Jacks Big Music Show

First, I apologize for not posting sooner. I made this cake a few weeks ago and haven't had the time to write a post. For my boyfriend's niece's first birthday I was asked to do the cake, either Wonder Pets or Jack's Big Music Show (cue the sound of crickets)- to the Google machine!!! O.k., After a quick Google search Jack's Big Music Show is way cuter, so decision made. For clueless non-parents like myself here are the contenders

Allright, maybe it's a Guinea Pig, tomato, tomahto

See, way more adorable!

For the first step I went to the hardware store and had a piece of half inch thick MDF board cut

I was planning on covering with fondant, and didn't know if moisture would affect the board, so I covered it first with contact paper

 

Then I set up some templates and cake stand-ins to arrange my composition

I wanted the two characters in front to be free-standing, so I drilled holes where I planned on placing their legs

Next, I played unsafely with tools. The little saw we have in the house was too dull to cut the dowels, and the Sawz-All was at the boyfriends parents' house (It is, technically, theirs, but lives with us much of the time, just not when I need it:(), so I cut the dowels with the Dremel tool- which worked and smelled nice like burning wood, but probably not the best idea. Then I held the dowel sections with one hand, as I drilled guide holes in them- cuz I'm a loner Dottie, a rebel. Seriously, if anyone reads this blog for techniques- go out and get yourself a clamp for stuff like this

I used the drill to insert the screws through the bottom of the board, and then twisted them on. I had thought I would be able to use the drill instead of hand screwing, but it didn't want to work- perhaps because I got the hardwood dowels instead of the flimsy ones

Ta-da! If you look at the tops of the dowels you can see the evidence of burning from the Dremel

I cut out bases for the bodies from 1/2" foam core and attached with hot glue, since they wouldn't be supporting much weight

Next, covering the base. A real p.i.t.a. I wanted it to look like a wood-plank floor- but with the bright colors of the show. I marbled some green fondant with some white, cut into strips, and began attaching to the board using a little corn syrup. (note: don't toss leftover fondant, it will last for AGES in the fridge, and is great for covering bases)

I left a bare space where I would be placing the actual cake, so it would be set-in a little.

Next, I started working on the details using modeling chocolate

For the drum kit I started with RKT molded in tuna cans, then wrapped in modeling chocolate

I used gel paste colors mixed with Everclear to paint

I also made the doggie drummer out of RKT covered in modeling chocolate

The drumsticks are spaghetti pieces with a modeling chocolate ball on top

Next on to the guitarist and bassist (Sorry, never found out the names, though I'd assume the dog with the guitar is Jack)
I started by covering the dowels with the modeling chocolate

The shoes might just be my favorite part:)

For the actual cake I made a board of 1/2" foamcore, as I knew I would want to use a skewer to anchor the doggie drummer and needed a material that was conducive to stabbing

Cover with white chocolate ganache

While that set up, I worked on the other two figures. I baked their bodies in large skinny muffin pans and a mini wonder-mold pan

These were covered in chocolate gnanache and then modeling chocolate

After the ganache set on the cake, I covered it with fondant and painted it

Coming together

I love how the drummer turned out, but the other two disappointed me a bit. I think my problem was just working form the 2 pictures I had- I saw too late that in side views they had quite the protruding schnozzes, which I couldn't see from the front-views and probably affected how the end product turned out. It was fun playing (albeit, inappropriately) with some power tools- can't wait to tackle a PVC structured cake if I ever get a minute of free-caking time:(

Old School Nintendo Cake: Happy Birthday Joe!

This past Friday was my bother Joe's birthday, and he is a huge fan of Nintendo- mostly all the old original NES games, so I wanted to do a NES theme- with limited time to do it I figured the game system and a few accessories would make a nice cake- I originally had hopes of sticking a few Nintendo characters on the cake too- but not enough time.

I started by baking a chocolate sheet cake, which I cut in half and stacked, layering with ganache:

Then it was time to carve. I traced the shape of the console and made some cardboard templates- which I trimmed an eighth inch off of all sides to allow for the fondant. I used a cereal box for the template, and the shiny printed side was nice for not sticking to the cake. I attached a template to each side with a little ganache and started carving:

Then I covered the entire thing with ganache:

I didn't want to put the fondant on too early, as I 'd be leaving it out of the fridge after that, so I moved onto the accessories. I used modeling chocolate for the controller and game cartridge:

For the label of the cartridge and the top of the controller I made a waxed paper outline, and then rolled some fondant as thin as possible so I could paint on top (modeling chocolate usually resists painting with food color)

For the controller, I also added modeling chocolate details for the arrows and buttons: I painted the black and grey on top of the fondant and then left it overnight before attempting to paint the Nintendo logo and words with red to avoid bleeding

I rubbed a little shortening over the carved cake and started covering with fondant, which did not drape as well as I had hoped. I started with the lighter-colored top first (I colored my fondant the night before so it could rest before applying- it's usually a little harder to deal with if you try to color it and then apply right away, in my experience)

I trimmed away the excess and added the darker grey in pieces around the bottom, pinching the seams together. I have read about blending seams in fondant by just rubbing with a little shortening, but I've never had success and usually end up with shiny seams )

I added some modeling chocolate details:

I then finished painting on the controllers (which didn't show up well- the black kept absorbing the red)

I rolled a long rope for the cord- I got it as thin as I could before it started breaking

I used gumpaste tools to press the ridges in the top of the unit, and inlaid black modeling chocolate for the plug-ins

And the two side-by-side:

I am my own worst critic of course, so all I could see were the fondant imperfections and grainy lumps in the modeling chocolate, but my brother like his cake (and actually asked how long it would last if it didn't get cut) so that is all that matters