Penguin Grooms Wedding cake toppers - July 2014

So... on an amazingly humid and hot day, while thunderstorms raged outside I made toppers out of black fondant...remind me not to that again until winter.

For those of you who don't know, black fondant is horrible to work with as it get really soft and sticky with so much colour in it.  I had to keep putting the fondant, and the toppers, in the fridge just so I could have them keep their shape as they refused to harden up at all (I am making them a few days in advance of the cake just so they have a chance to harden up before the wedding).  

The trouble with putting things in the fridge when you're fondanting though is that, unless you've got a humidity control environment, you've got a very small window to do things in before the fondant gets 'sweaty' with condensation.  It's frustrating and time consuming, but you just have to be patient.

Anyway, got there in the end!

I used polystyrene (styrofoam) balls in the middle to reduce the weight and covered them with fondant mixed with a little Tylo.  You can see below how the cooled fondant is "sweating" in the heat and humidity.

 

The penguins wait to see.

One penguin finds his inner Dalek.

(keeping his eyes in place while the glue dries) 

These toppers are for an upcoming same sex wedding. I think the penguin suit thing has become a bit of a running joke between the couple.

I've positioned the penguins flippers so they can hold hands when they go on the cake.

These were made for The Angel Food Bakery in Brighton's iconic South Lanes,

where the Cake Angels bring Cake Love to the public on a daily basis!

Brighton Helter Skelter wedding cake March 2014

At long last the law has changed so same sex couples can marry in the UK, and Angel Food's contribution to the celebration is to make the wedding cake and cupcakes for one of the first happy couples, Andrew and Neil.  

The brief was Brighton Beach, to feed 70-90, and to include the family dog, Oscar.  

First I made a quick research trip to the pier to see the original.

Now, obviously, there are some structural implications to this, so I brain-stormed the possibilities and made a foam-core tower to help me visualise the dimensions.

The cake needed to be divided into 4 tiers, the bottom ones carved to look like one continuous cake.  This is to give it enough stability, as it is a tall structure.... made of cake... which needs to be transported.  I needed to dowel the tiers as per a traditional wedding cake, but I also put a narrow dowel through the whole structure to help during transport.

The slide of course was a different matter entirely!

I used foam core cake boards which allow me to cut then to the right size and easily cut a hole in the centre for the middle dowel.

The cake itself was alternate layers of vanilla and red velvet with white chocolate frosting.

I put the fondant on in stages.  Bottom skirt first, then a band around the tier with the vertical sides, then I iced the top dome seperately allowing me to stick it on the top later and hide the dowel.

I put a quilted effect on the skirt which replicates the iron panels and riveting on the real helter skelter, and allowed me to disguise the seam at the back.

The slide was a nightmare.  My original plan was to make it out of thin modelling chocolate and add it last minute but on delivery day I developed a heavy head cold so I opted to make a cardboard slide... Sorry to the purists out there.

It took ages to make the perfect helix, and it fitted beautifully, then I took it off to tweak something and when I put it back on I couldn't get it to line up again, so the platform by the top door is further to the left than planned but nevermind.

I had intended to make the staircase out of cake too, but as I was feeling unwell I made it out of foam core and lolly sticks instead.  

The mexican paste plaque was an reference to the signs on the pier but with Andrew, Neil and little Oscar as the heros

The original:

My version:

At the venue, the cake was joined by 24 Angel Food Bakery cupcakes, cooked in flat-bottomed ice cream cones and frosted to look like Mr Whippy style treats.

I do hope that the Grooms had a great time, and congratulations to all the happy couples around the country.

This cake was by Angel Food Bakery in Brighton's iconic South Lanes.  http://angelfoodbakery.co.uk