Woohoo! Three posts in a day...*grins* This is my other big project ordered by another colleague and friend for her dad's birthday:
Yes, I kid you not....this was really for her Dad's 70th birthday! When at first she told me about a Nemo / under the sea theme, I was like cool...I thought she meant it for a nephew or niece. But then when she said it's for her dad, I asked if he would be okay with cartoon characters on his cake. She said it's something that she would like as well, seeing how she likes cute things and stuff....LOL! And then she proceeded to tell me that her dad is a fan of the arowana fish (which looks like THIS), but she knew that it was beyond my capabilities (thank goodness...whew!) so she wanted something that resembled the sea / water...hence, Nemo.
Another view of the whole cake...I loved the colors to say the least =) Another quite tedious job, considering I had to color the fondant many times over, but it was so worth it seeing how it came together *grins*
Cake was chocolate cake (yes, I keep getting a lot of chocolate cake orders...LOL!) with a strawberry puree filling in between the layers. The cake is then frosted with fresh cream and swirled with piping gel to create a 'water' effect. Initially I wanted to try and get the frosting as smooth as possible, but my frosting skills are still not up to par =/ Thank goodness this effect is a bit more forgiving in that the frosting does not need to look smooth. In fact, I was even told that the swirls looked like ripples of water...LOL! Blessing in disguise *grins* This was also my first time playing with luster dust...if you notice the fondant letters spelling out 'Happy 70th Birthday', they look a little shiny =) I loved how the number 70 turned out. I used a little pearl luster dust mixed with a few drops of lemon extract to get a 'paint' texture and brushed it over the yellow letters. The red ones got disco dusted, but the effect didn't turn out so well as I tried the same method...only to have the dust stick to my brush more than on the fondant -_-" After that, I found out that I'm supposed to just wet the fondant a little bit and sprinkle on disco dust instead of brushing it on. *sigh* Trial and errors, no?
Close up on the main characters....'Nemo' is not an exact replica, but I guess for a first time, it was OK. LOL! I underestimated the difficulty of making this little fella that I spent almost 2 hours trying to get him right =P The little strips of black and white took me ages to 'perfect' and stick on. Clumsy fingers and a sleepy head didn't help either. LOL! 'Dory' on the other hand took considerably less time as I've had a bit of practice with 'Nemo', but I think I prefer 'Nemo' over 'Dory' any time =P My 'Dory' needed WAY more practice to perfect. LOL!
My favorite to make was actually little 'Squirt' here! His coloring was the hardest to get right....I botched one attempt, mixing colors till the color resembled mud. Eww. Second time around, I tried it with some green, yellow and if I remember correctly, a very SLIGHT drop of brown. Still not quite there, but it did ok for my turtle =P I dropped him a little too hard onto the frosting that he sunk into it....oops! But still cute nonetheless *wink*
Little whales and starfishes! The whales are surprisingly easy to make as well, though I had a little 'mishap' as I was delivering the cake to my friend. I had set the cake box (containing the fully decorated cake) in the front seat of the car and was just about to start the car when I heard a thud from the cake box. O.O" Opening the cake box I saw the little whale on top of the cake (pictured behind Nemo in the third photo above) had slid down and off the cake!! OMG! It turned out that the position of the car seat made the cake box a little slanted, hence the cake was a little lopsided causing the whale to slide down. Frantically, I went back inside to grab my spatula and tried my best to smooth back the frosting as much as I can...position the cake upright properly in the seat and set the little whale back in its place. It sat back okay, but the little 'spout' of water went missing. *sigh* I had no time to remake the spout, so the whale had to go without =( Lesson learnt: be ever prepared for any mishaps that might occur when delivering cakes to your clients!
Little crab with some corals and seaweed at the sides of the cake =) I had so much fun making the corals and seaweed...so easy really. I just wish I did these a bit earlier so that the fondant would have enough time to dry and harden a bit...then when I put it on the cake, they wouldn't go limp so easily, especially with this fresh cream cake that had to be chilled in the fridge before hand.
All in all, I'm quite happy with the results of these few projects =) Got good reviews from my friends as well...so let's hope for more orders coming my way so I can keep honing these skills! *crosses fingers*
Excellent job with all your bakings!! I'm sure there will be more orders coming your way ;) I really like your Mickey Mouse cake! Seriously looks like from a pro baker :D Mind to share where to get the fondant?
There are so many techniques and tools that you used which I didn't know at all. Glad that you are sharing it here :P Keep it up!!
Thanks Vivian! I sure hope so :) I got this brand of fondant from a shop called City Bakers in Kota Damansara...it's just a few shops further down from ICCA if you know where that is :) The brand is called Velvet La Glace. I'm thinking of trying another brand called Satin Ice...it's from the US, and apparently it's quite good too. Bit more pricey than even the Velvet La Glace, but if it's good it might be worth it ;)
Haha, a lot of the techniques I tried out also I saw from other cake / cookie decorating blogs wan. Else I also wouldn't know :P