Very seldom do I get recommended to make cakes for people I've never met before...but I welcome the challenge from anyone and I hope to get more! I received a phone call from an unknown number which I was reluctant to answer, but good thing I did! It was from Isabel, a co-worker of my mom's. She was turning 50 years old, heard about my cakes, and wanted to order one of my creations. Most of the cakes that I've done so far have been for people I know and they usually have a design idea in mind, so I typically have a direction to take the cake aesthetically. This cake was different! Isabel basically left the whole design up to me! As a designer you'd think I'd be stoked to do pretty much whatever I wanted, but that was not the case...I need parameters to work with, some type of inspiration to work off of. Did I mention I've NEVER met Isabel? I don't know what her interests are, what styles she likes, her favorite colors, NOTHING! All I knew was that she was turning 50, a milestone age, so I had to make her an uber special cake.
All I could do to come up with something (anything) was brainstorm. This was a little bit of forced inspiration....but inspiration nonetheless. Nothing reminded me more of a big celebration than wine or champagne and like the saying goes, "Women are like fine wine, they get better with age." I had to feed a party of 75, so I either had to make a really big wine bottle cake or compensate for that mass some other way. I knew a big wine bottle was not practical especially since the delivery was in Mission Viejo, a good 40 minutes away. I needed it to survive the delivery and be structurally sound, so I came up with a "wine in a box" cake.
I used the picture above as an example, but I improvised it a bit. I started by baking, stacking, carving and frosting the cakes. I made this cake in two parts: the box, and the wine bottle...both cakes were Beer Cakes. Beer Cake? you ask....I've made both cakes before and they were pretty delicious and moist. I actually recommended these flavors to Isabel and she was excited to give them a try. There is a hint of beer flavor, but not enough to overpower the Yellow Cake and Chocolate flavors. The "box" was a Yellow Beer Cake using Heineken Beer, and the "wine bottle" was a Chocolate Stout Cake using Guinness. I cut out a cake board in the shape of a wine bottle to use as my template and carve its form.
As the cakes were setting in the fridge, I worked on the wood box covering. I made modeling chocolate in two different tones (dark chocolate and milk chocolate) in order to get a wood grain effect. This cake was made on a warm August day, so I had to work quickly with the modeling chocolate...I was only able to get pictures of the modeling chocolate being made and the final product applied on the cake. Sorry folks.
The box would serve as the base, where the wine bottle would be placed on top looking as if it was coming out of the box. I used black fondant to cover the wine bottle and added on the details afterward. My cousin Kate (Hi Kate!) was visiting from Jersey at the time and snapped some pictures of me in action....a rare sighting.
Now that all the main components were completed, all I had left to do was stack the wine bottle on the box and add the stuffing. I added yellow food coloring to some coconut flakes to resemble some golden wood shavings or box stuffing.
To add a nice little touch of detail, I made a tiny cluster of three grapes with the excess purple fondant from the wine bottle cover and some green floral wire.
This cake might seem complex, but it was actually one of the least fussiest projects I've done, especially for its size. I heard Isabel and her friends ate the whole thing up! I had other plans that day, so my mom delivered the cake....I still have yet to meet Isabel, but I thank her for allowing me to make her special 50th Birthday cake. Thanks again for stopping by.
~Abs of Cakes~
Looks great!
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