Surprise Inside Cake - Hidden Downton Abbey

I have a fondness for Downton Abbey. Like the rest of some of the millions of viewers that have made it so popular.

I was so looking forward to Season 5 that I decided to make a cake in honor of it. No special occasion. No gathering of any sort. Just wanted to see if it could be done.

My first attempt was a fail. The batter wasn't baking up high enough to surround the tops of the castles.

So I added more batter. Just not quite enough.

After flattening the tops of the cakes the castles were still peeking through and I wanted a bit more white space.

Even this wasn't enough since once the cake tops were flattened the top of the castle lost some of its definition.

The next attempt wasn't a complete success since the castles weren't exactly lined up to mirror each other but I'm getting closer. Perhaps the 3rd time will be a charm?

The letters were cut from modeling chocolate using Marion Frost's Patchwork cutters from Global Sugar Arts. The castles for the exterior were hand cut from a modeling chocolate/fondant mixture.

Now that the cake drama is over I'm looking forward to some real drama at Downton!

Confectionately yours,

Deborah

Surprise Inside Cake - Hidden Magic the Gathering Colors

This cake was made for my special friend who was celebrating his 12th birthday recently. He wanted a Magic the Gathering themed cake and since I'd never heard of it I went right to work researching my options. Turns out it's been around for 30 years and has quite a following in some circles. A field trip to the local gaming store was quite an eye-opener!

  

The birthday boy's heart was set on having a "Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath" card on top but that was WAY beyond my piping skills and available time. Can't even pronounce it let alone pipe it properly.

So I opted for laminated versions of graphics that he could remove and save as mementos. Customizing with his name was an added incentive to use the printed graphics. MUCH cleaner and neater than my decorations would've been and I saved countless hours as well! Just the thought of trying to create an edible version of the dice had me worried due to time constraints. As you can see below, he was quite pleased with the non-edible decor. Whew!

I think this is the biggest smile I've ever seen on this boy! He was very happy with the cake and cupcakes topped with the 5 color dots using Sixlets. And he didn't even know what was waiting inside! heh, heh, heh!

   

The oval from the card back showing the five colors used in the game was hidden away with only his mom knowing in advance. I wanted to surprise her as well but I couldn't stand it and at the last minute had to share! Plus I wanted to make sure they cut the cake in the proper direction to reveal the design. Yeah. That's it. It was necessary. Not just me unable to keep my big mouth shut.

I cut the cake before frosting (hence the washed out pictures from the required camera flash at 6 am. The colors are a bit off in this photo and are also lighter since the cake was still frosty but they warmed and mellowed some when the cake was cut) and while it was still frozen to double check the hidden design. Yep, you can cut and peek and no one will be the wiser once it's assembled and frosted! Although the oval shifted a bit to one side during baking the party guests didn't seem to mind or notice.

All sides of the cake with the cupcakes ready to party! The cupcakes filled up the space between the cake plate and the round tray quite nicely and added a fun 3D element with the shiny (and tasty!) brightly colored Sixlet candies.

Hope you had a MAGICal birthday Cooper!

NOTE: this cake was not for profit so I didn't worry about copyright issues but if you plan to make this cake to sell you'll need get the proper permission to use the logos.