Pages

Thursday, January 27, 2011

My Grandfather's83rd Birthday, His Bible Cake and a Home Made Fondant Recipe

I have been making "fancy" cakes for about 2 years. I like to make my own buttercream and fondant and experiment with recipes. I have made my daughters' birthday cakes and a few for my brother and husband. I made two cakes for my uncle's birthday back in August and my aunt asked me if I would make my grandfather's cake. He just turned 83 January 25th. We had his birthday dinner at my mom's after church this past Sunday.

When I make a cake I use various recipes. For this cake I made two batches of a basic white cake but added some fresh shredded coconut and almond extract to the batter. I made two square cakes and then trimmed them to look like 1/2 of a book.  I then put them together. I then freeze the cakes overnight so they are easier to carve/ butter cream.

The cross is made from gum paste (which I have not yet mastered) so I purchased it white at our local cake supply store.

The butter cream recipe stays the same each time. 5 sticks of butter

The last step is to leave as plain butter cream or flavor it. I flavor it most of the time. This time I added a whole can of chocolate frosting (pre-made). I don't like coming up with my own chocolate to add to it, it always tastes funny. I make the butter cream from scratch but just add in extra chocolate frosting for the flavoring.


I put a smear of buttercream on the cake board to act as glue. Then I unwrapped both cakes and placed them in the center of the board. I put another layer of coconut on top of the cake and then covered the whole cake in the chocolate buttercream. A lot of it!







 I cut the edges of the "book" at a slant to mimic the pages being laid down with a slight angle. I also billowed the buttercream to show the crease in the center of the book and the pages lying out from the center binding.

It was then covered in a white buttercream that I hand made.

Mini marshmallows (454 grams)
2 Tablespoons water

1. Microwave those two ingredients for one minute. Take out and stir with a wooden spoon covered in Crisco.
2. Microwave again for 1 minute stir. This time all the marshmallows should be melted and the mixture should resemble marshmallow cream.
3. Add 5-6 cups of confectioner's sugar one cup at a time. After each cup use the spoon to stir it in. The confectioner's sugar makes the mixture hard to mix and eventually after all of it is put in, not sticky.
4. Simply roll out the mixture with Crisco covered rolling pin onto a confectioner's sugar covered board or counter top.
5. Let the decorating begin!

After I covered my cake with fondant, I used gel colors and mixed in a little water to make "paint".  I then used my fondant tools to smooth out the cake and create lines in the side to make pages.


 I used a thin mixture of ivory gel and water to create an "antique" look to the pages. I then used a thin tip of my tool to "write" the words of the Bible verse onto the left. I filled in the creases the tool made with blue gel mixed with water.
I then cut out leaves from fondant with a leaf punch, used my tools to create a veining effect and painted them with a mixture of green and brown gel and water. I then used a little water to "glue" them to the cake. I used a gold gel writer to write the gold lettering on the cake. I finished it off by "dusting" the entire cake with edible glitter. I accidentally smeared two spots because it wasn't fully dry. :( but I tried to cover it up as best as I could.  Here is the final product.








 My youngest decided to help Grandpa blow out his candles. We even relit one for her so she could blow it out.

28 comments:

  1. That is a beautiful cake! New follower through Traveling Through Thursday! http://www.sahmandusmcwife.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, that is so beautiful. You are very talented. I would love to be this artistic.

    Found you via blog hops.
    CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! You did an awesome job!

    I'm a new follow from Thirsty Thursday.

    Sandie lee
    http://cupofromance.blogspot.com
    http://imaginationcafeblog.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is so amazing!!! You definitely have a talent for decorating cakes! He must have loved it!

    Thanks for joining our bloghop today at the Thursday's Cafe, I dropped by to check out your blog and to follow you :)

    Happy Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is nothing short of amazing! What a gift!

    I'm out hopping around, looking forward to many more of your posts! Come by Lucy's when you get a chance.

    http://closertolucy.blogspot.com

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful!!!! great post! Just found your blog!! I love it and am now following! Would love for you to check out my blog and follow back!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful cake...you are a very talented girl.

    Thanks for linking up with us today for the Thursday's Friends Cafe. I am now your newest follower.

    ReplyDelete
  8. OH WOW - that was so cool seeing the process of you making the cake. Very nice!

    Im a new Google Connect Friend following you from Buzz On By Thursday Blog Hop! Love if you'd follow me back.

    Yona Writes
    http://artpark78.com/blog1

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey I am a new follower from Keepin' Company Thursdays from MeasuringFlower.com. God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  10. THat is beautiful! :)

    Thanks so much for linking up with us and following me! I'm following you back! :) I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

    Kim
    http://www.chubbycheeksthinks.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful! I'm a new follower on a Friday blog hop. Please follow me back. What a lovely gift for your grandfather. laura

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow, that is a wonderful cake. I'm inspired. I'm a new follower from Fun Follow Friday.
    I hope you'll come check me out at PS Mom Reviews and follow me too!

    ReplyDelete
  13. NEW follower, from Closer to Lucy. That is an amazing cake! So much talent! I followed you on everything I saw available. Can you follow me back? Thanks so much!
    Z's Space
    http://zsblogspace.blogspot.com
    ~Zabrina

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is really special. My dad turns 83 in May.
    Blessings to you.
    Visiting from the blog hop. So glad I found you! Enjoy the rest of your Friday.
    Nancy
    http://discoverdirectselling.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. A Big Happy Birthday to your Grandfather. Great job on the cake. I am a new follower from the hop. I would love a follow back at
    http://megankayden.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  16. New follower from bloghop...would love to have you follow back at http://funfritzfamily.blogspot.com/

    That cake is absolutely beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi! I’m your newest follower. Please stop by and follow back when you have a chance. You can also add your blog to our Blog Hop! Have a Sweet Friday.
    http://www.AMommysSweetBlogDesign.com
    http://www.MommysReviewsandGiveaways.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is so wonderful, what a great talent you have! This cake is amazing and I'm sure he was so grateful for the love that his family has shown him. Thanks so much for sharing this on VIF!
    hugs,
    Debra

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow, that cake is amazing! I'm a new follower from So Followed Saturday. I hope you'll visit my blog and follow back.

    Donna
    http://potofgoldgiveaways.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow, that's a gorgeous cake, you did a great job on it! I would never be able to manage something that detailed -- I bet your grandfather really enjoyed it!

    I'm a new follower :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. that cake looks great.. and yummy. I am follow via So Followed Saturday! http://onemoreflewoverthecuckoo.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  22. WOW that is an awesome cake!! You are very talented and patient :)

    I'm following you from So Followed Saturday . . . congratulations for being featured!

    Have a wonderful weekend . . . Gina

    http://ginasitaliankitchen.blogspot.com
    http://fabulousfrugalista.blogspot.com
    . . . and many more!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh that is wonderful. I lost my papa when he was 89. He would have loved that cake. I am following you back:)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi, I'm a new follower from So Followed Saturday! That cake is awesome!

    http://bargainbabysmama.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Stunning cake! Thanks for visiting, now following you!

    Kelly
    http://mysimplewalk.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow, what an absolute work of art AND love combined. Your father must have been so thrilled; who would want to cut into it though? :-) So beautiful. thanks for kindly sharing this post and showing us your talent. Now gladly following you back and am so very glad that you found me too.

    ReplyDelete
  27. oops, sorry for the typo above!!!! I meant to say your 'grand' father must have been thrilled. Please forgive my slippery fingers! I hope you join me again for another Fresh Clean and Pure Friday and/or Seasonal Saturday! Blessings, Roz

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...