There I was, fresh out of college with a B.S. in Nutrition and no idea what to do with it. After the grueling last semester I had I knew that medical school or graduate school was definitely out of the question...well for at least a year or two. Since I was out of school and couldn't find a job, I was elected to make cupcakes for my niece's 4th birthday. However, I had so much time on my hands I wanted to go above and beyond the typical amateur cupcake that I'm used to making. This is how it all began...
From July until November I've focused on learning as much as I can on my own about cake decorating and baking desserts. I bought cooking books, followed baking blogs, and never missed my two favorite cake shows -- Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes. I even considered going to pastry school but decided against it. Here I am 4 months since I first started and I just began a new full time job that I love and still continue to bake for special occasions like this one that made this for my sister's 14th birthday.
It is based off the Harry Potter series' characters Fred and George Weasley. The Weasley twins were inventors and practical jokers. While at Hogwarts they developed many different gadgets. When the Weasley twins left Hogwarts they opened up a very successful joke shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes on Diagon Alley.
I began by making the little decorations 4 days in advance with fondant so they would have time to dry. My awesome
sister was there to assist me with coloring the fondant and making the decorations.
The ears are
Extendable Ears and made of flesh colored fondant. I used the back of a rounded pen to make the curves and indentations on the ear. (Why spend so much money on tools when you can just use household items and you just need to make sure to disinfect it.) The pink bottle is a
love potion. The word love and the hearts were drawn on with edible food coloring markers. The fuzzy purple ball is called a
Pygmy Puff which is cuddly pet they sell at the shop. This little guy is a large cakeball (if you haven't heard of cake balls you must look at Bakerella's
website. They are delicious) covered with dark chocolate melted frosting and purple frosting. The little candy two-toned squares are
Skiving Snackboxes. These were so simple, I just got a 2 different types of Starbursts (so they're were more color options), cut the candies in half and pushed them together with another color half. The little black creatures are
Decoy Detonators. These were inspired by their descriptions in the book and this bomb guy from the video game Mario Bros.
The resemblance is uncanny. haha.
After all that, 2 days in advance, I made the cakes and covered them with fondant. My sister and I made the twins out of fondant as well. I made the bodies and she made their heads and faces.
The day before the party I put everything together and and piped on Happy Birthday Claudia. I also made green jello for the top.
The day of the party I put the jello in the hole on the top. This gave the effect of a swamp for the
Portable Swamp invention by the Weasley twins. I quickly added the trees and used a green edible food coloring marker for the grass to make it look more swamp like.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAUDIA!
Tune in for some more of my magical confections and creations!
I love it! I love it! That was one yummy cake...and I wish I would have thought more realistically after I graduated from college. I wish I would have really looked into what I was getting myself into so I would have known for sure that what I was getting myself into was what I wanted. Lucky Ducky!
ReplyDeleteLooks like now (even though it was hell to get there) that at least you are more secure with what you want. Props Man
This would have been a good opportunity to add a lovely poem like the ones in the autograph book but too bad no one is that creative anymore (hehe inside joke) :D