Time to Prepare for the Big Event

My original plan was to bake an 8" round cake and place a miniature replica of my daughter's favorite stuffed puppy on top.  Relatively easy in comparison to what I ultimately decided.  I had determined that I would create a replica of my daughters toy basket with many of her toys created in edible form to display on top.  I was simply asking for a meltdown!

 

I had worked on the pieces for the top weeks in advance.  All were made out of gumpaste (looking back, I would now do a combination of gumpaste and fondant).  My husband helped a little with this one.  I believe he made Mr. Potato Head and a few of the smaller toys.  The very top of the cake was made out of rice crispy treats on top of a piece of cardboard that could be laid atop of the cake at the last minute.  

The night before, I stacked 3 8" square chocolate cakes (with  no support) layered with peanut butter butter cream.  This is where I first learned that support is one of the most crucial parts of building a cake.  This is when my first cake decorating tears were shed :).  I thought that I had spent all that time on the top of the cake and that I wouldn't even have a cake to place it on.  The structural integrity of the cake that I chose to make was also lacking, so it just wanted to fall apart when we tried to insert dowels.  My husband helped me maintain sanity and we ended up inserting some rods and keeping it in the fridge (to keep the butter cream hard) in order to keep it standing.  To this day, I consult him (an engineer) with all structural aspects of each of my cakes.  The basket weave was done using a class butter cream (meaning that it was made with shortening instead of butter) so that it would hold up a little better.  The puppy was also made the night before (although looking back, I could have done that a day or two ahead as well).  He was also made out of rice crispy treats and covered in fondant.  

I realized at the last minute that I wanted my daughter to have her own individual cake for her first birthday.  So, even though she does not have a block like the one in the picture, it seemed like it might be a cute mini cake that would fit the theme.  So, I baked another cake.  The edges ended up a little rounder than I would have liked, next time I would use panels of fondant rather than trying to cover it with one piece.  That may give me some crisper edges.

The day of the party, we placed the toys on top, just prior to our guests arriving, and prayed that the cake would remain standing.  It did hold, but we had to serve cold cake (which is not best for the flavor).

Here is a picture of the cake (left) next to the inspiration for the cake (right). 

She loved it!

Uncle Alex verifying that it too is edible.