First Time Carving

My little sister turned 21 at the end of December.  She has a raw eye and exceptional talent in photography.  We played with the idea of making either some sort of fancy drink cake (think martini) or a camera cake.  I tried to persuade her to go with the drink cake – as I could jazz that up with skills that I am comfortable with.  But her heart was set on a camera cake.

Carving a cake was a territory I had not ventured into yet, and through my research, found out it is a territory that a lot of cake decorators flat out avoid.  I figured that since it was my sister – she would be very forgiving if the cake was a total flop.

Man, that lens gave me trouble.  From the cutting of the cake, to the stacking and dirty icing, to the actual lens (which is made from poured sugar colored black – yay!) I struggled with that thing.  I made 2 cake lenses and 3 of the glass lenses until I was satisfied…

The camera itself came out a lot sloppier than I had hoped – but then again, I am my own biggest critic.  However, I was pleased with the color scheme, the bottom tier of the cake and the little balls I decided to add as a finishing touch.  

This cake seemed to have earned me more recognition than any of my previous cakes.  This makes me eager to give carving another try – I’m hoping my skills can only improve from here…

Happy Milestone Birthday to my Little Sister Tasha!  I’m glad you enjoyed your cake.

Watch out for my next cake – which will also be carved...

Cheers,

Tam a Lam

Cakeaholiccakery.com

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Sweet Land of Liberty

Ringing in the new year, I was asked to make a camouflage cake for a boy’s 13th birthday. This boy is very interested in honoring our country in service someday.  Camouflage – totally out of my element.  I was excited to learn a new technique of creating a camouflage pattern on fondant.  I love to be 

challenged.

My first attempt was not as great as I’d hoped, but at least it was obviously camouflage… The dog tags with the birthday age was my idea, and I made those from scratch (totally edible) – I really like how these turned out.  I wanted them to look a bit rough, not super shiny and clean  - and I think I accomplished that.

 

After I had made the cake board, (which was covered in tiny red and blue stars) I decided to incorporate stars in to the design.  The birthday boy, Nicholas, is not interested in guns, war, tanks or bombs – but rather giving back to a country that has given him so much.  I thought stars would be a great way to display this respect for his country.

When I met him, I knew this was a perfect birthday cake for him.  As Nick came with his family to pick up the cake, he was wearing a camouflage shirt he had just purchased from the Army surplus store.  He was quiet – as is his nature- but all smiles when he saw the cake.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

More coming soon,

Tam a Lam

cakeaholiccakery.com

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