Canadian Creative

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Creating Tinkerbell (pt 2)

If you missed the first half, you might want to see it first.

OK, I have to admit it was getting late and I forgot about taking pics for a minute. But anyways, I rolled out the remaining beige fondant and cut 2 pieces to wrap around the cake. I then scored the outside of it using a knife, making various vertical cuts to give the appearance of bark. Once it was slightly dried, I painted the outside using watered down brown gel.


Then I added age rings to the top.


And added rabbits, a snail, and toadstools. All of these were made by coloring fondant and then just modelling them like using clay.


Next I added leaves, made from 2 shades of green fondant, cut with a leaf shape cutter, and scored (veined) using a toothpick. I stick both figures and leaves to the cake with special "glue" - water or clear vanilla work equally well.


Last but not least, we add a plastic Tinkerbell from the "Disney Fairies" collection ($6 at TRU). She liked to lay down quite a bit. I suppose I could have actually stuck her into the fondant top, but I didn't feel like cleaning fondant off her feet.
Voila! Completed cake!


I really enjoyed making both cakes, but I was particularly pleased with how the Tink cake turned out. I took the basic idea from a cake book my brother gave me for Christmas and just modified it to suit me.

One of the toughest things I've had to learn when decorating was to be creative! I constantly remind myself I can do whatever I want, and it doesn't need to be exactly like something I've seen. And since I figured that out, I've started enjoying making cakes even more!

Creating Tinkerbell's Woodland (pt 1)

H chose a Tinkerbell theme and gave me full rein to do what I wanted. So I had a little fun.

I started with two 8" round cakes, made from a Duncan Hines Devil's Food mix. Before filling, I ring the cake with a stiff buttercream icing to act as a dam.


Then I fill the cake with a vanilla pudding mix made thicker than normal by reducing the milk to 1 1/2 cups instead of 2.


Add the second layer (whoops, looks like I overfilled with pudding slightly... oh well, I can fix that by adding some extra buttercream in the middle to fill in the hole).


Then I cover with buttercream. Again, I don't worry about smoothing it out as I plan to cover the whole thing with fondant.


Kinda hard to see here, but I've tinted some fondant a beige color and cut an 8" circle out of it after rolling to about 1/4" thick. I then laid the circle on top to create the top of my stump.

CReating the Genevieve cake (pt 2)

If you missed part 1, go back and read it first!

Next, I color fondant to the same shade as Genevieve's top using mostly pink with a hint of violet. I roll it out to a circle and lay it over the white fondant. Using my fingers, I create "flares" over where I laid the fondant cones earlier. I then add more Wilton Luster Dust, just brushing it on while the fondant is still slightly tacky.


Last but not least, I add the Wilton teen Doll Pick for her upper body. Because their head looks nothing like Barbie, I "borrowed" Genevieve's head, top, and jewelery from the actual Barbie. I did notice that Barbie seems to have scaled back her anatomical dimensions whereas Wilton seems to follow the old school, as the top was a tight fit in the chest and I had to tape the back to make sure it would stay on! Voila! Completed cake!

Creating the Princess Genevieve Cake (pt 1)

I was asked for step-by-step photos on how I do some of these cakes. So I'm starting with the two I did this weekend for the girls' birthday parties.

Princess Genevieve, as requested by Miss A.

In the beginning - the basic cake, made in the Wilton Wonder Mold pan with a poundcake variation on a Duncan Hines box mix.


Then I cover it with a buttercream icing that I make. I don't worry about smoothing too much as I plan to cover the whole thing with fondant.


Next I add six fondant "cones" about 8" long to create the flares in her skirt.


Then I roll out white fondant to a large circle and cover the whole cake, making sure it's smooth. This is the underskirt. I brush it with Wilton's luster dust (an edible glitter)

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Totem Poles





Totem Poles
White Rock, British Columbia, Canada

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

sailboats......


White Rock Beach, British Columbia

What I plan to do

I wanted to create a separate blog to post some of the things I do as hobbies. Photography, knitting, crocheting, and cake decorating in particular. Swiped the idea from my friend Shannon, and I hope I enjoy it as much as she does!