My very first shot at decorating a cake was making a butterfly island themed cake, 8 years ago. I was stoked with the outcome, especially when I had absolutely no idea about the cake decoration. All I knew was how to make a cake and chocolate ganache.
You must be wondering what got into me to decorate the cake. Well, it was all initiated by my daughter who was utterly oblivious of being my inspiration at that young age. For many years she never had cake, not even a small bite on her friend’s or her birthday. It puzzled me, coz normally kids love cake. So, finally, I built up my courage and decided to bake a cake at home (again my very first attempt at baking) and see if that made any difference.
Guess what? That was my happiest day ever. She devoured the cake like there was no tomorrow. The very next thing she said was “Mum, I want this same cake for my 8th birthday with a butterfly theme. Can you make it pleeeeaaase…?”
With such a cute plea, how could I not fulfill her wish?
That is how my journey of decorating cake began 8 years ago. Since then, I have been making and decorating cakes for my friends and family member’s birthdays and special occasions. Along the way, I have improved and picked up more decorating skills and tips. All self-taught.
I will be posting more themed cakes that I have made over the years and share my learning experiences. So, keep reading and watching my post.
Here are some pics I took of the Butterfly Island themed cake. Pardon me for the poor picture quality and missing making photos. Who knew, I would be writing my food blog one day.
Top View
Island cake is my Chocolate cake - Vegan covered with Chocolate Ganache.
Angle View
Butterflies are made by piping melted chocolate on the baking paper with butterfly print underneath to trace the shape. Placed the piped chocolate butterfly baking paper in between the valley of an inverted cupcake tray in such a way that the body of the butterfly goes in the valley while the wing portion is coming up the hills of the cupcake tray and resting on it to give the 3D effect to the wings. When set, it comes off easily from the baking paper.
I will soon update the post with pics showing the process for better understanding.
Side View
Small balls that butterflies are sitting on are cake crumb balls coated with tempered chocolate depicting small islands around the large island. While the smaller chocolate pearls close to the large cake are Maltesers. Placed them there to cover the base of the cake and to make the cake look prettier.
Front View
Number 8 is for the 8th Birthday, which is quite obvious but did you notice its unique placement? Flowing down the side. Number 8 is made by placing edible silver sugar pearls along the outline of 8 and the letters "Happy Birthday" are written using a white chocolate writing tube.
You can see, the cake board is handmade (cardboard wrapped with foil). I made use of what was readily available and little knowledge I had about cake decoration at the time.
Be prepared to see improvisation in my next cake decoration.
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