Valentine's Day practice cake complete! It's amazing how all the work that was put into this cake ended with a mere 20 minutes to put it all together into this beautiful creation! Let me go over the things that I have accomplished (and the things I have learned) from this cake...
1. Gumpaste Roses: I had an earlier post on these so I won't do a big repeat. Mission accomplished!
2. Covering cake boards in fondant: Originally I thought this was the stupidest thing ever so I refused to do it. Thought it was a waste of time, fondant and energy. I was wrong. I am trying to "up my game" as a decorator and that includes presentation - the cake board being a huge part of that presentation! I have tried covering cake boards in wrapping papers - no good. The grease from the cake and icing seeps into it. Fondant is sturdy and can be colored/ decorated to match the theme of the cake. Will be doing future work (and more challenging designs) with this.
3. Covering shaped cakes in fondant: Not that hard. Same as any cake - take your time and smooth from the top down!
4. Quilting: Going to need some work on this one. Pressure is key to making it look even and purposeful. The sides of the cake really need to be thought through to know which lines cross. The sides of the top of the cake turned out beautiful since that was about the point I figured out what I was doing... will be practicing more in the future since I really liked the end result.
5. Piped ruffle border: I practiced this one a lot on wax paper beforehand. I knew I was using black icing and there was one chance to get it right. Beautiful! Will be using a lot in the future! Next time I think I will try also piping over the top line with a bead border to give it a really finished look.
2. Covering cake boards in fondant: Originally I thought this was the stupidest thing ever so I refused to do it. Thought it was a waste of time, fondant and energy. I was wrong. I am trying to "up my game" as a decorator and that includes presentation - the cake board being a huge part of that presentation! I have tried covering cake boards in wrapping papers - no good. The grease from the cake and icing seeps into it. Fondant is sturdy and can be colored/ decorated to match the theme of the cake. Will be doing future work (and more challenging designs) with this.
3. Covering shaped cakes in fondant: Not that hard. Same as any cake - take your time and smooth from the top down!
4. Quilting: Going to need some work on this one. Pressure is key to making it look even and purposeful. The sides of the cake really need to be thought through to know which lines cross. The sides of the top of the cake turned out beautiful since that was about the point I figured out what I was doing... will be practicing more in the future since I really liked the end result.
5. Piped ruffle border: I practiced this one a lot on wax paper beforehand. I knew I was using black icing and there was one chance to get it right. Beautiful! Will be using a lot in the future! Next time I think I will try also piping over the top line with a bead border to give it a really finished look.
All in all a successful practice cake. Got to do a self-designed, simple yet dramatic cake. The color scheme is one I had been wanting to try for awhile now. Simple bold colors that really gave a clean professional look to the finished product. I chose to name this design the "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" Cake. Valentine's Day is definitely a holiday that brings on high emotions in both directions. I wanted to create something that included everyone in this holiday whether it was an I never want to forget or I can't wait to forget this day!
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