Monday, January 28, 2008

Final Happy Birthday to Kookybites (& Joe!)

This weekend we had the final celebration for Steve's birthday. Our friend Joe is also celebrating a January birthday, so what better way to celebrate both than with a joint birthday cake? Steve and Joe are both photographers, hence the photography-themed cake.

I normally just make MM fondant, cover the cake, and call it a day. However, I wanted to try my hand at making a cake that was a little more fun and tackle molding people and animals out of fondant, so I bought a little box of Wilton fondant for that and stuck with the MM fondant for covering the cake. Having now worked with storebought fondant, I don't think I would choose to cover a cake with it unless I had to - the chemical smell was a bit much!

I've recently discovered a new blog of someone who is a complete fondant artist - The Journal of a Girl who Loves to Cook. Her B-Boy Cake is a great example of her ability to work with fondant at a great level of detail. My first attempt (ok, about third by the time I was done), was not quite as beautiful to look at.

But he at least looked like a person. And I was quite proud of his hair. The ad hoc leather messenger bag I made out of the leftovers was loved by everyone (hooray for last-minute additions).

The penguins came a bit easier, but again, they're not exactly works of art. But Steve loves penguins, so he was happy.


Overall, the cake was a hit with everyone at the party, but didn't receive an 'A' from my critical eye. I do feel like my craftsmanship has greatly improved - I'm getting the height I've wanted from my cakes, and am much more successful at creating a level, flat cake. And, it didn't taste too bad either - chocolate butter cake with Oreo buttercream filling (because who doesn't love Oreos?!).

4 comments:

Emily said...

SO cute!! I love that little penguin. I think you did a terrific job. If I tried making anything with fondant, it would probably look really screwed up.

I went and checked out that site, you pointed out. It's a good blog.

I've been thinking about making bagels. What would happen if I skipped the boiling process?

Laura said...

Thanks, Emiline!

If you didn't boil the bagels, they wouldn't get the toughness to the skin, which is what makes the bagel. Boiling them was actually my favorite part - they get all wrinkly! I was able to boil about 3 or 4 at a time, so it went fast. I believe it was a mixture of sugar and baking soda in the boiling water. But you notice a definite different in the dough when you boil 'em, so don't skip that step! :)

kooky said...

i do like penguins, and i loved this cake! it was so good and filling that everyone at the party just wanted to go to bed after eating it :)

Tracy said...

I thought your cake was amazing! I love the penguins!