Adventures in Icing
Why would anyone make a cake without drawing on it? I don't make a lot of cakes, but when I do, and when I remember to take a photo, I'll post 'em here. Before you forward any of this to cakewrecks, remember, they do not post amateur cakes, no matter how amateurish!
MukMuk cake
May 2010. My sister suggested that "we" make a cake for her pal, Chris, on his birthday. They went to the Olympics this year and apparently grew fond of MukMuk the mascot (who wouldn't?) I used the frozen buttercream method again (see the bear cake, below), leaving a bit of space for candles.
Bear cake
February 2010. This is a birthday cake I made for a pair of grad students who had been hired to photograph Northwest coast art/artifacts for a project I'm working on. The design is adapted from Xhuwaji / Haida Grizzly Bear, by Bill Reid, which also appears on the Canadian $20 bill. Because I wanted to accurately copy the outline of the original design, I used the frozen buttercream transfer method, which allows you to trace the design, with icing, directly from a drawing or print-out onto wax paper, and then you transfer it onto the cake. It worked well, I think!
Packer cake
Oct 2009. Poor James has the Redskins for a hometown team, but he was lucky enough to marry into a Cheesehead family, so now he has two favorite teams. He wanted a football themed birthday cake, and I'll be gosh-darned if I'm going to make a Redskins cake.
Money bird cake
Oct. 2008. I made this cake when our friends came back to the US from a stint in Palau, a wee island in the Pacific. I am a big fan of Palauan art and architecture, so I used a money bird motif, based on this photo taken of me at the Palauan capital in Melekeok:
The circles with a cross in the middle symbolize money, and the bird brings prosperity and the like. So here's the cake:
Octopus cake
Oct 2006. Here's a birthday cake I made for James and me (our birthdays 4 days apart). It's carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I am currently working on an octopus quilt, so I thought I'd make an octopus cake too, and call it a series:
That cake lasted all of 10 minutes before it was eaten by a mob.
Sugar Skulls
Oct 2006. Okay, I love skeletons (here's my wedding cake), and the only time of year when this love is socially acceptable is Day of the Dead. As www.mexicansugarskulls.com says:
Sugar Skulls are a traditional folk art from Southern Mexico used to celebrate Day of the Dead. Mounds of colorful sugar skulls are sold by Indian vendors in open air village markets during the week preceding the holiday. Spirits of the dead are welcomed back to their homes with beautifully decorated altars made by their loved ones. Sugar skulls, marigolds, candles, incense and special foods adorn home altars. Families take the flowers and sugar skulls to the cemetery to decorate the tombs on November 2. Sugar skulls are colorfully decorated with icing, pieces of bright foil, colored sugars and usually bear the name of the deceased loved one being honored.
I've been meaning to make these for years, but always forgot to order the molds until it was too late. In 2006, I got my act together. These were pretty easy to make, but let me tell you, sugar was everywhere. And the Tuna Cat was constantly threatening to eat them (wha?) Here's a cute demo of how they are made.
I kept them in the oven because I have no kitchen counter space, what with all the veterinary supplies.
