Friday, April 24, 2009

Sugar Wonders Cake Show

Exactly two years ago was when I made my first serious decorated cake, and it was for the same cake show that I entered again this weekend.   The cake I made that time was the Rose and Hydrangea Cake on my website, and I love looking between the two to see how much I have progressed.

This cake was an absolute monster for me to make!  I estimate that it took me about 30 hours, which honestly seems a bit excessive and ridiculous to admit, but all I know is that I had 8 hour days Monday through Thursday, and even spent more time on it on Friday and even last week some, too.  Yikes!

When I first sketched this cake on paper, I was planning on only using black, pink and a little white.  But it looked and seemed a little blah.  I love color, and in the end decided that a great pop of color would be to use turquoise ribbon, and I am so glad I did, because it really helps with the color scheme.

So, I will start at the top.  I made the same type of bow that I made for my gift box cake last weekend (good practice!) and it is absolutely drenched in White Sparkle Dust.  I used the grosgrain roller again, and of course added the pretty little pearls.  I also lined all the ribbons on the cake with the pearls as well.  That took a ton of time!

For the box top, I wanted eyelet lace.  I purchased some eyelet cutters online, and then rolled out gumpaste at a number 2 on my pasta machine.  Once the panels were rolled out, I used a scalloped cutter for the edges and then used the eyelet cutters.  The next step was to very carefully wrap the panel around the outside edge of the cake.  The holes were then overpiped with white royal icing. 
 
The black filgree was done with my Stephen Benison cutters.  Also, the top of the box is gumpaste, and then edged with teeny tiny little pearls, that I hand painted with vodka and luster dust.

The middle tier was hand quilted with a stitching tool.  At the junctions I used ribbon roses, and hand painted sugar pearls.  I also did a quilted black gumpaste top and panels for the lid, and lined them in white pearls.  
  
The bottom tier is black stripes with a Swiss Dot design, also in black.  The box top to this one is also gumpaste eyelet, and also overpiped in royal icing.  I also added more gumpaste pearls where the box top and lace meet.
  
After completing the three tiers, I changed my design a tiny bit.  At first I had planned on making this into a topsy turvy cake, by placing each tier on slanted styrofoam wedges, a la Collette Peters.  Instead, though, I decided to fill the bottom space of each tier with a lush amount of ribbon roses, liberally dusted with luster dust, again.

The cake board was covered in black fondant and then, loving the turquoise color, using my filigree cutter to decorate it.  It is finished off in a pretty pink beaded trim.

I am happy to say that I received 2nd place in my division-not too shabby.  :)

Also this week, I took on a cake for a client that I really like, Ashley.  (We both have sons named Nathaniel who are approx. the same age.).  She wanted my Cupcake Cake, and I changed it just a little.  It looks beautiful in person! 

The inside is White Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Frosting.

Happy First Birthday Ruby!!!

4 comments:

L Stamz said...

Wow Summer, they are both gorgeous! You did an amazing job. Congrats on the placing, you deserve great things!!!

Melissa said...

I just found your blog, and I must say that you are truly amazing! You do such wonderful work... every one of your cakes are beautiful! Congrats on placing 2nd... i'd like to see what the first place cake was like... because yours is absolutely stunning!

Summer Rippe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Summer Rippe said...

Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate your kind words. :)

The first place cake was very different from mine. It was 2 tiers, black and forest green, with a martini glass on the top. It was meticulously done, which I think is what the judges are most interested in. The artist's name is Roxanne Dickens-congrats to her for a job well done!

© Butterfly Sweets. Powered by