Many of us remember the Fisher Price record player with great fondness, so what better to mark a record-junkie’s 40th birthday than a replica in cake? As a Brit, I typically make a Victoria sponge but this was a traditional American yellow cake with chocolate frosting to invoke memories of childhood birthday celebrations. It was a great success, feeding 50-odd adult party-goers, with plenty to spare for the next day.
Bob Ross’s calming tones and wonderful attitude have spawned many memes, as well as gathering fans of all ages. How could I turn down the challenge of making an 8th birthday cake in his style? It turns out that his approach works really well with royal icing!
A 7th birthday cake for a little boy who’s really into rocketships. He and his party guests loved it!
Meet Edgar, the friendliest pug you could hope to meet, and his in-cake likeness, created to celebrate his owner’s 18th birthday.
I made his bed from chocolate Victoria sponge, sandwiched with vanilla buttercream, and covered it with grey fondant to which I added texture by pressing an irregular sieve into its surface. Then I carved Edgar from more cake and settled him on top, representing his fur using buttercream tinted to match his colouring. Black fondant formed his nose and ears, with pink for his tongue. I am told that he looked so lifelike, it almost too painful to cut into him. 🙂
A tribute to the wonderful Netflix Show, for a friend’s daughter’s Stranger Things-themed birthday party. The cake is vanilla sponge, rippled through with dark green “vines” connecting the “upside-down” with the real world, represented by the mirroring of the two halves. I used white royal icing to create the trees on the black half, then turned the cake through 180° and iced their negative in black onto the white half.
One of my absolute favourites!
This cake was created from an original piece of artwork by Aron’s friend Thomas Tapogna – look out for the name! He has drawn Smoofy in many guises, and this one is “Nerd Smoofy”, complete with pocket protector.
I started by cutting the cake to shape, and covering with white fondant, then added ears and arms moulded from extra fondant. With Tommy’s picture by my side, I iced in the drawing lines with black royal icing.
The kids all loved it, especially the artist himself!
Yet another superhero cake! And another opportunity for me to create an image in coloured royal icing.
Here is the birthday boy, looking very happy with the cake he commissioned.
He’d been very specific – Shaggy, asleep in the bed that he had made for the cats – and had even sent me photos!
I made a circular sponge cake to form the bed, and covered it with black fondant. Shaggy himself was carved to shape from several pieces of sponge cake, sandwiched together in place, and covered with buttercream I had tinted to match his coat. Final details – the lines of his eyes, black nose, green collar, black collar buckle, and multi-coloured cats were shaped from fondant and added last.
The final result was a pretty good likeness, I think 🙂
Jammie Dodgers are a quintessentially British, childhood favourite biscuit (cookie) – two layers of shortbread sandwiched with jam and buttercream.
Here are the originals, and the Doctor Who version, courtesy of Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook.
