Adidas Shoebox Cake

My friend and fellow design classmate Maria Tully is THE biggest Adidas shoehead I know. She even works at the Adidas Outlet Store in San Diego. So I wasn't surprised when she wanted to order an Adidas cake for her birthday. Maria decided on a small Adidas Originals Shoebox cake to feed about 10 people. There's not much artistic licensing that went on with this one, just craftsmanship and precision to get it as accurate as possible.  I think Run DMC would be proud :)

After completing my due diligence, I had a better understanding of how to tackle this cake challenge.  After all, I would be making an Adidas cake for someone who probably understands the brand more than anyone....I had to get it just right for her approval. I printed out some logos and labels to use as my template and guides.  First, I tinted some fondant to get the signature "blue" color, or at least as close as possible.

I set the fondant aside to allow the color to reach it's maximum vibrancy. In the meantime I worked on the cake.  I baked the cake in my square pans, then cut, stacked, and frosted the cake to get a size proportional to a real shoebox.

While the cake was chilling in the fridge, I worked on the fondant sides.  I decided to panel each side in order to get very flat edges and sharp corners just as you would see on any regular shoebox.  I added gumtex to the fondant to stiffen it...this way the box would be flatter and more stable as they rested and dried. A ruler was used to get straight uniform panels. 

The cover of the shoebox was next. This part needed to be very precise in order for the corners to match up just right and have that shoebox cover quality. I used an x-acto knife to cut out the one-inch corners.

The box was completed and ready for some branding and labels. The stripes were first. I used my pastry cutter to get a squiggly edge...looking back I maybe should have used my pinking shears for a more accurate Adidas stripe, but my pastry cutter would suffice. 

The application of the stripes could be a little tricky.  Since this would be the main design component of the cake, I needed to get their angle just right or it would look off.  I even busted out my protractor and 30/60 triangle to help guide me! (Whoever asked "When do we ever use Math after High School?"....this is when! ;P)

All that was left to do was add the Adidas Trefoils along with some customization. I used the shoebox label to personalize this cake for Maria. Instead of shoe sizes, I filled the spaces with Maria's birthday and age. I also added my own little personal message where the shoe description would be.

Adidas Trefoil. Not the easiest logo to replicate.

I was happy that this cake had a very stable form....no extra tiers, no extruding pieces prone to destruction....just a flat rectangle shoebox shape. This eased my mind as I had to make a 2-hour delivery to Maria's favorite pizza spot in San Diego. It was a lovely day to make that drive and get Maria's reaction.  She even had some mini Adidas shoe toys to add as a cake topper. They completed the cake perfectly!

Maria was kind enough to treat me to a yummy BASIC Pizza...she suggested the mashed potato and bacon. I ate it while we did a little bit of catching up.

Based on the pictures Maria posted, I know she had a very fun 29th Birthday. Although I didn't stay to celebrate, I am honored to have been a part of it in some way.  I asked Maria to send me pics of the cut cake. Here's what she came up with...looks like she had a little too much fun with it! But it added a lot of personality and I just love what she did! enjoy ;)

I would like to thank Maria for being such an awesome client! She is a fellow creative thinker and customizes Adidas sneakers on the side. Check out some of her work here and hit her up if you're interested. Thank you for stopping by!

~Abs of Cakes~