To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.
Albert Schweitzer
On Sunday we got together gave thanks and then we had cake - Birthday Cake!
One of my nieces is celebrating her birthday next week, and since I won't see her again until Christmas, we decided to surprise her and celebrate a little early. Hence, this cake and not the regular Thanksgiving fare one might expect to see on this particular day.
Yes, this cake... Where do I begin? I had such big plans for this cake and I let myself down in ways impossible to convey without reclining face up on the leather couch. Ok, slightly exaggerated, but I was quite disappointed with the end result.
I recently purchased an airbrush for cake decorating and had hoped to produce works the likes of Rembrandt and Picasso only after a couple tries - you see where this is going, right?
The base tier, 10" of airbrushed gold, was easy enough. Fill and mask. Check. Cover with white chocolate fondant. Check. Airbrush the fondant with a gold shimmer. Check. Airbrush the stencil pattern onto the gold fondant with a mix of gold and purple. Check. Rest...
Tier two... fill, stack, chop, chop, simmer, stir, melt, refrigerate, bring to room temperature, microwave, stir, mask, level, smooth, leave to dry overnight, colour and roll fondant, brush to dampen, cover with fondant, smooth, sharpen, bubble pop, smooth, sharpen, smooth, smoo... You get the picture? If not, see below.
Ahhh, my canvas! Not exactly the purple for which I aimed, but after countless drops of black and violet gel food colour I abandoned aubergine for fear of an unpalatable end. I won't be working with purple again for some time. As the colour choice for a number my recent cakes, I fear I have misled you into thinking it is my favourite colour. It isn't. It is, however, my niece's.
My niece is somewhat of a budding artist. My sister sent me some of her sketches and I got the idea to incorporate one into my cake plans. Oh, how I would wield that airbrush and create a work of wonder to wow the birthday girl. I wielded and wielded and it all left me wondering. Why the %#&* isn't this working? WHY? After countless pieces of cardboards and practice fondant, I came to a full understanding of why Van Gogh cut off his ear.
Plan B! Return the airbrush, it's clearly the problem. 😉 Nah, the real Plan B involved some serious manual labour; you know, the type that involves modelling chocolate, a scalpel, bone tool and gum glue. You may remember my 100 Days Cupcake toppers - a real pain in the behind when you have to do more than five. After five the expletives tend to flow freely. I was down to the wire on this cake and I only needed to make one, so I put those curse words on pause for the moment.
It was all going so very well until I felt I had something to prove - a bone to pick with the almighty airbrush. The silver pistol that needed to be pushed, pulled and toggled just so, in order to produce thin, clean lines. I don't respond well to high maintenance. Can you tell it's now personal? Guess who won?
Clearly, it wasn't me. 🙁 I had a perfectly carved and painted image and I screwed it up by trying to prove something to a machine. Time to grow up and get on with it. In the end, I had to quickly pull together the image that appears on the cake. Cut and paste modelling chocolate, with really bad skin tone strokes, a dilapidated nose and missing eyebrows or lashes. Doesn't look much like my niece's artwork, but the chocolate cake on the inside made up for my failed exterior.
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| From my Intsagram feed. |
In one of my niece's drawings, the girl in the image wore a red rose in her hair. I went with pink, a nod to Cancer Awareness Month and instead of painting it on, opted to make an over-sized version for more of a 3D effect. This was my first rose and although it took extremely long to dry for some strange reason, I rather like the way it turned out.
So, Shay will be a year older in a few days and I feel like I have aged 5 years battling with the airbrush. In the end, it's all about spending quality, fun time with the people who matter, oh, and when it comes to cake, taste - it's all about taste. And on last count the ayes had it on both fronts.
Hope those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful time. Even when we have litte, we have so much for which to be thankful. My sincerest thanks to you, for staying the course with me.
Don't forget, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Think Pink!
sue says
well you may not be thrilled but I bet the birthday girl was and it looks good enough to eat!
Paula Kelly-Bourque says
I think that your niece was blown away by this cake, by your hard work and loving (if not sometimes frustrating) efforts that went into making her birthday celebration just that much more personal and intimate. I know I am.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thank you, Paula, for all your kind words and support.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thank you!
G Pavao says
I think you did a wonderful job with this and I'm sure the birthday girl loved it.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks, G!