A simple balloon to mark a little girl’s first birthday, this cake was carved to shape and covered in pale yellow fondant. Text, decoration and the balloon’s ribbon were piped in place using orange-tinted royal icing.
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Hard Work ● Discipline ● Determination
The “Hard Work ● Discipline ● Determination” logo was created by a graphic designer friend for her son’s 5th birthday party. The cake extends the martial arts theme by incorporating his orange belt and the stripe he had recently been awarded.
This incarnation was a layered sponge coated with fondant and royal icing run-outs but the basic design has since been recreated in various guises, including several ice-cream versions.
Tower of Blocks for 1st Birthday
For this unique and playful first birthday cake, I cut out 12 squares of cake, in three graduated sizes, and sandwiched them together to form three cubes. I then covered them in white fondant, piling them on top of each other to form the kind of tower a child might build.
Simple decorations made from coloured fondant were added to each face as the finishing touches.
(On the same day, my son, while on the trampoline, added “finishing touches” to his own face that resulted in a trip to the emergency room!)
Belle (from Beauty and the Beast)
For this Belle cake, I started with a dark haired Barbie. I assembled circular layers of sponge and buttercream, making a hole in the centre in which she could stand (hygienically wrapped in plastic, of course) – and was rather surprised by just how out of proportion her legs were, compared with the rest of her body!
The cake was carved to show the drape of her skirts and covered with fabric of pale yellow fondant, adding a bodice to match. Accents of white icing and a hand-made rose completed the impression of Beauty about to dance with her lovely Beast.
Belle in a Book
When asked to create a Belle cake for a little girl who is an avid reader, this cake seemed the obvious response.
I found and printed a picture I liked, placed it in a clear zipper bag and piped over it, adding each element of Belle’s image in the different colours. Once I was happy with how she looked, I let the runout dry then carefully removed it from the plastic.
While it was drying out, I made several rectangular cakes and sandwiched them together into a single cake, carving it to represent an open book with pages curving in towards the spine and sloping at the edges. I covered this in white fondant, added a pink surround for the cover and piped in the text. Finally, I glued Belle’s image in place (with icing) and added a blue book mark.
The birthday girl was thrilled!
Goal!
Using the party invitation as inspiration, I created a shield-shaped base from layers of cake and buttercream frosting. I covered this with fondant in light blue, navy and white, and finished it off with lettering made from royal icing runouts.
The 3D ball was moulded from a mix of cake crumbs and buttercream wrapped in white fondant and decorated with black pentagons to create the universally-recognisable soccer-ball pattern. Stitching detail was then added using a brush dipped in black food colouring. The perfect centre-piece to a soccer-themed party!
Snowman with Scarf, Robin & Carrot Nose
Another of my absolute favourites, this cake was made for a Kindergarten class and the delight on their faces made all the effort worthwhile. All the details are moulded from coloured fondant or marzipan – including the robin and holly on his hat – except for the nose, which is a real carrot!
Playing Basketball
This was a 17th birthday cake for a young man who, at 6′ 8″ and still growing, is, unsurprisingly, a keen basketball player. I started with a rectangle assembled from layers of cake and buttercream and covered it with coloured fondant. The baskets and backboards are royal icing runouts, with the lines and nets piped in place in white royal icing.
Picking up on one of the birthday boy’s other interests, a Lego Harry Potter was placed at the free throw line.
Exterminate! Exterminate!
Coming from a country where Doctor Who has been part of our DNA since it first appeared on BBC TV in the early ’60s, this was a great opportunity to introduce The Daleks to a class of American second graders.
I mocked up a template to work out size and shape then constructed the base from layers of chocolate and vanilla sponge, cut to shape. I used the template to make runouts of light grey royal icing for the side panels and attached them to the base with a layer of dark grey buttercream, then piping on the dalek bumps.
The dome was made separately, with cake layers carved into an hemisphere, covered and trimmed in dark grey fondant, then glued in place with more buttercream.Eyestalk, gun mount and telescopic manipulator arm were formed from fondant wrapped around a wooden skewer, with details piped on in royal icing.
After a short introduction to The Doctor and his arch enemies, the children effectively destroyed their first Dalek. (…though we have yet to convert many of them to Doctor Who fans!)
(If you want to find out more about Doctor Who and the Daleks, here is the official BBC website and some useful info on Wikipedia.)