Hello Kitty Baby Shower! :)
Posted by Stacey R. on Saturday, April 16, 2011
I barely have words to describe how this cake went. It almost feels like it was all a dream and when I wake up it won't go that well. Let's start from the beginning. DISCLAIMER: I have a massive sinus headache so if my writing is off that's why haha.
My best friend and college roommate, Ashley, told me a couple weeks ago that her friend wanted me to do a cake for a baby shower she was throwing. Obviously I said yes. Ashley said that they knew exactly what they wanted: a Hello Kitty rattle. The picture that I was sent was...simple. Two rounds connected by a tube decorated by buttercream with just a flat piped hello kitty. For me, unacceptable. I sent them a sketch of my interpretation, and with a "yes!" the ball was rolling. The best/scariest part? I was getting paid for this!
This week was especially busy for me because my giant art project was due this past Thursday. The cake was due Saturday at 12:30pm, so I pretty much only had Friday to work. This sounds quick, but full time bakeries usually only have 1-2 days per cake, so it was a chance to feel the crunch.
I started at 10am Friday morning. I had to make a last minute grocery run to buy the fondant stuff. This turned into a bit of a longer shopping trip than I expected, and I didn't get to baking till close to noon. I then made my fondant so that it could sit, and started working on the decorations.
(These are gumpaste flowers that I made for the board. I set them in the egg crate so they could get that nice 3D curve) The original plan was to make a two layer cake, but I soon realized that that would be WAY too big for the party, so I decided to do just one layer. This meant three cakes total: one 14in chocolate, and two 10in vanillas--one for the bottom heart of the rattle and one for the ears and the center of the rattle. Once everything was baked, carved, and iced , I then had the daunting task of placing the cakes onto the board, because I was the crazy lady who wanted to cover the entire rattle in one giant piece of fondant.
(This was right after I dirty iced the head.) This great feat called for Spencer's help. Transferring a covered cake, especially one this large, is not easy. Transferring an UNCOVERED cake this big with nothing to hold onto is insane. Once you set it down, it doesn't move all in one piece. Amazingly, Spencer and I were able to place the cake with no damage only a little off center! Then came the heart bottom, which was easy to place. Filling in the rattle's handle was a little challenging, but with cake paste (a mix of cake crumbs and buttercream) I was able to make it work. The cakepaste accounts for the discoloration.
Once we had it all placed we had to cover it. I wish I had taken a picture of how large this piece of fondant was. Amazingly, it worked! We were able to cleanly cover the ENTIRE cake with one piece of fondant, minus a the heart's point which was covered by a pink fondant cap. And guess what?? NO WRINKLES! I have zero clue how that happened or how we got so lucky, but this was by far the easiest cake I've ever covered. Which is surprizing.
Next was decorating! I finally finished around 2am. The delivery was scary. I had to deliver 30 mins away by myself! Out of all the cakes I have done this would be the best one to attempt that with. By far. So off I went. Guys, the reaction was PHENOMENAL. I have NEVER had that awesome of a reaction before! I gotta tell ya, it felt great. They LOVED it! And I was so happy to see them so happy :)
There were two things I was a little unhappy with, though.
One. Hello Kitty had powdered sugar pock marks on her face. Not good for white fondant. Must fix that.
Two. I used a different chocolate cake recipe, and it wasn't as moist. That displeased me. I heard it was still good, but I think I might go back to my old recipe. Comments from people who were there would be great!
Picture time!!
I really liked the way her bow turned out :)
Final product! All of the decorations (eyes, nose, bow, and flowers) were all held down by dabs of melted chocolate.
Here it is at the party. You can kind of see scale. The board it's on is a full size foam board.
It's different than my other cakes, but then again, aren't they all?
Let me hear you! :)
My best friend and college roommate, Ashley, told me a couple weeks ago that her friend wanted me to do a cake for a baby shower she was throwing. Obviously I said yes. Ashley said that they knew exactly what they wanted: a Hello Kitty rattle. The picture that I was sent was...simple. Two rounds connected by a tube decorated by buttercream with just a flat piped hello kitty. For me, unacceptable. I sent them a sketch of my interpretation, and with a "yes!" the ball was rolling. The best/scariest part? I was getting paid for this!
This week was especially busy for me because my giant art project was due this past Thursday. The cake was due Saturday at 12:30pm, so I pretty much only had Friday to work. This sounds quick, but full time bakeries usually only have 1-2 days per cake, so it was a chance to feel the crunch.
I started at 10am Friday morning. I had to make a last minute grocery run to buy the fondant stuff. This turned into a bit of a longer shopping trip than I expected, and I didn't get to baking till close to noon. I then made my fondant so that it could sit, and started working on the decorations.
(These are gumpaste flowers that I made for the board. I set them in the egg crate so they could get that nice 3D curve) The original plan was to make a two layer cake, but I soon realized that that would be WAY too big for the party, so I decided to do just one layer. This meant three cakes total: one 14in chocolate, and two 10in vanillas--one for the bottom heart of the rattle and one for the ears and the center of the rattle. Once everything was baked, carved, and iced , I then had the daunting task of placing the cakes onto the board, because I was the crazy lady who wanted to cover the entire rattle in one giant piece of fondant. (This was right after I dirty iced the head.) This great feat called for Spencer's help. Transferring a covered cake, especially one this large, is not easy. Transferring an UNCOVERED cake this big with nothing to hold onto is insane. Once you set it down, it doesn't move all in one piece. Amazingly, Spencer and I were able to place the cake with no damage only a little off center! Then came the heart bottom, which was easy to place. Filling in the rattle's handle was a little challenging, but with cake paste (a mix of cake crumbs and buttercream) I was able to make it work. The cakepaste accounts for the discoloration. Once we had it all placed we had to cover it. I wish I had taken a picture of how large this piece of fondant was. Amazingly, it worked! We were able to cleanly cover the ENTIRE cake with one piece of fondant, minus a the heart's point which was covered by a pink fondant cap. And guess what?? NO WRINKLES! I have zero clue how that happened or how we got so lucky, but this was by far the easiest cake I've ever covered. Which is surprizing. Next was decorating! I finally finished around 2am. The delivery was scary. I had to deliver 30 mins away by myself! Out of all the cakes I have done this would be the best one to attempt that with. By far. So off I went. Guys, the reaction was PHENOMENAL. I have NEVER had that awesome of a reaction before! I gotta tell ya, it felt great. They LOVED it! And I was so happy to see them so happy :)
There were two things I was a little unhappy with, though.
One. Hello Kitty had powdered sugar pock marks on her face. Not good for white fondant. Must fix that.
Two. I used a different chocolate cake recipe, and it wasn't as moist. That displeased me. I heard it was still good, but I think I might go back to my old recipe. Comments from people who were there would be great!
Picture time!!
I really liked the way her bow turned out :) Final product! All of the decorations (eyes, nose, bow, and flowers) were all held down by dabs of melted chocolate. Here it is at the party. You can kind of see scale. The board it's on is a full size foam board.It's different than my other cakes, but then again, aren't they all?
Let me hear you! :)