Way back in July I got a message from a certain Niamh
Geraghty asking me (me a hobby sugarcrafter) if I would be interested in taking
part in making a piece about Dublin out of cake for the edible art gallery!
Without hesitation I said I was in cause it sounded like a challenge and
more than likely a whole lot of fun too!
When the picture was chosen I have to admit I was excited & a bit worried as it's so detailed but the colours were so vibrant I just knew it would be an awesome cake!
While I was on my holidays my piece arrived, I watched facebook as people posted up the pic of their piece of the picture and couldn't wait to get back to see what mine would be!
I have to admit I was a bit less worried about it when i got it as it was pieces of buildings so how hard could that be?! I stuck it up so I could look at it every day but most importantly so that I wouldn't lose it (I love everything!!).
I finally sat down a couple of weeks ago, having not done anything remotely cake related since June and cut out my shape. Being the novice I am it didn't enter my head to trace my image on to the icing... I started off trying to paint the blue of the main building. 3 attempts later I finally got the blue I was happy with! I wanted the windows & buildings to have a layered effect so I cut them all out piece by piece and began to put it together. I made the bushes using an icing nozzle to create the texture I wanted. It was only when I got to applying the roof on the final building (the purple one on the bottom, that I realised I had put everything else on too low so they all had to come off and be cut out and put back on again (in the right place this time!).. There's where actually marking my icing first would have come in extremely handy! I painted the gold lines on and I was done - Woops.... it was at this stage that I remembered that I was supposed to have taken pictures as I went along! I guess I'll know for the next time.
Anxiously I took a pic of my piece and posted it up for the rest of the Queens to see. I don't mind telling you that every day since I made it (even now when it's too late) I wished I had done it again, just in case I could have made it look better, maybe added a bit of sparkle!
The worst part was definitely making the cake itself! I had nothing even remotely the right size, I used pieces of cake board covered in cling film to try to create the right shape inside my smallest casserole dishes, I propped them in place using biscuits?! I know not exactly genius! I would have been better cutting it to shape but in my mind this was going to work! I poured the chocolate biscuit mix in (cursing myself for adding marshmallows which all rose to the top) and it duly spilled out the sides.... aaaah! I popped it in the fridge and let it set, when it was set enough I took it out, peeled the sides away to reveal the right shape but about an inch too small! Luckily enough there was enough on either side to get to the right height... I put the top on just to cut it to size... another error! I didn't get a chance to ganache the sides because I was afraid I would tear the top if I took it off! Anyway, it's done and it's in and hopefully mine wasn't too big or too small for the girls who assembled it!
Who knows what crazy plan will be thought up for the next Cake Queens venture but I for one can't wait! This has been a blast and i'm extremely grateful to have been a part of it!
When the picture was chosen I have to admit I was excited & a bit worried as it's so detailed but the colours were so vibrant I just knew it would be an awesome cake!
While I was on my holidays my piece arrived, I watched facebook as people posted up the pic of their piece of the picture and couldn't wait to get back to see what mine would be!
I have to admit I was a bit less worried about it when i got it as it was pieces of buildings so how hard could that be?! I stuck it up so I could look at it every day but most importantly so that I wouldn't lose it (I love everything!!).
I finally sat down a couple of weeks ago, having not done anything remotely cake related since June and cut out my shape. Being the novice I am it didn't enter my head to trace my image on to the icing... I started off trying to paint the blue of the main building. 3 attempts later I finally got the blue I was happy with! I wanted the windows & buildings to have a layered effect so I cut them all out piece by piece and began to put it together. I made the bushes using an icing nozzle to create the texture I wanted. It was only when I got to applying the roof on the final building (the purple one on the bottom, that I realised I had put everything else on too low so they all had to come off and be cut out and put back on again (in the right place this time!).. There's where actually marking my icing first would have come in extremely handy! I painted the gold lines on and I was done - Woops.... it was at this stage that I remembered that I was supposed to have taken pictures as I went along! I guess I'll know for the next time.
Anxiously I took a pic of my piece and posted it up for the rest of the Queens to see. I don't mind telling you that every day since I made it (even now when it's too late) I wished I had done it again, just in case I could have made it look better, maybe added a bit of sparkle!
The worst part was definitely making the cake itself! I had nothing even remotely the right size, I used pieces of cake board covered in cling film to try to create the right shape inside my smallest casserole dishes, I propped them in place using biscuits?! I know not exactly genius! I would have been better cutting it to shape but in my mind this was going to work! I poured the chocolate biscuit mix in (cursing myself for adding marshmallows which all rose to the top) and it duly spilled out the sides.... aaaah! I popped it in the fridge and let it set, when it was set enough I took it out, peeled the sides away to reveal the right shape but about an inch too small! Luckily enough there was enough on either side to get to the right height... I put the top on just to cut it to size... another error! I didn't get a chance to ganache the sides because I was afraid I would tear the top if I took it off! Anyway, it's done and it's in and hopefully mine wasn't too big or too small for the girls who assembled it!
Who knows what crazy plan will be thought up for the next Cake Queens venture but I for one can't wait! This has been a blast and i'm extremely grateful to have been a part of it!
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