbers were covered in modeling chocolate. After painting them, skewers were used to place them in the cake.

The numbers and front panel were painted with luster dust paint. Disco glitter was used to dust the numbers to catch the light when the candles were lit.

Just as with the “50”, printed letters were used as a guide to cut through a thick sheet of fondant. Playing with thickness and depth gave the cake interesting shadows. Gotta love the drama.

The sparkler candles were placed so that they looked fanned out. They were also arranged symmetrically with the highest candle in the middle. It so fun to light the sparklers and watch them fizzle out. I recommend two or three people lighting them at once; they go fast! Also, they leave some dust behind.

My original “50” covered in modeling chocolate was actually left at home by accident (umm, by me). I made this one quickly with store-bought cereal treats, and covered it in fondant. I didn’t like the result as much. The fondant weighed the treats so they didn’t hold their shape as well. The one covered in modeling chocolate was so smooth, but I don’t think anyone noticed the fondant, except me. And you, of course! ( Let’s just keep it between us cake decorators.)

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