3D
Under the Moon and Stars
by Lucy Atkinson · submitted Aug 13, 2012 · 2012 contest
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Description
I decided to do this design because just lately I've mostly been working on big, complex cakes... and I thought it might be nice to do something relatively simple for a change! Plus, he's so cute! Look at that little face!
I started out by make the fondant elements that I knew needed time to dry. I cut out the moon and stars, and modelled his little arms onto some toothpicks. Then I put those to dry in the oven (my house is crazy humid - fondant left out of the oven will never ever dry!) I also coloured the blue and green fondant.
I baked a basic sponge cake in my ball pan, and when it was cool I slathered it in buttercream and covered both halves with blue fondant. When I do a ball cake, I don't cover the 'built' cake - I cover each half seperately, leaving a little excess fondant around the edge. Then I put some buttercream on the bottom half and fold the excess over. Finally I pop the top half on, and smooth the excess over the gap. For a moment my little Earth looked rather like a blue saturn when the top half went on, with the excess fondant sticking out! I wanted to take a photo, but I had to work fast smoothing it down so it didn't dry and crack.
Then I cut the continents out of green fondant using some templates I'd made earlier, and stuck them onto the earth. I drew on his face with an edible marker, and put his arms in place.
I left him like that overnight, as it was too dark to take photos by then! Then today I set the cake up against the background, and put the moon and stars in place (note: a LOT harder than it sounds!) Remember how crazy humid my flat is? Well, all that humidity got to the dried fondant and pieces kept breaking up. I had to remake one of his arms super quickly when it fell apart on me!
My only regret with this cake is that I didn't do it a day earlier. Yesterday was so sunny, and today it's been grey and stormy - awful light for photo taking! It would have been nice to get some pictures that weren't so grainy, but que sera sera. I still think he's adorable!
I started out by make the fondant elements that I knew needed time to dry. I cut out the moon and stars, and modelled his little arms onto some toothpicks. Then I put those to dry in the oven (my house is crazy humid - fondant left out of the oven will never ever dry!) I also coloured the blue and green fondant.
I baked a basic sponge cake in my ball pan, and when it was cool I slathered it in buttercream and covered both halves with blue fondant. When I do a ball cake, I don't cover the 'built' cake - I cover each half seperately, leaving a little excess fondant around the edge. Then I put some buttercream on the bottom half and fold the excess over. Finally I pop the top half on, and smooth the excess over the gap. For a moment my little Earth looked rather like a blue saturn when the top half went on, with the excess fondant sticking out! I wanted to take a photo, but I had to work fast smoothing it down so it didn't dry and crack.
Then I cut the continents out of green fondant using some templates I'd made earlier, and stuck them onto the earth. I drew on his face with an edible marker, and put his arms in place.
I left him like that overnight, as it was too dark to take photos by then! Then today I set the cake up against the background, and put the moon and stars in place (note: a LOT harder than it sounds!) Remember how crazy humid my flat is? Well, all that humidity got to the dried fondant and pieces kept breaking up. I had to remake one of his arms super quickly when it fell apart on me!
My only regret with this cake is that I didn't do it a day earlier. Yesterday was so sunny, and today it's been grey and stormy - awful light for photo taking! It would have been nice to get some pictures that weren't so grainy, but que sera sera. I still think he's adorable!