3-Cake Weekend - Part I

What is it about May and birthdays?  It seems like the majority of the people we know have May birthdays which means that every May we have at least one birthday party every weekend!  I guess people just get that lovin' feeling when the weather starts to cool off and the holiday season draws closer...

This year, more birthdays equals more cakes for me to make...yipee!  The weekend of the 21st of May, 2011 will always be remembered as the 3-cake weekend.  Not only did I have to make three cakes for three separate birthdays, but I had to shuttle my kids around to three different parties!  You might think I'm crazy for piling all of this onto my plate in one weekend, but I just couldn't say "no".  I'll explain below and in my subsequent posts.

Cake #1 - Tulsi's Carnival Carousel Cake

I was asked at the beginning of the month to make a cake shaped like a circus tent for a carnival-themed birthday party.  Although I had never done a shaped cake or a cake with such detail before and I knew that the weekend it needed to be ready for was going to be crazy, I couldn't say "no".  I think that it is so important as a creative artist (or for anyone in any profession for that matter) to continually do things that are challenging and scare you.  That's the only way you can become better at what you do.

At first I wasn't sure how I would make the pointed top of the cake.  Initially I thought molding the top out of rice crispy treats would be the way to go, but after giving it some thought, I decided to make a separate cake and just carve it into the shape that I wanted.  It was a messy task, but it worked really well.

Here is an image of the top after I iced it and covered it with fondant.

Top view

Finished cake and top ready to be assembled

Detail of fondant carousel horse I made to match graphics at the party

Tulsi's carousel carnival cake - Vanilla butter cake with vanilla buttercream

Stay tuned for parts II & III!