Janice's Bridal Shower

Megan's best friend Janice is getting married next month - and as one of the MOH's, Megan was in charge of bringing a butterfly themed cake. Janice chose orange and hot pink as her color scheme - so I used edible orange and pink wafer paper butterflies purchased from Fancy Flours (one of my not-so-secret baking supply obsessions) for a realistic take on her theme. They shipped and arrived incredibly quick - after cutting them out, I coated them with clear piping gel and dried them in egg cartons so they were more life-like. Just to add some sparkle, I brushed pearl dust onto the wings before attaching them to the cake. :)

The hot pink roses are real (thanks Safeway!) - I didn't have time to make them out of gumpaste. I used a circle of acetate on the top tier so the flowers wouldn't affect the taste of the icing and arranged the roses by sticking the stems into a ball of fondant to keep them in place.

The cake is a devil's food cake with a chocolate fudge filling and swiss-meringue buttercream icing...mmm... thank goodness for uneven tops...the boys and I enjoyed the scraps! :)

Here are a few views - I tried my best to make this cake viewable from every angle.

Spongebob and Friends at the Beach

I was given creative license to do a Spongebob and Friends cake - as long as there was a beach involved. :) Well, how could I pass that up?

The cakes were Devil's Food cake with a strawberry gourmet filling and whipped cream frosting - double layered 3/4 sheet and a 5" smash cake to match.

For the frosting, I ended up using Pastry Pride since I didn't know how long the cake would be unrefrigerated - it was really yummy! Go non-dairy product! The Pastry Pride colored beautifully with gel paste - I had planned to airbrush the scene, but since it's going to be my first time airbrushing, I thought it'd be best to wait on it and practice.

The sand is made from mixing raw sugar, light brown sugar and some gold sparkle dust - for depth and texture.

Smash Cake Front View

Smash Cake Side View

Sweet Trey always taking a photo with my latest creations!

View from the top

I made the characters out of fondant and gumpaste - I was to get into modelling chocolate, but for now, this is my go-to modelling medium. I used rice krispie treats for the wave for stability not only for the wave, but to help Spongebob and Gary surf upright! I also used very thin blocks of rice krispie treats to stabilize the characters - I'm not used to working with such light frosting - I was worried the figures would sink.

The initial plan was to have Mr. Krabs in the water floating with his head above water and one claw - calling to the Lifeguard Lobster Guy who's attention is otherwise occupied by a bikini-clad Sandy Cheeks Squirrel. I had also hoped to have Plankton building a sand castle on the side. In the end, I ran out of time but as I looked at the cake, I thought it would be way too busy had they been added. Speaking of Sandy, I had wanted to try blowing sugar for her breathing helmet - but in the images I used for reference, some of them she wasn't wearing it when she was in her bathing suit - so I left it off.

All in all, it was a super fun cake to make - and I enjoyed creating the characters and making them come to life.

Back Angle of Squidward burying Patrick in the sand

Front Angle of Squidward burying Patrick in the sand

Side Angle of Squidward burying Patrick in the sand

Sandy Cheeks and Lifeguard relaxing under the sun

Spongebob and Gary surfing

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