Bachelorette Cake: Burlesque Style

So the cake I created this week was for a bachelorette party – I initially wanted to add a fondant penis to the mix, but it’s actually harder than you think to mold one of those bad boys.  I spent about an hour trying to get the perfect size, shape, and colour, but it just would not work for me.  It took way too long to mold it with my hands, so by the time I got the shape I wanted, it looked a little cracked and wrinkly.  Not all that attractive sitting atop a burlesque themed cake…so I squashed that idea and decided to go with a mask, whip, and handcuffs.  The cake I created was four layers, which I have actually never done before.  For an 8 inch cake it works out pretty well… it’s high enough that I’m able to add all my decorations without running out of room, but not so high that I need supports of some kind so to avoid cake bloating.  This can often happen if the cake is too heavy, but usually you will see this on tiered cakes if the cake has been ill-stacked or the weight hasn’t been distributed properly.  The top and bottom layers of the cake were chocolate, and the middle french vanilla.  I noticed a few days ago that there was a set of cake pans on sale at my local bulk barn that can make checkered cake batter, which I really want to try so I may do that in the future.  It will add a fun spin to the inside of the cake – like a surprise! And everyone loves surprises.

I covered the cake in red fondant.  I also shaved the top layer of the cake down a bit to created the “slanted” look, which I really like – it’s not to often that my cakes are 100% even on either side, and slanting the cake in a specific direction makes it impossible to notice that.  I added a little more excitement to my cake board this time around.  I had some left over zebra print sugar sheets that were given to me by a friend, so I cut them into one large strip and placed it across the middle of my white fondant covered cake board.  I rounded the edges so that they would mesh with the board, and then cut out 1/4 inch strips of purple fondant and placed them on the sides of the sugar sheet strip.

Next I made the corset front.  I cut out a purple square of fondant and then measured it to ensure that it was the size I had intended it to be.  Next, I made a cut that resembled an hour glass shape, but with a less dramatic center.  I added a smaller black fondant strip with a similar shape to the center, and then started on the red ties.  I cut out very small strips and crossed them on the black fondant strip until I reached the bottom of it.  I rolled out black fondant balls and placed them on the purple, ensuring that they were positioned with where the red ties met.  The finished product resembled the the back of a corset.  I glued this entire piece to the cake.  I added a black ball border to the entire cake.

I REALLY wanted to do Cheetah print on the cake, but I was in no mood after the mishaps I suffered through during the creation of my Cheetah Print Cake. I know if cheetah print is something I will do in the future, I’m going to invest in a stamper and edible ink.  So for this, I did polka dots…my favourite think in the world.  Polka dots are fantastic, so obviously they made the cake look that much better.

After the cake portion of the Burlesque theme was done, I moved on to the edible props.  The first addition was the whip. I rolled out black fondant and shaped it into a long cylinder.  I then began to cut out very thin strips, about 2 inches long and 1/8 inch wide.  I made quite a few, enough to make the base of the handle look “full” and then simply placed them all on one side of the handle. only about 1/2 inch of the strips was sitting on the handle, the rest were hanging off.  You can use gumpaste glue, piping gel, or water to secure the strips if need be.  I did the same with the opposite side of the handle, but the strips were much longer.  I didn’t measure but I’d say 4-5 inches.  Next I cut out more thin strips of the black fondant and started glueing them on the handle, as thought they were going completely around it.  I made sure to cover the ends of the strips at either side of the base of the handle.  These extra strips on the handle also help secure the end strips.  I let the whip sit for a few minutes, and then moved it only my cake.  I secured it with a toothpick and piping gel.

Next, I made the handcuffs.  I created this the same was I did for my 50 Shades of Grey Cake, by pressing real handcuffs…that….again….I have for no particular reason… down on a light grey fondant/gum paste mix, and simply cutting out the imprint.  I let them dry completely before I added them to the cake so I could ensure they would keep their shape.

I made the mask by using a template I printed out.  I held it to the fondant/gumpaste mix and cut out the shape, then added the details.  I lifted the nose with a small fondant tool (anything that resembles the shape of a pencil will do) and let dry.  I had initially made a white mask with silver pearl dust, purple detailing on the sides, and then red around the eyes.  I may or may not have spilled a small amount of gumpaste glue all over it….so I moved on to a different design  because I was annoyed. I made the material around the mask but rolling out small 1/2 inch strips of a purple and red mix, and then by using a small veining tool on a foam to get the texture. To get this texture, hold the tool like a pencil (at about a 30 degree angle) and press the heel of the tool down on the outer edge of the strip and pull out.  Don’t do it too hard if you’re just working with fondant and not gumpaste – fondant is alot softer and can tear easily.  Continue working all the way around the edge, virtually overlapping the impressions.  This will give you that “ruffled look”.  I added silver pearl dust around the eyes and black circles for the detailing around the rest of the mask.  I secured both the mask and handcuffs on the cake using water and piping gel. 

So goodbye cake decorating world! I shall see you in the fall. Although I’m positive that I will no be relinquishing the baking world altogether this summer.  I have found some FANTASTIC recipes…. I will post them after I have tried said recipe…I’ll give you a hint. It involves s’mores…and the other involves peanut butter, and chocolate, and fantasticness.  Cake decorating has been fun, but this summer I plan on getting back to my roots – I’m talking dessert bars, brownies, and cookies, and I’m planning on dabbling in the cake and pie pop world.  I have many eager co-workers who are ready to try my baking experiments…. I still have so much to learn so I am very excited to start trying out new recipes again. And…no more coloured fingers! After 7 months of cake decorating, you’d think I would have learnt my lessons and gone out to purchase some gloves to wear when I am dying fondant – laziness at it’s finest. Which is why I included a picture of my this week (below)…. check out the red thumb! Yikes. This is thanks to red, pink, and purple dye…my fingers are still black. hehe. So long, I will update soon with a fantastic recipe – Happy Baking!

 

 

 

 

Bachelorette Cake: Fifty Shades of Grey

So it’s been two weeks since I’ve posted…sorry! The weather has been fabulous, and now that my boyfriend is done school we have had plenty of time to spend together so I haven’t been making baking a priority.  However, I did get a request from a friend to create a cake for her friend’s Bachelorette Party….and who was I to say no?  I mean, after all, what’s better than celebrating your last night on the town than a well designed, slightly dirty cake? What’s better is that the theme of the party was Fifty Shades of Grey. For those of you who don’t know what that is, a: get out from your rock and read a book, and b: seriously… read it.  So I based this cake off of the racy trilogy, and incorporated the pictures that are on the cover of each book: A mask, a tie, and handcuffs.  Fun stuff.  Now, I did get one must-do specification, which was to create a penis…out of cake. For those of you who would prefer a PG-13 blog post…I suggest you stop reading……kidding, it’s a cake people! I’m essentially just providing everyone with an anatomy lesson.  So, I created a penis cake.  I covered it in flesh coloured fondant, and popped it on top of a much larger, 10 inch square cake, where I proceeded to wrap the fondant tie around it.  You get the picture…but just in case you don’t, I of course took a ridiculous amount of photos, just so that my avid readers would not miss a beat!

The first step was to create the cakes…so I went and bought myself a penis cake pan at my local adult novelty store, added some chocolate batter (as per the bride-t0-be’s request) and popped it in the over for about 30 minutes.  Just an FYI I filled the pan about 3/4 full.  I also baked a two-layered chocolate 10 inch cake that I covered in buttercream, and then a dark grey fondant.  I added a black ball border.

I made the balls out of Rice Krispies.  I thought they formed more realistic looking balls, rather than those the cake pan created.  I then covered the penis creating in buttercream and set it overnight in the fridge to crust over.  I covered it in flesh coloured fondant (which wasn’t as difficult as you might think….I found a wonderful tutorial on how to cover cakes that are of any shape, and you can find that here.)

After I covered each cake, I placed the penis on top of the grey square cake and added the tie.  The tie was quite simple.  Using a pizza cutter, I cut out a tie-like shape.  Then, I cut out a long strip for the top of the tie, and then a large square that I folded to make look like the knot.  I used the pizza cutter to create the lines in the tie so that it was more textured.  I placed it around both cakes, and draped it around the penis.

I then created the mask.  I printed out a masquerade mask template, and after I rolled out a small amount of gumpaste, I traced the template with a pizza cutter.  I lifted the “nose piece” slightly, and let it dry like that so it looked more like an actual mask rather than a 2D shape.  I added silver pearl dust to the entire surface of the white mask, and then added the black design with black piping gel. 

Moving on to the handcuff….so I was completely dumbfounded on how to successfully make gum paste/fondant handcuffs… You know, handcuffs that don’t look like a 5 year old cut them out of construction paper during arts and crafts. So I had this brilliant idea.  I took my own handcuffs…that….I have for no particular reason…. and pressed them into the light grey fondant and gum paste mix.  I traced the impression with a pizza cutter, and then created the tiny rings holding them together by rolling out small amounts of the gum paste and looping it into the rings.  And the last thing I added was the cake script, “Last Night Before the Tie Down”. Clever! Wish I thought of it.  My piping is obviously still a little shaky. I’ll be honest I haven’t practiced at all. I’m holding off on the buttercream classes until the fall I think.

I had alot of fun making this cake…obviously hehe.  The only thing I truly feel I missed with this cake, is that I didn’t reinforce the bottom layer with dowels, so there was a little bloating towards the back of the cake because of the weight of the penis cake.  Once you take into account the cake, Rice Krispies and marshmallows, buttercream, and fondant, that cake was pretty heavy.  But you could barely notice unless you were looking for it.  So upcoming cakes?  I have an Angry Birds cake in May and a Ninja Turtles Cake in June (super pumped).  As of now, unless I have any more cake opportunities in the next few weeks, I’m thinking I’m might dip back in to the cupcake world.  I miss them…a lot. I’ve also come across alot of really neat tutorials that I cannot wait to share and try, so I will be posting details about those (and possibly trying some!).  I hope you all enjoyed my Fifty Shades cake…I sure enjoyed making it.  Happy Baking!