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Friday, August 13, 2010

THE "SIRI" CAKE - 17” high 3D Black Corset



Welcome to the first blog on cake construction.  I chose to put the “Siri” cake on the blog because of its challenges and because it was the first time I was attempting to build a tall, upright, 3D carved cake.  I made lots of mistakes along the way, and would definitely do it differently next time around, but I learned an enormous amount.  It also gave me the opportunity to share the making of the cake with the lovely lady who will be receiving this for her 30th birthday.

If you have better ways of doing this, or on reading it, have some handy tips and tricks for me, please share!


PREPARATION



I decided against Styrofoam or rice crispies for portions of the model as I wanted it to be all cake, so I constructed it in three layers with a board between layers, supported with dowel and with a centre pole.

The cake took 2 x 10” square mud cakes, 2 x 9” round mud cakes and 1 x 8” round mud cake plus 4.8 kilos of couveture chocolate ganache.  While I had a small bowl of ganache left, there was very little cake left. 

SHAPING THE CAKES

   



I considered stacking all the cakes and then carving, but decided against it … went for building the shape a layer at a time.  Maybe I would have had a little more control over the shape (which I was not particularly happy with) if I had carved the stack … not sure.

To have reasonably even cakes (height wise) meant that the chest area was split between two separated layers .. again, perhaps not best for getting the shape perfect.  I was just fearful of making any one “supported” layer too heavy.  This did have it challenges though!  


I used ready to roll icing mixed into a skin colour from a base white to cover the cake.  I added brown, red and yellow colouring to the white to get the skin tone.  I only covered the top and the bottom of the cake to make it easier as the corset would cover the middle and I didn’t want too many layers of icing.  Once the skin colour had been rolled and applied, I used an airbrush with brown and orange colour to create shades and a deeper colour (not really obvious on the photo).


I used a darker icing for the nipples (just habit) but the corset would cover this anyway.



BLACK CORSET

The corset was once again made from ready to roll white icing, coloured black.  As I had made the bottom half of the cake a little longer than I had wanted (ideally would have liked a longer waist and less cake around the hip area), I also used the black to create a black g-string.






FINISHING TOUCHES


To finish the cake, I applied a flower and leaf glaze to add a nice “leather look” sheen without being too shiny.  I added shaping and ribbons to the back, a tattoo where I had made a mistake J and a diamonte necklace made from some silver twine (not edible), iced “S” and swavoski crystals.  I chose to add material ribbons as opposed to “icing” ribbons for a more authentic look.

Would love to hear any ideas of alternative methods of construction or tips that may have helped along the way.

Thanks for visiting :)

FOR MORE CAKES :  Please become a fan of my facebook page: EMSEN LANE CAKE ARTISTRY.





Saturday, July 24, 2010

Welcome to Post 1 !

Hi, welcome to the first blog entry for Emsen Lane Sugarcraft.  I've been encouraged to do this by so many people, I've finally succumbed !  I really have no idea what I'm doing, but I'll find my way eventually, I'm sure.

The idea behind creating this blog will be to share some of the trials, errors, successes and failures of some of the cakes that I'm attempting.  In a way, it's a personal growth log for myself but I'm sure if you are a decorator, it will also give you some tips and tricks, or at the very least, stop you from making some of the same mistakes!

There are a 1001 ways of doing everything, and by no means do I suggest that the way I do things are the quickest or the best.  While I have been fortunate enough to learn from some of Australia's best designers, as well as attend classes by some of our international stars, I'm still learning and stand in awe of the talent of those around me, envious of their skills and hoping that just a shed of what they do will one day rub off on me!

In saying that, I have also been fortunate enough to receive some wonderful feedback from those who have linked to my facebook page and while facebook shows the pictures, this blog is designed to show some of the excitement, frustrations, successes and failures behind some of those cakes.  

You can find these pictures on facebook by searching for EMSEN LANE CAKE ARTISTRY.

So, to get started ... coming up over the next month, I have:

  • A panda bear, a dog and a sportscar ... part of my continual training at Planet Cake, where I'm now fortunate enough to work one day a week
  • A 3D corset for a 30th !  (Really looking forward to this one)
  • A corporate cake, and
  • A naming day cake for my godson, turning 1.
Lots to blog about ... so see you back?