A Journey from a Picture to Delicious!

To begin with, I am NOT a professional cake baker/decorator. I do LOVE the "art" and enjoy doing it when occasions arise. With that being said, for the past few days, my mind has been boggled with a baby shower cake. A friend from church was to be "showered" but another friend was unable to make the cake. So, silly me, I offered! In the midst of the storm, I wonder, "Why do I do this to myself?" Then when it's all over, I'm looking for another opportunity. Oh well, here's the journey from this...

to THIS...

The bedding picture brought many ideas to mind but nothing ever seemed to come together. The mother liked chocolate and 3 Musketeers; so, the cake flavor, filling, and icing color was settled! I like the look of round, stacked cakes so the shape was settled. Still with no plan, I baked anyway! I searched through albums upon albums online trying to find something that would tie together all these images and ideas floating around in my head, but to no avail. The quilt had lines and one of the fabrics had polka dots. So, I trudged on! The animals were making me quite nervous. After checking out a few ideas that I had for them, I still was unable to come up with anything. So, the only option left was to make them myself out of fondant. (p.s. This would be my first-ever attempt at fondant figurines.)

While I have "tinkered" with fondant before, I am by no means a pro. I found the wooden animals at Hobby Lobby and decided that they would be my backup if all else failed. On http://www.youtube.com/, there are several tutorials on making fondant elephants and bears (user: aine2). Using marshmallow fondant (MMF), I tinted the fondant and began molding. (BIG Hint: MMF can be heated slightly to soften.) A few days in advance, I followed the tutorials and made the elephant and bear and set them out so that they would harden. I couldn't find any tutorials with specific instructions for making a giraffe, so I looked at several pictures of 3D figures on http://www.cakecentral.com/ and got an idea for my Mr. Long Neck and began shaping. I was going to attempt to make a little baby out of fondant but I saw the cutest, little plastic baby at Hobby Lobby so I grabbed it. Using a big square of ivory fondant as my base, I made a "quilt" with the fondant scraps. I will say, the whole process wasn't as bad as what I thought. I am pleased with the result and will try my hand at it again.

The cake was made of 8 and 10 inch round, chocolate cakes with chocolate buttercream icing and 3 Musketeers added to the filling of each layer. I am NOT a chocolate fan but I must admit, this cake was "DELISH"!

So.....thus ends this journey. I'm anxiously awaiting my "ticket" for the next one. When all is said and done, I've had fun!