All the zebra stripes were hand painted with edible gel colors. It took me a while to realize that you can water the gel down to a acrylic type consistancy, so after I did that, the painting was a lot smoother. The paint was still a bit wet when I took these pics, so I don’t think it would be a shiny when it was dried. But Jen had to pick it up last night, wet and all!
The shoe and bow were made of modeling chocolate. I really don’t like to use gumpaste (the tissue is made of gumpaste though because I wanted it thin!) because it tastes weird…it’s all crunchy! Whereas, I love eating modeling chocolate because it’s still soft, but tastes SO good! And, if it’s thick enough, it holds it shape.
The cake is dark chocolate mudcake with a vanilla ganache filling. This was my first time making a box like this, so getting those corners right was tough! By the end I figured out a good technique, but I ran out of ganache again!! UGH! But, next time, I realized I need to load up the corners with frosting so that when you pull a bench scraper/smoother on them, you can get a nice sharp corner.
One more thing…I used Satin Ice fondant for the first time (that was the black shoe box base). And I made/used MMF for the lid. I have to say, I thought they both had the exact same consistancy!!!! Although, the MMF was definetly more forgiving! It didn’t give me elephant skin/tearing stretch marks at all…whereas the Satin Ice did! So, I was really excited to be able to have compared them because now I’m definetly sticking with the MMF!!!! Oh, and this last batch I made was a DREAM! I think cooking it slower was the key…it had the perfect consistancy!! I really paid attention to the microwave, and it worked!!!
All in all, I loved this cake and had such a blast making it!! Thank Jen for calling me up and having me do this cake for Ellen Nona!!
Jessica… this is AMAZING!! One of my favorites so far!
Amazing – I can’t even believe that’s a CAKE!!
Are you serious! This is amazing! I don’t know why I’m so surprised though, I knew it would turn out great, but WOW!
Now that’s what I am talking about! Shoes AND cake :0) BEAUTIFUL!!
This is hands down my favorite so far! I think I’ll need this cake next May! ;0)
W-O-W!!! Amazing Jessica!
Hi Jessica – I saw this and thought of you and your amazing cakes! I think you could absolutely win this promo – wouldn’t that be amazing? http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2009/08/batter-up.html
You don’t have to post this comment, I just wanted to tell you about the contest! You do an amazing job!
Jessica can i possibly order this cake? Its my mums “SURPRISE” 50th birthday party on the 28th of Nov & id love to have this cake on the table when she walks in. Please let me know a.s.a.p if you can do it. Regards Faith
Faith – can you email me and we can discuss details?? jessicakes33@yahoo.com
Thanks!
Love Love Love this cake!!!
Done so perfectly!!! What modeling chocolate and MMF recipes did you use? You can email me directly (delynntracy@yahoo.com). Thanks Tons!
Jessica, could you provide a tutorial on this technique? I’m interested in how you covered the cake edges, and also how you made the lid. Is it a cake? Any info you could provide on how you made the show would be great. Also, what recipe do you use for MMF? I tried a recipe the other day that had 1/2 cup of crisco mixed in with the marshmallows, and it was much too soft. I need a good MMF recipe. Thank you so much! -Kris
I don’t have a tutorial for this right now. But, the lid was a 1″ slab of cake on a cake board, crumb coated and covered in fondant. Same with the box…three layers of cake, crumb coated, then paneled with black fondant. Just cut a template for your sides after you crumb coat it and use that template to cut out your fondant after you roll it out. Apply it to the cake and trim the edges.
All my recipes are under the top right tab of my blog called, “Most commonly asked questions”. Check that out!
Blessings!
Jessica
Thanks for the tips about the shoe box. How did you keep the lid open? Also are you covering the cake board that holds the lid with fondant? Would love to see a tutorial on this one as well. Kathy
The back of the box is glued with melted chocolate to the back of the box, then there are two dowels sticking up in the middle of the cake that I glued the lid to with melted chocolate. Then, hid that with the “tissue” fondant. The lid was one layer of cake on a cake board all covered in fondant.
Hope that helps!