Diamonds and Pearls 50th Birthday Cake

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite cakes made last October for a friend who loves jewelry and diamonds.  There were a lot of firsts with this cake:  1st time making a tiara, 1st time working with pearls and sugar diamonds (diamond shaped sugar glass), 1st time making the scalloped edge on the bottom tier, 1st time carving the top tier, 1st time doing a diamond pattern...a lot of firsts!  But all in all, it has been and still is one of my all time favorite cakes.

 

The tiara!  There is a great tutorial on CakeCentral.com by carrielynnfields on how to make one with Royal Icing.  I used the same technique but with gumpaste instead.  Draw a template, tape over a cylinder and in this case, I used a candle wrapped in saran wrap then in foil to keep any scent from escaping or leaking out - LOL, it was the only thing I could find with the right diameter!  Tape a piece of wax paper over that then roll out ropes of gumpaste using sugar glue (melt a piece of gumpaste in a little bit of water to make sugar glue) to attach each piece to each other.  I didn't have a clay extruder to make the ropes with so instead, I used the fondant smoother to roll out the gumpaste over a smooth, flat surface:  Using the fondant smoother helps with getting no finger grooves in the gumpaste.  Once I got the whole thing assembled, I brushed the entire tiara with another layer of glue and let it sit for 2 days in the oven with the pilot light on to dry.  I then took the tiara out of the mold very carefully and brushed the back side with another layer of glue and let that sit overnight to dry again.  I only made 1 tiara and did not want to risk it breaking...it was hard as a rock and was not going anywhere!  The tiara was finished off and painted with a mixture of almond extract and both disco dust and shimmer dust...I wanted it to really sparkle and shine.

The top tier was 2, 6" rounds carved down to 4" along the bottom.  Sugar pearls were glued one by one using piping gel and then sugar diamonds were added below each strand.  I searched all over the city for a mold to make the sugar diamonds and failed miserably.  I was lucky enough to have stopped by a cake supply store, far far away during one of my business trips, to find an assortment of premade diamonds.  I bought a few of each size - they were not cheap either and stored them right away it an airtight container with a silica gel pack to help absorb any moisture which would make them sticky.  The sugar glass diamonds were placed around the top tier, a large one was added to the front of the tiara, and another one was added to the name plaque placed beside the bottom tier.

I used Satin Ice for the 1st time too.  The top tier was Dark Chocolate that I tinted black.  I had such a hard time working with it and couldn't get the sides of the cake smoothed out.  I improvised and added a white, ruffled collar around it to hide the imperfections and finished it off by adding a sugar pearl to the front of the collar as a button.  I loved how it turned out!  Completely unplanned and a perfect addition to the cake.

The middle tier was Red Satin Ice and a nightmare to work with.  And although a lot of people suggest to buy the red and black premade, I have since figured it out and make my own with marshmallows - see Marshmallow Fondant Recipe (honestly, I love the way MMF works and tastes over Satin Ice).  I got so many hairline cracks with the Satin Ice, it drove me insane!  I used a diamond impression mat to get the outline of the pattern in then went over it with a ruler to press the diamond pattern in more then added silver dragees to each corner.

Here is a picture of the tools used:  a fondant smoother to roll the fondant ropes with for the tiara, leaf cutters and a scalloped cutter used for the bottom tier, and a diamond impression mat (or grid) used on the middle tier:

The bottom tier was a challenge to get the scalloped edge to neatly and evenly sit over the cake.  I tired several things and ended up mixing the white MMF with tylose to help it not be as stretchy and to also help it dry faster.  Cut out a circle (about 15" round) and then used a scalloped cutter to cut out the pattern flat on the table.  Let that sit for a 1/2 hour to dry and set a bit, then loosely rolled it over onto a rolling pin and carefully rolled it back onto the cake.  Letting it sit helped the fondant not stretch and loose it's shape once picked up.  It looks very odd at this stage but once the black beaded pattern and leaf pattern were added, it came together very nicely.  I made fondant leaves with the black Satin Ice and attached it to the sides of the cake and the black piping was done in Royal Icing.

Cake:  Bottom 12" tier was Vanilla with Lemon filling, 9" Middle and 6" top tiers were Red Velvet with Vanilla Bettercream.  The entire cake was covered in Vanilla Buttercream then with Fondant.

Polka Dot Mod Monkey Cake

Such a cute and tiny cake: A 4" round with 6 cupcakes! I made this for my brothers friend whose son turned 1. I had to fix the "2nd" when they came by to pick up the cake and wasn't able to get a picture of it with the "1st" on there - yikes but alas, easily fixed! The cake was vanilla with fresh strawberries and Rich's Vanilla Bettercream (tastes a lot like the whipped cream Sam's and Costco uses...stable and delicious). The outside was covered in Bettercream and decorated in marshmallow fondant (MMF). I usually make fondant covered cakes and covering this one smoothly in Bettercream was a challenge. I may have spent about a half hour just trying to smooth it out perfectly but maybe it was because it was just so small (4") or maybe the Bettercream was too fluffy - not sure but it turned out pretty good. I made all the fondant decorations 3 days prior to allow for plenty of time to dry. I also brushed the backs of each piece with a little bit of white chocolate to help add a barrier between the "wet" bettercream and the "dry" fondant since they picked it up the day before the party and I was worried about the fondant softening up. I hope little Hayden enjoyed his FIRST birthday cake....it matched all the "Mod Monkey" party decorations perfectly.

Rich's Bettercream note:  Finding the Rich's products is difficult.  Here is a UK Rich's website with some good information about the cream itself.  Smart and Final carry the Chocolate version.  I was luck to have found the Vanilla at a Cake Supply store far away from me and I may have to make another trip out there soon to grab some more.