Saturday, August 23, 2008

A Bed of Roses

A big bed of roses for a friend's beautiful little girl who turned two recently. It was good fun putting this behemoth of a cake together, intended to serve 80, and I realized in retrospect how very fortunate I was - it was only when manoeuvring the tight corners whilst fitting the finished number in the fridge that it occurred to me had the cake been any wider, longer or taller, I would be having a bit of a storage issue on my hands...Phew! Note to future self: Must measure widest, longest, tallest available fridge shelf space before deciding on cake pan dimensions.

It's a dark chocolate fudge layer cake frosted with white chocolate buttercream (which is also used to pipe the basketweave finish wrapping the sides of the cake). The roses are fashioned from very stiff royal icing - tinted a subtly variegated palette of lilac, lavender and mauve - piped using a petal tip on a flower nail. Formed petal by petal flower by flower, the roses are made ahead of time and allowed to dry thoroughly before being adhered to the surface of the iced cake - on cakes that require chilled storage, royal icing blooms hold up much better than fondant or marzipan ones. The interstices are filled with clusters of leaves, piped using the white chocolate buttercream tinted a pale kelly green.

As much as I have a personal weakness for dollhouse miniatures as far as cakes are concerned, I must confess the sense of euphoria which comes with finishing something that's the opposite extreme scale-wise is really something else!

23 Comments:

Blogger deborah said...

gorgeous. i love this idea of having a flower on each slice of cake when served. wonderful.

5:51 am, August 24, 2008  
Blogger Sweet Treats by Dani said...

i just stumbled onto your blog... all your creations are beautiful. great pics!

6:40 am, August 24, 2008  
Blogger Valentina said...

Oh Joycelyn, wow! how do you make those lovely flours?

9:08 am, August 25, 2008  
Blogger *.*MENGNI*.* said...

Looks like lots of work and time. The cake is simply stunning!

11:33 am, August 25, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi joycelyn,

i love the beautiful cake. Why dont you consider conducting a class on decorating cakes? like how to use the different types of tips and the techniques. I will be the first to sign up.

1:26 pm, August 25, 2008  
Blogger Piggy said...

wow, the cake looks soooooo pretty! Love the lilac roses as well!

7:43 pm, August 25, 2008  
Blogger Ayudewi said...

oh my! its beautiful! love the roses. Very neat !

8:59 pm, August 25, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Simply gorgeous and elegant, Joycelyn. You really should write a book about cake decorating.

9:21 pm, August 25, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous cake! Everything is just darling! I love the color of the roses and how they're perfectly lined up on the cake. Beautiful and simple decorating idea that I'm definitely going to keep in mind!

8:53 am, August 26, 2008  
Blogger emily said...

this cake is gorgeous! your blog makes me SO hungry.

12:21 pm, August 26, 2008  
Blogger Pille said...

Looks amazing, Jocelyn!!

2:45 pm, August 26, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Woooww your creations and photos are perfect as usual ^^ Your details are just amazing.

4:24 pm, August 26, 2008  
Blogger tangobaby said...

What a gorgeous cake. I just love your photos!

8:10 am, August 28, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So delicious. Let's me try... :)

7:24 pm, August 28, 2008  
Blogger My Sweet & Saucy said...

Simply gorgeous! I totally understand you about the "euphoria" after finishing a huge cake...I just can't wait until I get that feeling this weekend once I'm done with the two cakes I am working on right now!

11:07 am, August 29, 2008  
Blogger Mahek said...

SUCH A GREAT LOOKING FABULOUS CAKE...
HOW LONG DID YOU TAKE TO BAKE AND DECORATE THE CAKE.

4:54 pm, August 29, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Beautiful bed of roses. Beautiful cake.

Paz

2:10 am, September 01, 2008  
Blogger jenna said...

Wow - she's lucky to have a friend like you!

8:11 am, September 02, 2008  
Blogger Claudia said...

Lady,

Your blog is the most beautiful I have ever seen. I found it through Nordljus. Your hands are magical and the decorated cookies and cupcakes you showed here are fantastic. I am a excellent eater, not a cook. I love to go out to good places to eat and not to cook. However, as a mother, I have my obligations and I can be good too. But I am always in search of other people's flavors, like my mother's.

Anyway, just found you and I am so proud.

Claudia

10:34 pm, September 03, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos and wonderful ideas! What lens do you use?

9:06 am, September 04, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, gorgeous flowers!
Bet they taste good as well!

4:00 pm, September 05, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a lucky little girl she is....It such a beautiful cake. Unfortunately,you didn't respond to my inquiry so my daughter who also just turned 2 didn't get the chance to see, admire & taste your gorgeous cake. ah...of course it's just me being sentimental and envious. But still i enjoy seeing your creations. well done!

3:00 pm, September 10, 2008  
Blogger The Stay At Home Son said...

Spectacular! I am so inspired by this.

8:32 pm, September 25, 2008  

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