I consider myself to be a fairly creative person. I love doing projects that involve some sort of supply from Hobby Lobby, and I am fairly confident that I can make most projects on which I embark turn out okay. I have, however, come to the conclusion that cake decorating is NOT in my skill set, and I don't have the patience to actually make it part of my skill set..
Let me back up and tell you a little more about the way this conclusion was drawn. When we were home in Colorado last month, I decided to have an early birthday party for Cameron, so the entire family could see him destroy his cake, LIVE, with no commercial interruptions.
The theme of this party was nautical, with the guest of honor known as "Captain Cameron." Enter lots of phrases bandied about such as "Ahoy maties," "Argh" and "Mermaid off the port bow!" As part of the sailing adventure, I decided I wanted to make a cake in the shape of a ship. At first it was simply the outline of a sailing ship, and somehow that attainable goal transmogrified into the HMS Surprise.
Clearly, I have watched too many shows such as "Ace of Cakes." I was humbled as the cake making process ensued...it turns out making a seaworthy ship (or even a ship that theoretically looks seaworthy!) is somewhat difficult. I started out on the right track--I made several cakes in loaf pans in advance and froze them, so I could cut them and stack them with ease, but once it came time to stack and cut them into a ship form I floundered (pun intended). Thanks goodness I have a husband and a father who happen to know quite a bit about ship modeling. Marty made a small cutter (a kind of ship), and I then pirated (again, pun intended and appreciated) his ideas and used them as an inspiration for Cameron's ship.
The next problem was the frosting...it wasn't the smooth as fondant final product I was imagining. Luckily, though, it was thick enough to hide almost anything.
After the cake process was complete, we had the large "USS Cameron" (to feed the party guests), "Shipwreck Island (for Cam to destroy), the "Blackjack" (thus named because all of the letters in Cameron Charles Valenti add up to 21), and the "Sharkbite." Approximately 34 frosted graham crackers also resulted from the large amount of frosting produced, even after all cakes had at least 3.4 inches of frosting.
The good news--people seemed to actually LIKE the way the cake tasted, and seemed impressed with the workmanship of it (thanks you toothpicks, twine, and sails---another great disguise). The bad news--Cameron had the stomach flu on the day of his party and didn't enjoy the cake. He tried, and destroyed his island, and even ate a few morsels (which sadly, ended up on me about 30 minutes later).
Next year's theme? Hmmm....maybe shapes. I can make a mean rectangle cake!
3 comments:
I think that is a rather fantastic cake. Though the story of its creation is even better. So sorry to hear the birthday boy was sick! Love to you all from Colorado!
You are such a good mom! I am waiting for my kid to actually recognize it is his birthday before I do anything that domestic ...can't be going "overboard" all at once! Trust me, you look like Martha Stewart...that cake was cool (or maybe the camera was good...)
I have to say it's a pretty amazing first effort! I usually end up buying cakes because I'm afraid to try making them myself.
Post a Comment