3D
Sugar Land
by julie ragsdale · submitted Aug 20, 2010 · 2010 contest
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Description
*I must apologize for the picture quality in advace; I don't have a digital camera, so I had to be resourceful and use my Macbook camera.
My grandmother went through knee replacement surgery about one month ago and has been recovering nicely, though a little loopy and confined to her house. I spent a few nights at her pIace to keep her company, and decided baking a cake for Threadcakes would be the perfect way to pass the time. Sugar Land seemed like a more than appropriate shirt to base the design on--this being a cake baking contest. Plus, with all the demonic yet cute candy-esque characters, I know I could get colorful with it.
The hardest part may have been figuring out which ingredients I would need for decorating the cake! I do love baking, and normally when I bake a cake, I bake it using an original recipe. This time around, however, I was so anxious to get to the decoration that I bought cake mix from the grocery store. Nothing special; just plain ol' yellow cake. I baked it in a 9 " x 13" pan so I would have plenty of base space to build upon. As soon as the cake cooled, I cut it down slightly into a rounded rectangle because I thought the softer shape would be better for a *somewhat* nature scene. Oh, I also knew I would be making my own fondant, so I wet ahead and bought some generic frosting as well (for the same reason as buying cake mix--to get to the REALLY fun part)!
After smoothing a thin layer of frosting over the top and sides of the cake, I made an interesting fondant from a recipe I found online. I had never made it before, but knew it tasted awful. This fondant relies on marshmallows for its smoothness and elasticity--along with powdered sugar, shortening and water. I heated the marshmallows in the microwave until melted, then added the other ingredients + green and blue food coloring til I got the right shade for the grass in the Sugar Land design.
From the leftover edges of cake that I carved off earlier, I cut out a round shape for the tree stump and a squared arch for the bridge. I then frosted those, top and bottom, and stuck them to their rightful places on the cake. I also cut out two shapes to help with the elevation of the trees and bushes in the background of the design because I wasn't quite sure that frosting would hold up that height entirely. Next, I rolled out the fondant to about 1/4" thickness and carefully draped it over the entire cake--stump and all--and proceeded to cut out appropriately shaped holes for each. Then it was time to make the frosting for the bushes. I needed the perfect dark green, as well as a stiffer frosting that what I bought to ice the original layer of the cake. To achieve this, I added more powdered sugar + cocoa powder, a lot of green + a little magenta food coloring. Perfect. I scooped the frosting into an icing bag and made the bushes by placing a series of star-shaped dollops next-to and on-top of each other.
To let that frosting firm up, I placed the cake in the refrigerator while I worked on the characters. Another first: molding with marzipan! I shaped the evil ice cream cone, body then head, rolled out the tempting donut, then the popcicle, teeth, cupcakes and balloons. For all but the teeth, I added food coloring and/ or cocoa powder to the marzipan before forming them to get the right colors. The teeth, I decided to just melt white chocolate to cover them in since, you know, there isn't white food coloring in your everyday grocery. Melted chocolate became the river; crumbled cookies formed the pathway, and I used various sprinkles to decorate the donut, the bushes and the grass, etc...Just see for yourself!
My grandmother went through knee replacement surgery about one month ago and has been recovering nicely, though a little loopy and confined to her house. I spent a few nights at her pIace to keep her company, and decided baking a cake for Threadcakes would be the perfect way to pass the time. Sugar Land seemed like a more than appropriate shirt to base the design on--this being a cake baking contest. Plus, with all the demonic yet cute candy-esque characters, I know I could get colorful with it.
The hardest part may have been figuring out which ingredients I would need for decorating the cake! I do love baking, and normally when I bake a cake, I bake it using an original recipe. This time around, however, I was so anxious to get to the decoration that I bought cake mix from the grocery store. Nothing special; just plain ol' yellow cake. I baked it in a 9 " x 13" pan so I would have plenty of base space to build upon. As soon as the cake cooled, I cut it down slightly into a rounded rectangle because I thought the softer shape would be better for a *somewhat* nature scene. Oh, I also knew I would be making my own fondant, so I wet ahead and bought some generic frosting as well (for the same reason as buying cake mix--to get to the REALLY fun part)!
After smoothing a thin layer of frosting over the top and sides of the cake, I made an interesting fondant from a recipe I found online. I had never made it before, but knew it tasted awful. This fondant relies on marshmallows for its smoothness and elasticity--along with powdered sugar, shortening and water. I heated the marshmallows in the microwave until melted, then added the other ingredients + green and blue food coloring til I got the right shade for the grass in the Sugar Land design.
From the leftover edges of cake that I carved off earlier, I cut out a round shape for the tree stump and a squared arch for the bridge. I then frosted those, top and bottom, and stuck them to their rightful places on the cake. I also cut out two shapes to help with the elevation of the trees and bushes in the background of the design because I wasn't quite sure that frosting would hold up that height entirely. Next, I rolled out the fondant to about 1/4" thickness and carefully draped it over the entire cake--stump and all--and proceeded to cut out appropriately shaped holes for each. Then it was time to make the frosting for the bushes. I needed the perfect dark green, as well as a stiffer frosting that what I bought to ice the original layer of the cake. To achieve this, I added more powdered sugar + cocoa powder, a lot of green + a little magenta food coloring. Perfect. I scooped the frosting into an icing bag and made the bushes by placing a series of star-shaped dollops next-to and on-top of each other.
To let that frosting firm up, I placed the cake in the refrigerator while I worked on the characters. Another first: molding with marzipan! I shaped the evil ice cream cone, body then head, rolled out the tempting donut, then the popcicle, teeth, cupcakes and balloons. For all but the teeth, I added food coloring and/ or cocoa powder to the marzipan before forming them to get the right colors. The teeth, I decided to just melt white chocolate to cover them in since, you know, there isn't white food coloring in your everyday grocery. Melted chocolate became the river; crumbled cookies formed the pathway, and I used various sprinkles to decorate the donut, the bushes and the grass, etc...Just see for yourself!