The ears concerned me because I thought they wouldn't dry in time and would droop and fall off. All the decorations were done in fondant except for the ears, which were made from gum paste because it dries and hardens faster. I made sure to make the ears a couple hours in advance to allow drying time (over night would have probably been best). I used very stiff black royal icing to attach them onto the cake and they seemed to hang on pretty well. I was also concerned about the ears during transportation but I think they made it to its final destination in tact. Just in case of the worst, I gave Aura an extra pair of ears and the rest of my black royal icing to take with her.
For this cake, I used my 40% off Michael's coupon to purchase Wilton's 37 Piece Alphabet and Number Cutters. I'm not really a fan of how the letters came out mainly because they were uneven. Some letters were chunkier than others. I will most likely be on the market for better alphabet cutters. I really like these and these.
I love the mini bow!
It makes me smile that she matches the cake. Happy birthday, Tori!
Thanks again, she loved it! The bows were my favorite part too!
ReplyDeletevery cute! looks really clean, and i also love how she matches her cake too.
ReplyDeleteHow much was this cake? This is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHi Shamika, I made this cake for a friend and I can't remember how much I charged her. Thanks for the compliment!
ReplyDeleteHow did you make the Ears?? I love it! I want to make a cake just like this for my daugther, but the Ears have me held up.
ReplyDeleteAny hints or tricks would be great!
Thanks
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while, but I will try my best to give you some helpful tips.
I used a mixture of gum paste and fondant. I don't remember the actual ratio of gum paste to fondant. As you can see the ears are a different color than the base of the hat and that's because it is really really difficult to create black fondant/gum paste by hand since it takes so much food coloring to do so. So, my suggestion would be to use black fondant (mainly for color) combined with gum paste (because it dries faster and harder than fondant) and you will at least have a base. Then you can add gel food coloring to deepen the black color.
Also, when I rolled out the mixture I kept one end of the dough thicker and gradually made it thinner. When I cut out the circles for the ears, I cut out a notch in the thicker end so that it would fit the curve of the hat and I would have more of a base on the ears to attach.
To attach the ears to the hat I used a stiff royal icing, which I colored black with gel food coloring.
I actually made a spare pair of ears and a cornet of the remaining black royal icing for my friend to take with her just in case a disaster happened. She didn't end up using it because the ears actually stayed put!
So, I think that's all the advice I can give you! I think you may have inspired me to write a tutorial since I get asked about the ears a lot!
Good luck!
What size baking pans did you use for this project? I'm extremely interested in making a replica of this cake for a birthday party. Any tips?
ReplyDeleteI believe I used 10 and 8 inch pans for the two round tiers and for the Minnie hat, I used a small Pyrex bowl.
ReplyDeleteI remember that it took quite awhile for the batter in the bowl to bake. I would suggest using a heating core or something.
Good luck!
I love this cake an would love to do something similar for my daughter's birthday next month. Did you cover Minnie's hat in fondant? Did it crease because of the shape? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen!
ReplyDeleteYes, I did cover Minnie's hat with fondant. I don't believe I had any trouble with the fondant creasing. I usually smooth and stretch the dough as a work around. Good luck with your cake!
-S