The Love Tree...(not too sappy)

by Roy
(Williamsburg, VA)

The Love Tree

The Love Tree

I'm an architect by training.


I love to embody the needs & personalities of my clients into the buildings they commission.

Amazingly, the same is true for the cakes I design.

This design posed several challenges for me. The bride wanted a 'rum cake' layer and a 'green' (environmental) theme for the wedding.

She picked out a very cute set of birds for the cake topper and after several ideas, the best design seemed to be a multicolored tree, leading up to the birds.

The rum layer posed a minor problem, in that the off gassing of the rum would create gas pockets below the fondant. I kept popping and smoothing, but would be interested to know if others have had this experience and if this is the nature of the beast or if there's a way to get the rum flavor without the gas.

This was also my first attempt at a natural tree form, I found it very helpful to build it organically out of fondant run through a pasta maker with a spaghetti cutter.

The final challenge for me, not only for this cake, but for several others, is how to transfer it (40+ lbs) to the cake table. I use a metal grid to build the cake on taken from one of those college dorm room shelving kits. It's low profile and sturdy nature lends itself pretty well to using lifting cables threaded through the grid.

It was a smash hit and I learned several new techniques to put into the arsenal.

Sincerely,

Roy E. Stump
Layers Unique Cake Design
www.cakelayers.net

Comments for The Love Tree...(not too sappy)

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

May 29, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Love tree cake!
by: DebbCatt

The cake looks great! The only way I can think of to minimize the air pockets from rum would be to use the imitation rum flavoring, but I'm sure it's just not as good as real rum!

Heavy cakes are a problem, if I know a cake will be heavy, I build it on a covered Masonite board. They are very reasonably priced and can be bought in any shape and size and come in different thicknesses so weight shouldn't be a problem. Of course you can always build them yourself since you're an architect!

I feel much better about transferring a heavy cake if it's on a Masonite board. I just put some non-slip matting on the floor of my van and sit the board on it. Never moves. The hardest part is picking it up off the floor of the car.

Thanks for sharing the cake pictures!
Jun 11, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Similar to Cake Stackers ?
by: Lorelie

Hi Roy,
Your metal shelving idea sounds very much like the Cake Stackers
Thank you for a wonderful entry.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Wedding Cake Contest.

This article was printed from Wedding-Cakes-For-You.com

Print Article
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.