My husband requested, since our son Titus was only five months old, that I take it easy on Grace's fourth birthday cake. And, since my daughter was going to be four, I had a lot less say in what her final cake would look like. Though, she had difficulty decided as well. Side note to self: next year, show her 3 or 4 cake options and let her pick, rather than ask the open ended question of "What would you like your birthday cake to look like?" This girl went back and forth as to what she wanted. The only consistency being that her cake should be chocolate with peanut butter frosting. Finally, with a few days remaining before her party, she decided that she wanted a cake where she herself was jumping out of it. Hmmm....I decided to go with a similar method as I had done for my nephew Sawyer's cowboy cake.
My sister, Nichole, always sends a birthday shirt in the mail. Fortunately, the day I decided to start the cake topper...the shirt came. Grace was thrilled to pose for a picture in her new shirt. We asked her to pose as if she was jumping out of a cake, and this is what we got.
My husband did some photoshop work to make her look a little more like a cartoon. This changed the coloring a bit, so you'll notice that her shirt looks a little purple here, but on the cake we went with the true color of teal.
Next, I create some templates using wax paper. I wanted just the main colors.
Here is some of the layering of fondant. Then I let it dry overnight. A few nights would be alright, if you have the time. I also made some curly confetti and bow loops. They really should dry a few days prior to use so they hold their shape well.
Next, came the painting. I hand painted using food coloring, luster dust, and vodka (evaporates quickly, leaving only color behind). I about fell over when I saw the final product. It turned out far better than I had imaged, which doesn't happen often for me. Usually the picture in my head is far superior. FYI, I was so sure that this wouldn't pan out that I had a back up plan of running to HyVee with the photograph for them to print on some rice paper. I've not done it before, but had heard that you could do this.
In order to get her to stick into the cake, I used some royal icing to stick two lollipop sticks to the back of her.
Now for the portion of the cake I was the least pleased with. I was running out of time as I approached fondate covering time and it didn't end up as smooth as I would have like, so please ignore all of the bumps. I used this tutorial to guide me in how to make the explosion appearance on the cake. Worked pretty slick.
Added my bow and confetti and let it all dry in place over night, all of the plastic wrap is holding items in place as they dry.
In goes the big four year old.
She was pleased, and the cake was delicious!
OUCH!
