Elmo is tasty!

At least he was according to Leslie who ended up eating this little guy:

I'd have that look, too, if I were about to be eaten.





I did this cake last August for Leslie's son, Zayden Ace.  Zay turned 1 last year, and like many 1 year olds, loves him some Elmo.  Instead of going for an Elmo pan and pipe approximately one-zillion stars, I decided to try to make a 3D member of Sesame Street.  After watching Food Network Challenge countless times, I made the executive decision to use Rice Krispie treats. They seem to be more forgiving and more moldable than cake or any other mediums that I had thought of, so I set out to make Mr. Elmo.
Goodness, RKT are sooo goood.

I just began to mess around with shapes while just using a photo to go by:  I came up with this...

But then I couldn't figure out how to keep him sitting...or how to color him correctly.  In a panic, I went to the grocery store and bought Food Coloring Mist in Red.  I figured I could just color him, and then the texture of the treats would give him the "fur" look that he had.  I was wrong. :-(

So, then my bright idea was to roll that in red sprinkles while he was still wet and tacky...

WRONG again. 

This was the last look before Elmo fell off his dowel and perished in my kitchen.  The "mist" dissolved the marshmallow concoction and made it completely mushy destroying Elmo quicker and more efficiently than if I had thrown him against the wall and stepped on him.  Seriously, those two things Elmo could have survived.  Food Mist was no match, and lesson learned.  Back to Elmo square one.

  After re-sculpting Elmo's body and adding support in the form of 3 strategically placed toothpicks (one to attach each leg, and one in the body with just enough to connect the head to the torso), I embarked upon another "furring" technique.  Grass tip 233 and tinted buttercreme.

  When I took my Wilton class last year, they told me that colors deepen as they sit, so they could be darker in two hours, so be careful...I've learned this the hard way, but this time I stopped adding a combination of Christmas Red and No Taste Red gel coloring at the right time.

I started in the back of Elmo to get my technique down first.

Continuing all over Elmo until he was all piped and ready for a face.

Using fondant tinted orangey-yellow I made an egg shaped nose and white fondant made two round eye balls.  I used black piping gel for the inside of his mouth and his pupils.

 The cake was a dark chocolate cake with a milk chocolate ganache and buttercreme icing. 

 The 1 is made from Candy Melts in white chocolate, and hand piped onto wax paper, cooled, then placed on the cake.





No 1 year old birthday party is complete without a smash cake. 

Tickle him.  I dare ya...:-)

May the force be with this cake

This little guy will be adorning the cake that I'm working on for John's 30th birthday this weekend.  Coincidentally, this year also is the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, John's favorite installment of the Star Wars saga.  More details to follow!  Hope you're having a great Memorial Day weekend!

Bonjour.

Hi there. I've wanted to start a blog for quite some time, and I finally decided to take the plunge.  This blog is designated to chronicle my baking adventures as I progress into a pretty bad ass cake goddess.  I decided to sign up for the Daring Bakers, and hopefully, in July I'll have my first assignment post to share with you.  Until then, bear with me as I learn about blogger, html, and other fun goodies I've never dealt with before!  I also plan to post some of my photos of work I've done, and things I want to dabble into in the future.  I'll try to keep the non-food related stuff to a minimum, but cake is only a facet of this here onion.

Until we meet again, I'll leave you with my first cake I did for the old Wilton 1-course last year.  I think it sums it all up.


There's always room for cake.