Bunting for a Baby Boy

You would think that a rough finish on a buttercream cake would be super simple, that it would be a very natural thing to do, actually.  Really, it is NOT.  I really pride myself on my straight smooth sides and sharp corners.  It took a while to find the techniques that worked best for me, and once I did...it became, well...obsessive.  Doing a rough finish is very time consuming and takes a surprising amount of effort to get the right look.

I have also been wanting to do a cake for some time now that involved bunting.  It seems to be all the rage all over the place online, and also goes well with many different occassions.  I have to say, I loved it.

I was asked to make a baby shower cake for a baby boy with no specific theme involved.  Just a color scheme which mirrored the chosen linens for the nursery and the sweet baby's name.  This is what I did:



I did a rough, rustic finish on the buttercream, let it set, then went back over and semi-smoothed the peaks to end up with a different look.  I have seen several rustic buttercream cakes that had an almost plaster-like finish that really appealed to me.  This was my first attempt, and I liked the look.

I made fondant pendants and strung them on navy blue ribbon and added the baby's name for a vinatge-y fun look, as well as uneven random drapings and buttons.  A fabric rose was added to soften the look a touch.

Hope you like it as much as I do.

Flour Girl

Buttercream Ruffles for Your Friday

Well hello there....

Thanks for being here.  I'm so glad you stopped by, and I think you will be too.

As promised, I have a great new Ruffle cake to share with you.  I have to say that this cake may be my new favorite.  I know I am fickle, and I probably change my mind too often, but this week...this is my all time favorite cake.

Why?  Well for a couple of reasons....

First off, the color combo was fab.  My favorite shades of my favorite hues.....
Lavender, Ivory and plum-ish, wine-ish, burgundy....ish???
LOVE

Plus, the style just happens to coincide with my own personal style preference.  This doesn't happen all that often, so when it does....I die over it.  I love it when that happens.  Also. if you keep up with my projects, you may notice that I prefer to use fondant.  I just like the finish, I love that you can heavily color it without worrying about affecting the taste or dying the teeth of those who eat it.  I love the versatility you have with texture that buttercream just can't always allow.  But, this is the ultimate exception.  I love that this design had a smooth crisp finish on the upper two tiers and the texture and lightness of the ruffles at the bottom.  With a focal point being a single large sugar bloom...this is right up my alley. 
LOVE

Lastly, you just about always win me over with ruffles.  Ruffles of any kind.  As established previously here....they are my fave.
LOVE

So, here are a couple shots of my absolute all time favorite cake. (at least for the time being ;-D )

Isn't she pretty????  I love her.....

There's that sugar flower.  The color of the flower was intended to match the tablecloths used.  I was a little nervous about the final color because I had seen the swatch for the tablecloths just once and was coloring by memory.  I think it panned out just fine.  This cake was for a large engagement party of 220 guests.  WOW!  I can't wait to see what the wedding will be like! 

The decor as well as the cake was inspired by the bride-to-be's party dress.  We decided to have a gold center to the sugar flower to incorporate some gold accent in a subtle way because the bodice of her dress had gold beading.  Her dress was iridescent lavender with pick-ups in the skirt.  Since they wanted to stick with an all buttercream cake, we went with ruffles to emulate the pickups on the cake.  This is a three tier cake serving 100 and we did the remaining servings in kitchen cakes.  These are smart cookies!  A huge money saver without losing any of the presentation. 

I love this cake, and I hope you do too!

Flour Girl