I Need A Nap .

So this week was incredibly busy, so much that I am now ready to curl up and take a long, long nap.
About a month ago, I got a "last minute" (in the wedding world, anyway) order for a 4 tiered version of my very large wedding cake-the white Sparkly Cake. The only change was that they wanted red bows in place of the white ones.
The hardest part of this cake was the baking. The cake sizes are 6-9-12-15, which doesn't mean a lot until you see the sizes of the pans. When I shopped for supplies, I underestimated how much would be needed (I had only bought 6 dozen eggs, 18 cups of sour cream and 4 lbs of butter. It wasn't nearly enough). And when an ice storm hit during the week, I couldn't go out to get the rest of the supplies I sorely needed to get some of this work done! Ack!
The top tier is White Cake with Chocolate Mousse and Vanilla Buttercream. The 2nd tier is Italian Cream with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberry Buttercream. The 3rd tier is Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Mousse and Raspberry Buttercream, and the bottom tier is Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting. Phew! I would love to be able to say I took this on like superwoman and it was a breeze, but it actually took me hours upon hours upon hours, and I was beyond exhausted. Luckily, the decorating process wasn't nearly as bad!
So, as before, this cake is dusted with Super Pearl. The rhinestones are not edible, but are beautiful and stunning. There is just something about walking into a room with such a sparkling cake that catches the eye. The pipe work this time is a little more elaborate and elegant since the cake I made last year. I think it brings the cake up a notch and was done in Royal Icing.
This bride also wanted a Bleeding Armadillo Groom's Cake, ala Steel Magnolias. He is so cute! His insides are Red Velvet (for the "bleeding") with Cream Cheese Frosting. His body is cake, but his head is Rice Krispie treats. For the decor, I saw a similar cake online and followed their basic design scheme, with a few extra details. The body was covered in grey fondant, then in scales which I made with the wide part of a piping tip. I also added on some stripes. For the scales on the face, I used the small part of a #5 tip, and imprinted them all over. This is quite time consuming! His eyes were made with a leaf cutter, and the ears were free form.
The tail is a long rope of fondant, and his toes and claws are also ropes of fondant. I imprinted the scales on the toes in the same way I did the face. My husband thought that I should add a tongue hanging from the side of his mouth, but I don't know, he looks too happy for that! I think he is adorable, and I am pretty proud of it.
I also had a birthday cake this weekend, but was too tired to remember to get a photo of it. It was like my zoo animal cakes, but with monkeys only. The colors were dark brown, yellow and red. There were two smash cakes that came with it, also with monkeys. It was pretty cute, and I think the client liked it.
Well, it was a very productive cake week, and I am very proud of my work. But, I am off to bed for the rest of the weekend to catch up on all the TV I missed of my Tivo!