Cake Wars

SUGAR STRUGGLES: So, we had a cake due today for Birthday Dreams, a great nonprofit that provides birthday parties for kids in homeless shelters.

Our birthday girl wanted a galaxy cake. We had watched a number of videos on YouTube and felt confident we could decorate a cake accordingly with the nifty airbrush food coloring sprayer tool we have.

Until ... we fired it up today (for like the second time ever), and it didn't work. There was no control with the on/off trigger, it was just on On ON. Spraying everything, everywhere.

We really didn't have a Plan B. This had to work. So Annabelle and I devised a work around where I would control the 'trigger' by turning the whole unit on or off while she sprayed. Not ideal by any means, but we had no choice. 

We started with a plain ol' white covered cake. (The cake underneath is chocolate brownie with whipped chocolate filling and some mini chocolate chips in the mix for fun and texture.)

The rule for air brushing a galaxy cake is layering colors and starting with your lightest color first. We went pink then blue then purple then black.

 How do you like our super low-rent paint booth? It's two paper grocery sacks on the sides and the bottom of a case of  Top Ramen on the back. Very professional! ;)

From the air brushing to the 'stars' Annabelle did all of the decorating. 

The cake in and of itself was super pretty, but we wanted to make a cake topper for the birthday girl. So, yesterday, we made a shooting star out of gum paste.  This morning, we got up and found it had dried with numerous cracks. TOTALLY not acceptable. Time to reboot.

And so, that's how I found myself suddenly making a batch of cookies and fondant. 

So cake topper 2.0 was a whole lot bigger and more delicious than the first version, so I guess it's OK. Tragedy averted. (Oh, and, yes, the name is blurred.)