2D 1
Paper Airplanes
by Jayme Ballentine @jaymelouise · submitted Aug 17, 2011 · 2011 contest
1 / 23
Description
I can honestly say this cake was full trial and error. I tried something and then I got an error. Unfortunately, it wasn't an error that could be fixed with command + Z.
I started out with the fabulous idea of doing a zebra inside cake. I made the chocolate batter and white batter. Then carefully pour 3 tablespoons of each into the center of 2 baking pans. I was a little rambunctious when waiting for them to cool so I ended up taking them out of the pans too early. I thought they were fine so I let them cool on the rack. Once I tried to frost them I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to use them. One of the sides crumbled and it was back to square one.
To make up for the disaster I used a simple yellow cake mix. I mixed up the batter again and popped them in the oven. I learned from my lesson and let them cool longer. I also added extra flour to the pan this time. This time the cakes stayed together while frosting but they lacked the height I was looking for. I took the cakes to my mom's, she did her motherly magic and BOOM! I had the perfect cake base complete WITH smoother frosting.
This was my first time working with fondant and like I said it was trial and error the entire time. The first time I tried to work with it I got frustrated and quit. And there sat my cake for the next 4 days. I finally decided that I was going to wake up early on Monday morning (the deadline) and finish this thing. I finished everything but the window details in about 3 hours. I had to stop and go to this silly thing called 'work'. I came home and knocked out the last of the details and took the final pictures.
Once I figured out how to use the fondant it was smooth sailing... until I had to do the people. It was easy to eyeball the proportion of window to tree but making the people proportionate to the other items were a whole other story. It took some measuring and redos but I finally got things looking right again.
I was kind of scared to cut my cake. I wasn't sure how it'd look since the dye had leaked into the yellow cake. It turns out it only looked gross- it was delicious!
To recap:
-Let the cakes cool
-My mom is the bees knees
-Fondant is a lot like play-doh
-There aren't any command + Z's in cake baking
-Black frosting and yellow cake do not mix well
I started out with the fabulous idea of doing a zebra inside cake. I made the chocolate batter and white batter. Then carefully pour 3 tablespoons of each into the center of 2 baking pans. I was a little rambunctious when waiting for them to cool so I ended up taking them out of the pans too early. I thought they were fine so I let them cool on the rack. Once I tried to frost them I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to use them. One of the sides crumbled and it was back to square one.
To make up for the disaster I used a simple yellow cake mix. I mixed up the batter again and popped them in the oven. I learned from my lesson and let them cool longer. I also added extra flour to the pan this time. This time the cakes stayed together while frosting but they lacked the height I was looking for. I took the cakes to my mom's, she did her motherly magic and BOOM! I had the perfect cake base complete WITH smoother frosting.
This was my first time working with fondant and like I said it was trial and error the entire time. The first time I tried to work with it I got frustrated and quit. And there sat my cake for the next 4 days. I finally decided that I was going to wake up early on Monday morning (the deadline) and finish this thing. I finished everything but the window details in about 3 hours. I had to stop and go to this silly thing called 'work'. I came home and knocked out the last of the details and took the final pictures.
Once I figured out how to use the fondant it was smooth sailing... until I had to do the people. It was easy to eyeball the proportion of window to tree but making the people proportionate to the other items were a whole other story. It took some measuring and redos but I finally got things looking right again.
I was kind of scared to cut my cake. I wasn't sure how it'd look since the dye had leaked into the yellow cake. It turns out it only looked gross- it was delicious!
To recap:
-Let the cakes cool
-My mom is the bees knees
-Fondant is a lot like play-doh
-There aren't any command + Z's in cake baking
-Black frosting and yellow cake do not mix well