Monday, May 16, 2011

USMC Birthday Cake




OK, so this was my first military inspired cake.  Usually, when I finish a cake, I think "oh, how cute!"  But "cute" just didn't seem right.  This is definitely the most "manly" design I've done.  And it was fun challenge.

What was more fun was doing a cake for John, who I met at a friend's party.  He told me how he never liked vanilla cake with strawberry filling (which is what I brought to serve to the party).   But he came to shake my hand and tell me that the vanilla cake was the best cake he'd ever had.  He said that he was a chocolate fan, and that if he liked the vanilla cake so much, he couldn't wait to taste the chocolate.  So his wife surprised him with this little birthday cake.

I started with a chocolate chocolate chip cake with chocolate buttercream filling.  Then I combined fondant in greens and browns to create camouflage (I bet you couldn't even see it!)  I added some fondant stars that I painted in pewter and gold just to add some interest.  Then I created (almost) life-size .50 caliber bullets out of fondant and painted them with metallic luster dusts.  For the final touch, I made fondant dog tags and imprinted the birthday message with small rubber stamps.  The chain on the dog tags was also fondant (I made that using a string of pearls mold that I use for wedding cakes - just painted the pearls pewter!)  I added some "sand" around the base of the cake since our birthday Marine will be deployed to Afghanistan soon.  John - hope you enjoyed the chocolate cake even more!  (Especially since I wouldn't want to upset someone who deals with ammo that huge!)  Happy birthday, and thank you for your service to our country!  God bless the Marines.

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