Now that Christmas is over, I'm busy prepping for my birthday party. I'll be 40 on New Year's Day, so this is a biggie! I've got grand plans for all the goodies I plan to cook and bake...probably more than I'll actually be able to accomplish, but who knows! I've got Tuesday and Wednesday off before the big event on Thursday, so I do have some available time to get things done...and can't forget the cleaning, oh god! David's already being a big help in that department, although the combination of dog and mud are a major opposing force. It's warmed up and all the snow is melting into a big soggy mess, and Harry is constantly romping in and out. Here he is last week after the snow had just fallen:
Back to my baking plans! I took on the big project of making a cake decorated with gum paste flowers. I've been working on them for a few weeks now, and here's what I've got:
The cake will be covered in chocolate fondant, which is a lot darker than the background here, so they'll look a little different. It's hard to take a picture of them, because the colors shift, and the luster dust I've used to give them a little sparkle reacts strangely with the camera. But you get the idea. It'll be a two-tiered cake, so now I have to figure out how to arrange them.
I have a conundrum: how to attach those little vines to the cake. The fondant will be basically dry, so if I want the ivy vines to climb up the cake, I have to figure out a way to get them to stick. The flowers are easy...a little royal icing piped behind them will "glue" them on well and won't be seen. But the icing would stick out the sides of the vines. If I don't figure this out, they'll have to stay on the flat surfaces of the cake.
Anyway, back to cleaning...the really fun part of prepping for a party!