The Little Mermaid Who Almost Didn't Make It

This is a blog about a cake order that happened so fast I didn’t know what hit me!

I was under the weather the whole week leading to Mother’s Day. It didn’t help that I had orders I had to finish and deliver a day before Mother’s Day. My condition didn’t improve right after. By Tuesday, I got an inquiry about an Ariel (of Little Mermaid) birthday cake for Friday. I hesitated for a while, and I jokingly asked if it is they’d accept a little mermaid figurine instead of a hand-rolled fondant. The client immediately agreed.

And so it was a frenzy from that day forward! Confident that I would be able to find an Ariel action figure easily (we have Toy Kingdom and Toys R Us here in Manila) I decided to rest that Tuesday. Wednesday is for buying the raw materials; Thursday is for baking and decorating. Friday 12 noon is the delivery schedule.

To my dismay, only Disney Princess Barbie dolls are available. They are too big for a one layer, 9-inch round cake. I was running out of time... I need to think of something.

The Ariel dolls available in toy stores;
imagine how  she'd look like over
 a one layer, 4-inch round cake?!

I was ready to pull an all-nighter that Wednesday to make hand-rolled fondant mermaid. Until I was told that another client friend is willing to part with her daughter’s Ariel figurine. It was the theme of her daughter’s 1^st Birthday. She excitedly rummaged through her boxes that she broke... the Flounder figurine. (if it were Ariel, I wouldn’t know what to do) Haaay... 2 disasters averted. I was promised that it will be safely delivered to me Thursday evening.

The 6--year old Ariel figurine, as MMS-ed

I waited for the figurine to arrive before I can start decorating. Turns out, she’s about 5 inches high! Even higher than the cake itself! Images flashed through my mind : how will it stick in the cake, what if it fell and breaks, am going to make tall coral background to get the under the sea fell, etc., etc., etc.) I froze for like 15 minutes.

Then I decided that I have no choice. This is better than a huge Barbie doll on top of the cake.I have to make do of what I have, or else by tomorrow, I will have a cake, but no Ariel. Imagine the trauma of the 6-year old sweetie. And so I started working... Covered, rolled, cut, glued, etc., etc.

When I stopped working, it was 3am. And here she is...

I covered the coral Ariel was sitting on with fondant to refresh the color;
Adi is short for Daddy, which is their term of endearment for
Alexie's grandfather, who turned 62 the same day

The cake details; I always want all sides/angles
of the cakes I make are decorated.

P.S.

A few minutes after delivery, I got a message from the client saying that Alexie was "shrieking in delight" upon seeing the cake :) That made my day and I was suddenly not sleepy and tired anymore. 

The Happiness Project and the Rose Bouquet Cake

I have been wanting to make a Rose Bouquet Cake but I keep putting it off, finding reasons not to do it. It’s the “rose” part that I get intimidated in. The intricate details of the petals, how labor-intensive it is, and to actually make 20-30 pcs., in different sizes. Aysus!

Here’s a photo of the Rose Bouquet Cake in one of my bake books:

So you see, this project is not as easy as the other ones I previously made.

A friend kept on encouraging me to try new designs, and to conquer this monster fear. I told her I will get it done once I finished taking the Gum Paste Class at the culinary school where I usually take classes. We were hoping that I take it this month but turns out, they’re not offering it. So I said, “Maybe next month.”

I got new bake books from Singapore and was too excited to start on new projects when I was reminded by the book I am currently reading (The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin). One of the things that can evoke happiness is to tackle a nagging task. So tackle the nagging rose bouquet cake. Get it done and over with before you move on to dreaming, I mean, making new ones...

Today, I had an extra 4-inch Choco Decadent Cake sitting around the kitchen that immediately I decided, “Let’s do this!” I will just have to settle on the rosettes I did from the Garden Cupcakes I made:

And the quest begins...

I covered the cake with green fondant so that in any case I messed up the stems, it won’t be as noticeable. Next comes the stems. Rolling them was kinda tricky. A consistent stem diameter should be achieved. I initially used a chocolate lollipop mold but since it was taking so much time, I just rolled away like there’s no tomorrow! I made sixty 4-inch stems.

For the rosettes, I combined Christmas Red and Burgundy gel color. It’s easy to make. Just make rectangles, fold and roll with the overlapped portion at the top. I made 55 rosettes.

I started covering the cake with the stems. Make sure that the stems have the same length. And since I didn’t level the cake, I had to cut the stems at the start of the cake dome.

Using royal icing tinted with green as glue, I started covering the cake with my red rosettes starting from the ends of the stem.

Beginning the second row until the topmost portion, they should be placed in between 2 rosettes.

 

See how the green royal icing made the difference instead of using just white?

Since the rosettes I made were of different sizes, there were spaces that needed smaller ones. And I ran out of fondant that I had to prepare new ones. I used a different brand of gel that I got a different colored rosette. Learning: check availability of materials you will use before embarking on a project. Good thing it was on top of the bunch that the color difference didn’t matter much.

After 5 hours, here’s my finished product:

Way far from the one in my bake book, but garnered a lot of likes on my FB account. More than enough that I get to practice making some more this coming week..

And yes, this project brought me that satisfaction that I can do things if I get myself to focus, and believe that I can do it. Yes, it wasn’t as pretty as I hoped for, but pretty enough to make me feel better, and get that boost I needed when it comes to my decorating/design skills.

And I got 2 check marks today: tackle a nagging task; go to sleep happy. This is definitely the day’s highlight!

P.S.

I got orders for Mother's Day, and here's a photo of another finished product. The other one sent by the one who ordered :-)