3D 1
Red Baron Tattoo
by Emiry Gutierrez · submitted Dec 1, 2015 · 2015 contest
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Description
I came upon this competition last year as the winners were announced and I was determined to submit an entry the following year. I did, however, lose track of time and completely forgot about it until Thanksgiving day! You can imagine my surprise when I realized the deadline was so near, and that same determination filled me up. So I spent the weekend planning out the cake, baking it, and decorating it.
As it is thanksgiving season, I had a lot of pumpkin at hand and had just tried out a new recipe for Pumpkin Spiced Latte cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting for Thanksgiving (with great success). I decided to use the recipe to make the cake, so both the doghouse body and the roof are made of pumpkin spice cake layers which I soaked in espresso, then I filled and covered them in whipped cream cheese frosting. I covered the cake in homemade marshmallow fondant. Oh man did it take forever to knead red coloring into the MMF to get that vivid bright red!
I made the rest of the decorations out of gumpaste (the bones, banners, flower, leaves, and even Snoopy!) I was expecting Snoopy to be the most difficult to make but he was pretty easy. The most difficult were the leaves and very, VERY carefully wrapping them together to make the wreath (luckily I made a LOT of extras because many did not survive the wreath). The other difficulty I had was sticking the banners onto the side of the cake. I had inserted covered floral wire into them so I could anchor them into the cake, but it was hard because whipped cream cheese frosting is very soft, it doesn't harden. I was able to find the pumpkin layers and anchor the banners into them.
Other than those two hiccups, I was able to finish the cake, and it was even better than I imagined it. I have got to say though, second to slicing it open and eating it, the best part was watching it all come together, because when you have all the separate parts made, but you're looking at a blank cake, it all seems impossible, then you take it one step at a time and it comes out beautiful, completely exceeding your wildest expectations. You can take a step back, pat yourself on the back, look at it and say, "I did that!"
Sorry to ramble, but seeing as this is my first competition ever, I'm pretty excited! Now I just have to finish eating the cake!
As it is thanksgiving season, I had a lot of pumpkin at hand and had just tried out a new recipe for Pumpkin Spiced Latte cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting for Thanksgiving (with great success). I decided to use the recipe to make the cake, so both the doghouse body and the roof are made of pumpkin spice cake layers which I soaked in espresso, then I filled and covered them in whipped cream cheese frosting. I covered the cake in homemade marshmallow fondant. Oh man did it take forever to knead red coloring into the MMF to get that vivid bright red!
I made the rest of the decorations out of gumpaste (the bones, banners, flower, leaves, and even Snoopy!) I was expecting Snoopy to be the most difficult to make but he was pretty easy. The most difficult were the leaves and very, VERY carefully wrapping them together to make the wreath (luckily I made a LOT of extras because many did not survive the wreath). The other difficulty I had was sticking the banners onto the side of the cake. I had inserted covered floral wire into them so I could anchor them into the cake, but it was hard because whipped cream cheese frosting is very soft, it doesn't harden. I was able to find the pumpkin layers and anchor the banners into them.
Other than those two hiccups, I was able to finish the cake, and it was even better than I imagined it. I have got to say though, second to slicing it open and eating it, the best part was watching it all come together, because when you have all the separate parts made, but you're looking at a blank cake, it all seems impossible, then you take it one step at a time and it comes out beautiful, completely exceeding your wildest expectations. You can take a step back, pat yourself on the back, look at it and say, "I did that!"
Sorry to ramble, but seeing as this is my first competition ever, I'm pretty excited! Now I just have to finish eating the cake!