Haunted Hedge Maze Cake

This was an entry into a contest called Threadcakes. This cake took me a total of about 7-8 hours to do in stages.

It was particularly difficult for me to figure out what the maze really looked like since there is only the one view from one particular angle on the shirt. I tried several different techniques and even tried contacting the artist to find out what his inspiration hedge maze was, but received no reply. In the end a combination of Inkscape and old fashioned graph paper and pencil prevailed.

I used 2 butter cake mixes that I tinted green. I knew that I was going to carve out the maze so I baked it one day and the next began the maze prep.

I began cutting the paper pattern for the maze out with a regular pair of scissors, removing what would be the inside of the maze. I then realized I was going to have to leave certain pieces connected in order to ensure the maze stays properly proportioned the way I had it on paper.

Once the pattern was finished I pinned it to the top of the cake and began using a hem gauge to outline and remove the cake from the inside of the maze. I thought about leaving it without any icing once I had it carved out. However, what's a cake without icing?! So I decided to apply butter cream icing to the top of the cake, making sure none was actually inside the maze itself. My husband then reminded me that I needed to add texture to the icing, as it is meant to look like hedges after all. So I spent some time with a toothpick and roughened up the icing I worked so hard to smooth.

Pac-man and the ghosts were made using a technique I found on a website that I follow (www.snackordie.com), called cake balls. It is crumbled cake and icing mixed together and then cooled. Once cooled they were covered in melting candy that I had tinted the appropriate colors. They then had to return to their cooling chamber, AKA the fridge. After removing them from cooling in their little candy coatings I had to carve away the extra and smooth it out a bit.

Once they were done I added them to their places using the picture as a guide. That's when I added the eyes on Pinky and Inky to make sure they were looking the right way for their final photo shoot.

Toothpicks were definitely used a lot in this cake, but strictly for adding icing, sculpting, and carving. This cake, I am happy to say, is 100% edible without any support structures, and was even nice and moist.
I just hope that I did the artist justice in turning it into a cake. I hope you all enjoy seeing it as much as I did making it!

After playing with Picasa I also figured out how to do a video, so here it is as well. Enjoy! :)

Watching the Snow Fall

I had originally intended to carve a cake for an entry into a contest called Threadcakes. However, when I leveled this one I found way too many air bubbles for it to work for my intentions. So, instead of wasting a perfectly edible cake I decided to turn this one into an entry and try again for the other later.

I chose this design because I was looking for one that used some frosting colors I already had made from previous cakes. I had enough black to cover the cake so I began looking for a design with a dark background, yet simple so I could get this done and move onto my intended design.

The cake itself was a sprinkle Duncan Hines mix that I tinted green. This makes no since for this design, but it's what I made. I had only one 9 x 13 pan so it took me an hour to bake both layers. Once they were baked I leveled them and used some green "cookie icing" as the filling and stacked them. Then I trimmed the edges about 1 inch back so that there would be no gaps in between the layers.

Once the cake was assembled I prepared the canvas. I spread the Black frosting over the top and each side. I then let it set for 10 minutes to begin crusting. After that time limit was up I smoothed it with parchment paper and my spatula and did some touch ups with Viva paper towels.

While waiting for the icing to crust I began my pin prick cheat sheet. I took the image from the website and inverted the colors and printed it to the size I would place on the cake. I then placed the printout onto a clean towel and used a quilters pin to make the pricks. I only pricked the people, a few snow flakes and stars for reference points, and the clouds. I didn't want it to simply be a stamp and trace cake, I wanted to see what I could do on my own to make it look identical. Once it was finished I laid the paper onto the top of the cake and lightly pressed it into the icing leaving a slight indentation in the black icing.

I started decorating by following the trace lines I had made for the people using white butter cream icing with a tip 1 on the bag. Once I finished them I stepped back and realized that I forgot that the people were green. Instead of starting all over, I decided to fix that later by mixing some food coloring and clear vanilla extract and paint them. It worked so well, that I decided to do the rest of the colors on the cake the same way. I actually think that was my favorite part. After all, it's not everyday that you get to paint the stars.

I moved onto the clouds and snow flakes, leaving the stars for last using the methods previously mentioned. I was particularly impressed with myself for not getting lost in the blue lines that the people were standing on. I did not prick those out at all and was hoping it would be really close to the original design. I'd say it was a pretty good job for free hand.

After it was all done I decided to put a border on the base of the cake. My husband suggested that it match what was going on on the top of the cake. So, taking his advice we have blue lines, white snowballs, and yellow stars that make up the border.

Overall time to complete: I have no idea. I have 2 kids that I had to stop for, and great events such as the Star Wars at the library that we just couldn't miss(501st Legion - great job btw!). If I had to give a guess I would say a total of 6 hours. I baked and iced it on one day and the next began the decorating. I did try a half of a piece and found it to be particularly good. My daughter stole the other half while I was taking the eating it picture. I gave the rest to a family with a 16 year old to dispose of for me. I'd be surprised if any of it was left by the time they got home.