2D
Liberty
by Michelle Lapus @ureshiikao · submitted Aug 16, 2010 · 2010 contest
1 / 39
Description
Liberty
[“Free Bird” playing in the background]
This was my first shot at the reverse transfer method with buttercream, and out of all the Threadcakes I’ve made this year so far, “Liberty” is the only Threadless shirt I actually do own! It’s very artsy and detailed – I love it and had to do it justice.
So after making my Celestial Summer Camp Threadcake (depicting the planets roasting mallows around the solar campfire) I understandably started craving s’mores. "You're killing me, Smalls!"
I present to you a vanilla graham cake with a homemade cinnamon/white chocolate buttercream frosting “plaque” and milk chocolate/marshmallow topping (covered in fondant).
Underneath it all, this is basically a vanilla cake (white cake mix with added egg, milk, and pudding) with honey graham cracker crumbs mixed in with the dry ingredients. Plain buttercream used for the 2D design was tinted either with the blue or yellow colors and was also used alongside Wilton black icing (I try not to mix my own true black icing). Only the red icing had the white chocolate in it, since it made up most of the “plaque.” I tried the frozen buttercream transfer method for the first time, the night before I baked the cakes. I had a printed color photo of the image, flipped horizontally, and taped wax paper to the back of a cookie sheet pan. I started with a #2 round tip but decided instead to just cut the corner off a small baggie to pipe, and used a paintbrush and toothpicks to shape finer details. I knew some of the wispier lines would be impossible to capture this way so I just followed the design's shapes as best I could with the different colors and textures. It was challenging to work with a mirror image, and to layer the colors in the right order on the paper. This is a single-layer 9”x13” sheet cake, with toppings rather than fillings. The fluffy marshmallow crème filling has cinnamon mixed in too, and I also put a layer of milk chocolate ganache on top of the marshmallow and swirled the two together. A plain buttercream was spread on top of that mixture to secure the pink fondant and the yellow strips were attached with water. I think the frozen buttercream transfer worked out pretty well for my first attempt ever, despite a few cracks. The design fit alright on top of the cake, but it is an odd shape. The black icing was used to edge the plaque, and later touch up the bicycle part of the image. Overall it took about 9 hours over two nights to complete. It’s also hard to remember to stop and take pictures since my only housemate is my dog Churros.
Graham, chocolate, and mallow: sweet ooey-gooey goodness inside a pretty Threadcake. What more could you ask for? As Ham Porter would say, it’s kinda messy, but good.
[“Free Bird” playing in the background]
This was my first shot at the reverse transfer method with buttercream, and out of all the Threadcakes I’ve made this year so far, “Liberty” is the only Threadless shirt I actually do own! It’s very artsy and detailed – I love it and had to do it justice.
So after making my Celestial Summer Camp Threadcake (depicting the planets roasting mallows around the solar campfire) I understandably started craving s’mores. "You're killing me, Smalls!"
I present to you a vanilla graham cake with a homemade cinnamon/white chocolate buttercream frosting “plaque” and milk chocolate/marshmallow topping (covered in fondant).
Underneath it all, this is basically a vanilla cake (white cake mix with added egg, milk, and pudding) with honey graham cracker crumbs mixed in with the dry ingredients. Plain buttercream used for the 2D design was tinted either with the blue or yellow colors and was also used alongside Wilton black icing (I try not to mix my own true black icing). Only the red icing had the white chocolate in it, since it made up most of the “plaque.” I tried the frozen buttercream transfer method for the first time, the night before I baked the cakes. I had a printed color photo of the image, flipped horizontally, and taped wax paper to the back of a cookie sheet pan. I started with a #2 round tip but decided instead to just cut the corner off a small baggie to pipe, and used a paintbrush and toothpicks to shape finer details. I knew some of the wispier lines would be impossible to capture this way so I just followed the design's shapes as best I could with the different colors and textures. It was challenging to work with a mirror image, and to layer the colors in the right order on the paper. This is a single-layer 9”x13” sheet cake, with toppings rather than fillings. The fluffy marshmallow crème filling has cinnamon mixed in too, and I also put a layer of milk chocolate ganache on top of the marshmallow and swirled the two together. A plain buttercream was spread on top of that mixture to secure the pink fondant and the yellow strips were attached with water. I think the frozen buttercream transfer worked out pretty well for my first attempt ever, despite a few cracks. The design fit alright on top of the cake, but it is an odd shape. The black icing was used to edge the plaque, and later touch up the bicycle part of the image. Overall it took about 9 hours over two nights to complete. It’s also hard to remember to stop and take pictures since my only housemate is my dog Churros.
Graham, chocolate, and mallow: sweet ooey-gooey goodness inside a pretty Threadcake. What more could you ask for? As Ham Porter would say, it’s kinda messy, but good.
