I love the story and adore each and every character. I would probably make all of them if only the cake was larger and comfortable for everyone.
Inside, there is a rich chocolate cake, moistened with kirsch syrup, filled with strawberry jam and kirsch-flavored Swiss buttercream. The figures are molded from gum paste. The only thing inedible is a bee-holding wire.
I was asked to make “something with snowflakes and red skis” for a little boy’s 2nd birthday celebration. His early affection to skiing doesn’t come as a surprise since the kid lives in Whistler.
The cake was chocolate filled with milk and white chocolate ganache. The bear is from gum paste.
This cake is one of my favorite Christmas things to bake. Not a fruitcake, but a buttery almond pound cake with tons of brandy-soaked fruits, it is still can be made well in advance (about a week beforehand is good enough for me). Orange marmalade and Grand Marnier glaze keeps the cake moist and fragrant.
I have made it before, but this year there’re gumpaste Snowmen instead of Santas. The decorations are obviously quite easy (everyone can roll little balls in the palms), although extremely monotonous and time-consuming. I started tilting the snowmen’s heads to the sides to make them not-so-alike and keep myself from boredom. Anyway, decorated or not, the cake is delicious and perfect for the holidays.
And now, I’m announcing the lucky winner of the Top Chef giveaway. It’s… Irene (comment left on December 15th, 2009 at 11:57 am)! Congratulations! There is also a little surprise: I decided to give away the Top Chef Season 5 DVD as well. The second winner is… Grace (December 11th, 2009 at 3:38 am)! Irene, Grace, please, e-mail me your postal addresses and I’ll ship the goodies to you. Thank you everyone for the participation!
I promise the next post will contain a new recipe, something seasonal, perhaps. But now I’ve got only time for a photo series of another decorated birthday cake. I hope you don’t mind. And thank you, all of you, who left such lovely comments on my previous post. I’m very much obliged to each and everyone!
Deep inside of this thing are two chocolate cake and ganache sandwiches (four thin chocolate layers in total) with a crisp hazelnut meringue and Swiss vanilla buttercream between them. Frosting is the same vanilla buttercream.
Meringue is not what I particularly like to put under the fondant. But the client was persuasive. I just kept the cake in the fridge all the time, taking it off for a short period of time to attach the ribbons, bow, and circle cut-outs.
It’s been awhile since I posted any decorated cakes that I make. So, I decided to share some cake photos with you. This is one of my recent creations.
The baby’s favorite toy is a frog and it determined the theme. All decorative elements are made either from gum paste or fondant. Everything is edible except the wire.
This is a chocolate almond cake filled and frosted with chocolate mussolini with armagnac-soaked prunes folded into the filling portion. Obviously, the cake is intended for parents’ consumption. Poor Nicki will only be allowed to blow the candle - quite a tease for a little guy. Although, I agree that it’s not yet the time to introduce sweets into his diet.
Happy Birthday, Nicki!
This is only as far as my automechanical skills go. The cake is fondant-covered; the Lightning McQueen is made of gum paste. Everything is edible, of course.
Inside are three layers of lemon cake moistened with lemon syrup, white chocolate and cream cheese filling, and Swiss lemon buttercream. The cake is 9×13-inch, over 3-inch tall; the cartoon character is about 4-inch long.
