2D
Puppet In Love
by Christina Dunham · submitted Jul 28, 2009 · 2009 contest
1 / 14
Description
This cake didn't start out as a Threadcakes entry at all- it was originally an extra "Just in case I mess up" cake left over from a traditional birthday cake. While I was debating what to do with such a delicious hunk of cake, my "I'm pretending my birthday doesn't exist" friend decided she would like a little birthday celebration after all, and suddenly my leftovers had a destination.
Besides being one of the cutest designs in the entire Threadless catalogue, I chose Puppet In Love because it gave me a chance to practice to decorating styles I've never tried before: Painting fondant with gel color (awesome), and piping with royal icing (totally not as awesome).
I was so pleased with the results of painting directly on the fondant! Firstly, it involves mixing the gel color with VODKA, so you're already set for a good time. I found painting the little dolls with the gel to be as simple as painting with water colors. I blew up a photo of just the dolls, used a thin brush, and went VERY slowly. I painted the dolls 3 times, and then appliqued the best rendition onto the cake (attempt #2, if you were curious).
Piping with royal icing proved to be a little more difficult- I really liked the richness of the colors (not at all diluted like buttercream), but I think I need a little more practice using an icing that dries-- I went to repair a section of the "Doodle" heart, and found that royal icing likes to crack an/or melt into itself and spread. Oops. I figured out that using a blow dryer on low for a minute helped dry the icing enough that it wouldn't spread so much, but not dry it enough to crack.
Overall, though, I'm very pleased with how this little cake turned out. I'm definitely going to start painting on my cakes more often. My dad's birthday is in a week; I wonder if he wants a Threadless-inspired cake?
Besides being one of the cutest designs in the entire Threadless catalogue, I chose Puppet In Love because it gave me a chance to practice to decorating styles I've never tried before: Painting fondant with gel color (awesome), and piping with royal icing (totally not as awesome).
I was so pleased with the results of painting directly on the fondant! Firstly, it involves mixing the gel color with VODKA, so you're already set for a good time. I found painting the little dolls with the gel to be as simple as painting with water colors. I blew up a photo of just the dolls, used a thin brush, and went VERY slowly. I painted the dolls 3 times, and then appliqued the best rendition onto the cake (attempt #2, if you were curious).
Piping with royal icing proved to be a little more difficult- I really liked the richness of the colors (not at all diluted like buttercream), but I think I need a little more practice using an icing that dries-- I went to repair a section of the "Doodle" heart, and found that royal icing likes to crack an/or melt into itself and spread. Oops. I figured out that using a blow dryer on low for a minute helped dry the icing enough that it wouldn't spread so much, but not dry it enough to crack.
Overall, though, I'm very pleased with how this little cake turned out. I'm definitely going to start painting on my cakes more often. My dad's birthday is in a week; I wonder if he wants a Threadless-inspired cake?
