Halloween cake🦇 (1 Viewer)

Decided to make my Halloween cake yesterday, I made a 6” round chocolate cake and filled and crumb coated with orange flavoured and coloured butter icing.
I then covered with purple fondant.

things went a little haywire with the decorations, I was fairly happy with my bats, though the painting could
be better. I decided on red eyes with white fangs, though it was difficult with the smallness of them.



The plan was to make a tree either out of fondant or chocolate but that was a slight disaster so I had to change tack and decided to paint the tree even though that isn’t my strong point



i am fairly pleased with the outcome, my attempt at atmospheric mist was hit and miss.

 

[Joan]

I think it looks good and I'm sure it will taste yummy.

 

[Angie]

Hi Jennie

The base of your cake and the coating with the purple fondant looks good, I love the colour and the flavours of it. There are no bunches at the bottom of the cake, and you have cut it as near to the board as you can, leaving very little space. Where there is a touch of space between the board and the cake, if you use a cake smoother and rub it vertically up and down against the cake, it will lightly stretch the fondant, making it touch the base, so you don't have to put a border around the base, and there are no gaps.

Next...to the bats, did you use a mould or plastic cutter? I'm only asking because when I super zoomed in, there are slight rough edges on the bats. To remove these, you can always try and soften the edges with a soft paintbrush, or if they are cutters, always try and use metal ones as some of the plastic ones don't cut through fondant very well, leaving an uneven edge. To get a perfect edge with anything I use, I either run my finger over the edges of the cutter to smooth off any excess pieces or drag the cutter back and forth across my mat to get any excess off. In fairness, you have done well with the bat face painting because the smaller the bat, the more intricate the detail. For the eyes, you could have used either tiny rolled-up balls of fondant or red dots like from hundreds and thousand sprinkles. Whenever I do anything with eyes/dots, I always try and use pearls or sprinkles from hundreds and thousands as it gives you the shape you need. It's a bit of a faff trying to separate the colours out, but for your overall effect, they can make a big difference.

What happened with the original tree? I can't paint for toffee, so literally, everything I make would be a shape. You could have rolled and flattened sausage shapes and indented them with a Dresden tool to score bark down the tree and then made your branches. If you are using fondant and you are tracing/cutting out a tree, you can always add tylo to the fondant to harden it slightly, which will help it keep its shape when moving from one place to another.

On the tree, I would have put at least one bat upside down and one flying away.

I think from the top view you have placed some bats around the outer edge which is good as it adds to the overall effect.

As for the mist what did you use, I'm thinking PME Pearl Lustre spray might have been useful or maybe snowflake lustre or I have a sugarflair pump lustre spray which might have given you a better mist.

I commend you on your work though because you're always having a go at stuff and that's how you learn. The more you do the better you get. The outer edge on this one looked smooth so well done.

I don't like to critique anyone's work especially over the internet because in black and white it can be a bit harsh but I know that it helps you learn and perfects your craft so I'm happy to help and point you in the right direction. I only know half the stuff I do due to experience, stress in the kitchen and binning a cake or two across the years. I've even cried a little too.

I do like the fact that you're willing to give anything a go though and see how it turns out.

I hope you're proud of yourself and indulge in the fruits of your labour. :shortcake:

 

[Tintagel]

Thanks Angie I really appreciate all your comments. i was going to add a black ribbon round the edge but to be honest I forgot I shall remember in future to use the cake smoother that wat, I use it for the top and the sides. Mind you this cake is the first one that is relatively straight so in that aspect I was thrilled.

The bats were down with moulded cutters, so I shall try using the paintbrush technique to smooth the edges in future. I never thought to use the red from hundred and thousands for the eyes, what a fantastic idea. I had the same thought as you about the bats….hanging upside down etc……but not till I’d finished it.

The tree. I used fondant, first I tried rolling the fondant and pressing a wood stencil in it and cutting out the shape I wanted but couldn’t quiet get the shape right, so scrapped that and went for making the tree out of “sausage” shapes but again I wasn’t completely happy, I couldn’t get the flow, then tried moulding chocolate which was better but too heavy, so thought, I will have to risk it and painted it…still not happy and I know where I could improve it.

I think what I need to do is a practice piece then do the actual one.

I did use snowflake lustre but perhaps not enough, the affect I was going for was a swirling mist.

I enjoyed making the cake and was really chuffed that for the first time not only was it straight, I tend to make cakes that lean one way or another, but that I managed to get the fondant on without too much hassle.

thank you for your comments and with each cake I make I try and implement your suggestions.

BTW I also made some marzipan pumpkins, a box each for two of my friends and some for Nigel, my husband.



Next bake will be Christmas cookies and then our Christmas cake. But not for awhile as will be out of action as in a couple of weeks I am having a cataract operation.

Watch this space………….

 

[Angie]

@Tintagel

With you saying this cake was 'relatively straight' I need to ask if you level your cakes first. Whenever I make a cake, I always level it first with a cake leveller and take the excess off the top of the cake. I then flip the cake over so the bottom becomes the top, and I then have a flat, round surface to work with.

Were you going to stick the ribbon to the cake or just tie it around? Lol! Don't worry about forgetting to put things on. I once made a Peppa Pig cake and forgot her tail!

As for the slight gap at the bottom, I have a few other ways of preventing that from happening when you cover it, so if you want to know that, I can let you know.

Yeah, another thing you could do with the bats is fold the wings over, as in overlap them when you bring them out of the mould and then stick them upside down on your cake. You could even leave the eyes black on a few of them, and then they would look like they were asleep upside down.

Now back to the tree, whenever I make a topper, I always try to make it in advance of the cake otherwise, you have to bake it, level fill and cover it and then start the decoration, so if you prep in advance and make the decorations first when you come to make the cake all you have to do is assemble the cake together once you have covered it. I find it less stressful, and you can concentrate on one thing at a time.

I like making 6-inch cakes, especially because there are only three of us, so there is always plenty for everyone. My point is I keep a stash of very thin 6-inch cake boards in my cupboard. Then when I'm making a topper, I gauge the size against the board and can plan in advance where everything is going to go, and I can see the finished article before I've even begun to make the cake.

You can even make the decorations on the board. Firstly you would have to clean the board with either hot water/kitchen towel or vodka and then you can cover it in clingfilm. You then effectively have the top of a 6-inch cake to work with. I used to use my tin for this but then I needed my tin for the cake so I bought the boards instead. They're only cheap but I find they come in very handy when I'm making things.

So for your tree, in future you could set aside time and perfect it in advance. That way you can play about with it until you get it right. You could also see the overall look of the design. Just a thought, you could have done the tree on the top and then added roots/branches down the side of the cake so you had a top and side view adding extra bits down the sides when the cake was done.

For the tree you would have been better just free-handing it and building it in layers. I too have a wood grain stencil but I think that is better served on fences and floor/plank effects as the pattern is a little rigid. I think with the tree you could have spread out the fondant and moulded it to how you wanted it. I then think a dresden tool would have allowed you to score the tree giving you free rein of where the bark imprints would go and then you could create your own movement and flow.

When you next make a cake send me a picture of it before you do anything to it. I'm just wondering why your cake is leaning? I tend to surround my tin with baking paper to give me more of an even rise but I still level them when they come out. I'm wondering if your tin is causing cake issues. Or do you sandwich two layers together? I make one cake and cut it in two. PME cake tins are fabulous so I changed mine to those a while back.

The pumpkins look good and I like the fact you used green cases to add extra colour. Are you making fruitcake or just decorating cakes for Christmas. Very good luck with the op and we look forward to seeing you next bakes.

I have just made a quick tree on a 6-inch board so I will post the pics later so you can see what I did. It took me about 5 mins but may give you a better idea of how to make one.

I'll post back in a bit.

 

[Angie]

Mini Tree Tutorial

1. Here are the thin 6-inch cake board and dresden tool.



2. I then rolled a sausage of Renshaw Chocolate Icing/Fondant



3. I flattened it on the board with my index fingers to spread out the fondant. I then rolled a few thin sausages to start to make the branches.



4. I continued with the thinner sausages to make more branches.



5. I then started to score the fondant with my dresden tool.



6. Indenting the trunk and the branches lightly so as not to fully squash the sausage and give the tree a little movement.



7. I put the two small pieces on the top left hand edge of the trunk on purpose because if you made this on the cake you could make the branches cascade down the side of the cake which is why they exceed the board.



This literally took me five minutes to throw together but gives you an idea of the flow and movement and will hopefully give you a visual to work from.

 

[Tintagel]

Hi Angie,

thanks for all your tips. I too have spare 6” boards as there are only two of us we find that size is better.
I did use a Dresden tool for the tree to add a bark affect but that may not have been easy to see.

I make two cakes and sandwich together. I brought a small spirit level the other month and always use it to make sure my cakes are level, though sometimes I think I may be a bit heavy handed when smoothing the fondant or buttercream and perhaps push it more on one side than the other…..note to self……so slowly and take more time

I like your tree, will try that when I next need a tree.

i will probably make a gingerbread flavoured cake as we…..or should I say me!! …. Is not fond of fruitcake. If you don’t mind I will mock up my decorations for you to look at and see if I can improve in any way before it goes on my cake.

thanks again and stay tuned

 

[Angie]

After looking deeper at the tree picture, I can make out the twists you put in the trunk, which I really like. If you had used fondant instead of paint, I would have been able to see the definition straight away as it would be raised off the cake. But after super zooming, I can see how you have patterned the tree, and I like the way it looks close up. It's excellent detail and would look fantastic in 2D.

I prefer to make one cake and then level-fill and cover it. I never really make layers just because they can be slightly different in height, size etc., and if placed together on the same shelf in the oven, they can gravitate towards each other when baking. But if you've got the spirit level and are happy to make the two layers and it works for you, then fine. You can always take a touch off here or add a touch of fondant or buttercream there to level it out. So do what works for you.

Do you weigh the mixture in each tin before you bake, or do you just eye it up?

I'm glad you like the tree. It was to give you a bit of an idea on how you can adapt it. You could even put cherry blossoms on the branches or a swing or something like that on the top of a cake. But if you raise the tree up off the fondant, it gives it more dimension.

The gingerbread cake sounds yummy.

Yeah, send the mock-up or ideas for your Christmas theme over, and we can walk through them, and I can give you feedback and pointers if you need them.

I look forward to seeing your ideas and what you come up with next.

BTW, Han, my daughter loves your Bats!