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Friday, August 29, 2008

Castle Cake For My Girl























I am so, so behind my posts. And I identify this as the culprit. I want to publish this post first among those backlogs as it is Ah Girl's 5th birthday today. She had requested for a castle cake earlier (initial choice was Ben 10, *faints*). Before this, I was clueless about fondant, royal icing and let alone decorating a cake. All my past bakes have been 'naked'. But to make Ah Girl's wish come true and a cake for her to remember, I decided to try make it for her instead of ordering.

Having accomplised this cake marks a milestone for me. So now is the time for me to give a 'thank-you' speech. Please bear with me. A couple of months back, I wrote to KWF and Edith for their advice. They responded and that gave me an idea how to proceed. Gina not only gave me tips but also gave me some colour gels. My sis, J lent me her silicone mat and Moss Green colour gel. The green colour would be impossible without it. And there is Yuri who cheered me on. The credit is not solely mine. Most importantly, I would like to thank the blog owner of Cake Journal. I followed her tutorials on Royal Icing and Marshmallow Fondant.























So this is supposed to be a 'Sleeping Beauty' castle. I left the space on top for the Princess Aurora figurine. But I forgot to put it there when I took these pictures. Tsk. Can't blame myself too much, I took these pictures at 3 in the morning! Prior to this, I made alot of planning and even wanted to do a trial run on this but couldn't find time. I made the fondant last Sunday at my mom's. I used my Chocolate Pound Cake recipe to bake an 8 inch and a 5 inch cake in the morning. This part was the easiest. After cooling, I crumb coat them with chocolate ganache. Most of the time spent was cutting out the flowers. I discovered that 1 of the plungers broke but still usable. Kinda slowed me further. By about 8p.m., it was time to cover the cake. I got abit worried as I have only 1 shot. Fortunately, all went well. The turrets were made of 'Smarties' Chocolate marbles. I wrapped the fondant around the bottle. I had to saw 1 cm off the ice cream cones as they were slightly too big. The middle piece was made of chocolate wafer, wrapped with fondant. The sides were covered with royal icing and sparkles.























Though tired, I had fun. I am thinking of doing this for a friend already! When Ah Girl woke up and saw the cake, she was elated! I got a hug and she said, 'I love you mommy!'. That was all I need, it made my effort seemed worthwhile. The cake was not perfect, I know because I hid the flaws. But to her, it was something she could show off to her friends and proudly declared it was made by her mommy. Her own special cake. Happy Birthday my dear girl, I love you too!

I didn't have anymore time for another cake for the teachers but am glad that the teachers liked the cake too. Putting the cake together took longer than I expected. They thought it was store-bought. Ahahaha.. I still have Ah Boy's cake done earlier coming up next. Stay tuned.

じゃね~~

16 comments:

Yuri said...

Hey Rei, great job, super well done, esp for effort! It's really really beautiful, no flaws at all.

quizzine said...

Your castle cake is really awesome, and it didnt look like you are the first time making this! I'm sure any kids would be elated with this beautiful cake ;-) How I wish i can bake this one of these days.....

JY said...

Very stunning for a starter.. Good job, well done!
Happy Birthday to your ah Girl.

Happy Homebaker said...

What a pretty cake you have made! It certainly looks better than store-bought ones :) Great job! and Happy Birthday to your daughter!

ganache-ganache said...

wow, this cake is so gorgeous ! Fondant is one thing that I've always wanted to but still scared to do it, you r so good !!! how did you transport the cake to school ?

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi Rei,
This is really a very fantastic cake! Congratulations on your success in churning out this wonderful cake! I've always known how fondant & royal icing can do to a cake, but never picked up the courage to really do it yet. I thought it was lots of works. How long did it take you to decide on an idea, and start preparing for it? Also, how did you measure the proportion? :p Thanks for sharing!

Gina Choong said...

rei, very good job! very daring attempt without any trials or even hand holding session. :) now WF and you can be Castle builders!

Rei said...

Thanks all for your kind comments and well wishes!

Yuri : I hid the flaws. Hee~~

Ganache2 : The school is just block away, just walk there. Was afraid I might trip along the wat though. Ahah..

PAB : I'm more of a last minute and hands on person. So the preparation (fondant) was just a week before the actual day. I perceived the idea in mind for months but couldn't visualise the final product until the week before. I couldn't even draw out a draft.

I decided the colour theme first. The picture of it came clearer when I covered the cake with fondant. Ahah.. It is alot of work. It took me about 8 hours, not including the drying out time for the fondant flowers. But I attribute it to my inexperience.

I did not measure how much I need. I just made more (2 batches of fondant). Fortunately, it was just enough. But not enough if errors occur. So it was a close shave.

KWF said...

wow, rei, very impressive! Great looking castle! Your piping skills very good liao. Makes me itch to build another one for my little girl. Her birthday in Oct, but I don't think I will have the time coz I will be the royal maid of the royal family then....hahaha....

Gina Choong said...

Rei, as John Scully puts it in his book "From Pepsi to Apple", "The Journey is the REWARD!".

Edith said...

sorry for the late comment. My PC got virus.

Great effort and a wonderful job done. I am sure your little princess was very happy on that day.

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

wow, this must've taken a week to plan n make. lucky daughter to have such a talented n loving mom. happy birthday to ur princess!

Rei said...

kwf : Thanks!

Gina : Aptly put. :D

Edith : Hope all's fine now. Yah, I received lots of hugs from her after that. Ahaha..

Terri : Thanks! It's not that tough after trying it out. Just that I don't advise doing all the work on the same day. Will kill your back!

kel said...

The cake looks awesome, really admire your work, well done!

Emily said...

Oh Goodness! What a fantastic job you did! Truly a master piece!

Unknown said...

Hi Hi, nice cake done up. I am also trying to make a castle cake for my girl this June...however wish to get some advise from you before i start my hands going.

1. may I know which brand of Marsh mellow you buy? from NTUC?

2. Also before I apply the fondant over the cake what must I apply to the cake in order to allow fondant stick to the cake? Did you let ur fondant sit for a day before using it?

3. Would like to make some accessories with fondant (eg..door and windows), how do I let it stick on the 1st fondant layer?

4. Heard that fondant will sweat..how to prevent it as I will be going it 1-2 days before the day.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.
Audrey