Year of the Dragon-2012

Happy Chinese New Year! I received an order from a frequent client of mine for a dragon cake. She wanted it small but with these elements: dragon with five claws; red, orange, yellow and gold; clouds; and a fire ball. Here is what I came up with:

I wanted a traditional dragon, like in a New Years parade. This dragon was sitting up in the clouds guarding his fireball.

A close-up of the dragon shows all the details that went into finishing this piece. The layers of colored scales on the dragon back were topped with gold spikes. The head had four feathery layers fanning out form the face. Each little detail was cut and placed with precision, from the teeth and the tongue, to the eyes and the gold ridges on the nose.

I always love working on cakes for clients...new styles and subjects, always and new challenges! This was no exception. Happy Chinese New Year!!

Pin It

Paper Doll Birthday Cake

My oldest daughter, Kate, turned 7 and she wanted her theme this year for her party to be paper dolls. I loved it! That was a fantastic idea since the party decorations, favors and crafty things could all be out of paper. But when it came to the cake it was a little trickier. After days of drawing and redrawing the cake we decided on two paper dolls around a party table. Around front of the cake was a scene from a doll house.

Kate and I spent one day making all the little pieces...the lamp, pictures, rug, table and party treats. After the pieces dried we painted each item. Often I would color the gumpaste before making pieces but we wanted the give this a watercolored look, like something that was from a storybook.

We modeled the dolls after Rebbecca (American Girl) and Ana dolls. I rolled very thin gumapste and then cut out the basic shape of the dolls. I let them dry for about five days before I painted them with lemon extract and petal dust.

Kate wanted ice cream bowls with strawberry ice cream and a cherry on top. And of course she had to have a three-tiered cake! We made little silver edged plates and a doily for the cake stand to sit on.

This cake was very pretty and delicate...perfect for Kate's 7th birthday! Pin It