I write about sewing quite a bit but I am also a big fan of cake decorating. My philosophy is definitely Minimum effort, maximum impact. And I have very few skills but I am really good at cranking what I do know, and covering up the rough bits.
Also, this post is a glimpse into my other world, of being a Cabaret performer. Last yeabr my favourite show and one I regularly Emcee for, turned five. Caburlesque is on the first Saturday of every second month from Feb, at the Fringe Bar. We needed a cake that would feed 100 people, and on stage height really works so I decided to make a tall cake.
The little frames are made in white chocolate from a silicon mold then brushed with gold lustre dust. The images in them (of the various regular performers and contributors) were printed onto an edible sheet by an Auckland company. A trim and a lick of tylose glue and they were all done. The top is all purchased decorations that can be reused.
The bottom tier is sprayed with edible gold paint. The red ribbon not only looks good but tidies up folds and creases in the fondant and means there’s no need to do any icing finish there, making it super easy to transport the cake in separate layers. Last tip – we now have red fondant in two shades but this deep red is very sticky, but tastes delicious. My solution was to knead a little tylose powder into it, which helped it to dry out and make it easier to transport. I also rolled it out between baking paper to avoid cornflour bloom.
And here we are on stage – Debbie the producer, me feeling pretty emotional as it was my birthday too, and Sadie von Scrumptious who was the official Emcee for this show. As you can see, it’s not THAT big a cake – I think the layers were 6, 7, 8 and 10 inches.
The cake fed the whole audience and backstage, some went to another club for the cast and the top tier filled a lunchbox for a week. Not bad going really.