Burlap Bow Tie

Recently a friend of mine asked if I would create a cake for a baby shower to welcome a sweet little baby boy named Hudson.  Great name!  The best part was that the baby shower was to be super chic and adult.  And by that I mean....no diaper games! Ha. 

She wanted me to be creative and sent these pictures for inspiration....

Love it!  Burlap it is!  And oddly enough, I came across this burlap bow tie in my fashion research, some time ago, and fell in love!!  I knew at some point I would be making this out of sugar.  This cake is the perfect opportunity!

Here is another one I found...

Right on top of a bottle of wine....that's my kind of fashion;)  Lol.

But seriously burlap isn't just for potatoes or sack races anymore.  Here is a hip burlap clutch from Etsy.com

And how about this burlap look from Donna Karen's spring 2010 collection...

I wonder if she's itchy;)

Project Runway even created a challenge that required the designers to use burlap to build a runway look.  I loved this one.

Super cool. 

The only way I could think to get a good textured look though was to pipe!  Sounds like a ton of piping.  Actually it wasn't so bad.

First I had to make my burlap colors. 

I decided to use antique white Fondarific and tint it using cocoa powder.  I like to use cocoa when making brown colors because the less food coloring I can use, the better.

Once I had my color, I added some tylose to a bit to make the bow.  This way the bow will dry firm and it will keep it's shape.

I have shown the bow process before in my Cake Spade post.  This time however, I made the two pieces separately because I wanted the loops to point straight out and look like a bow tie.


After the pieces were cut and allowed to set for a bit (about an hour), I used a number 2 tip and some brown royal to pipe a basket weave design.

I started with a single line down the side.

 

Then I piped small lines across.

 Then another line down.

 

And alternating lines across....and so on and so forth until the whole thing was covered.

That little nugget above the big one was the practice bow.  It kind of looks like Shredded Wheat Cereal!

Now I let the bow dry over night.

I knew this was going around the bottom tier, so for the top tier, I wanted to include his name.

I saw this fun shape and decided to try and recreate it out of gum paste.

Here is the template I made...

I cut one out in green and a smaller one in a cream color so I could layer them like the invitation.

After they were dry for a bit, I piped his name using extra pressure on the ends of the letters to give them some character.

I then went back over one side of each letter with white straight lines and the other side with a dotted line to make it look sewed!

Looking good.  I got this idea from my buddy Lindy who is an artist and uses this technique in her work...

Here is her blog link.  She makes some really fun art.  I have a few pieces in my house!

http://www.lindyalane.blogspot.com/

Here is the cake all put together....

 

Sweet!  By the way, this could be a cool idea for Father's Day!  Bow tie cake!!!

A couple of announcements before I go.....

I will be teaching some classes with Cake Central soon.  They are starting a live cake class program that will be traveling to different cities across the US.  This is a link to the info....details will be up soon.

www.cakecentral.com/classes

Here is one of the classes I will be teaching.  It's a one day class inspired by my A Cake Fit for McQueen. 

It's gonna be fun!...piping, painting, fondant texture, and a hand sculpted skull!

Also, there are couple new classes on Craftsy.com that I want to share.  Click on the pictures to get to the site and receive a discount.

 

 

 

 

That's all for now.  Don't forget to follow the blog for updates and more fun Fashion Cakes.  Just click the button to the right that says Join this Site.

 

Also, you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram

 

Lastly, I would like to share a picture I took at the IDDBA in Orlando last week...

 

Aaaahhh!!  The Dough Boy!  He was my idol as a child:) Maybe that's why I was a chubby kid! Ha.

 

 

 

Bye!

 

 



 

 

 

 



 

Aaaahhh! Zombies got my cake!!!

So judging from the picture above, you are probably thinking that this will not end pretty.  And you are right...kind of;) 

Late last year, my friend Kimber asked me to make her wedding cake.  It was to be a fun and shabby chic kind of event.  The venue was a farm north of Atlanta (Cagle Family Farms)  which made for a beautiful back drop.  If you have never been to north Georgia.....let me tell you, it's really beautiful, especially in the spring and fall.

But before we go any further, let me say.....Kimber is not your traditional bride!  Mostly, the wedding was to be like any simple DIY style wedding. However she wanted the cake to reflect a different side because she creates the Halloween haunted farm at the location.  So zombie cake was the order;)  And though it is not really my style, I was super excited to do something different!

Plus, before we "zombiefy" and cake, we have to make a pretty cake with lots of piping.....what I love most.  So I figured why not make a blog post of it!

And here we go....

First I cover all the cakes in fondant.  It's a four tiered cake....12, 10, 8, and 6 inches round, all 4 inches tall.

It's pretty much all piping.  And the way I like to map it out is to paint it on first.  For those of you who have my Craftsy class Modern Piping, you know that I like to "ghost paint" before I pipe.  If you don't have the class, you should!  Lol!  The top link on the right side of the screen will guide you to the class:)

Basically, it's a mixture of black piping gel and vodka (mostly vodka!).  This creates a very faint paint that will serve as my guide for the piping.   I do this so that if I don't like how the painting looks, I can clean it off and start over before I commit to the piping.....

 

Here is the solution.  So you can see how light it is.

 

So I paint it on and it just gives me a faint guide to follow with the royal.

 

See, then I just follow the lines with the royal.  I am using a number 2 tip.

After the frame work is piped, I go back and add embellishments.

 Looking good!!

Here is the cake all stacked and ready.

 

And a close up.

 

 Oh and I also made some sugar flowers to match the ones being used at the event.

 

 

 

So before we get to the "gore"ification of the cake (if that's even a word), let's look at some shots from the wedding....

 

 

Aaawww.  So cute...

 

This picture is really tiny but beautiful.

 

 

And this.....

 

Ahh!  I think she's had too much to drink!  Lol.  Put on some make up girl!  And brush your teeth!  This a wedding for the love of God!

This is a shot from the show ....

 

also filmed in Atlanta. Just for the record, once I was driving down the street close to the set and I saw a zombie on his cell phone!  It was pretty funny.  I guess the "undead" extras on the show have a bunch of down time.  No pun intended.

Okay the time has come.......if you are squeamish, this might hurt a bit!

Before.....

After!

AAAAHHHH!!!  I didn't take process pics of the bloody part but it was just a mixture of corn syrup and red food color....oh and because I watch Dexter I knew exactly where to place it;)

Here are some other shots.

 

The topper was handmade to look like the couple!

 

 

Creepy one from Instagram....oh and you can follow me!  @joshuajohnrussell

Also, there was a grooms cake.  She wanted a diver's hat or helmet.  Here are a couple pictures of the target;)

And here is the cake

Pretty cool!  I was proud of how it turned out!!

I think that is all for now!  I have a couple of announcements though....

First, my friend Elisa Strauss has a new Craftsy class that will teach you how to sculpt a dog out of cake!!  God knows you will never learn that from me!!

Here she is...

 

If you have been doing cake for a while I am sure you are familiar with her books Confetti Cakes and Confetti Cakes for Kids

 

 

And here is the dog:)))))

 

This is a link to the class for 25% discount!  It's well worth the money....trust me!!

 

 

http://www.craftsy.com/ext/JoshuaJohnRussell_DogCake25

 

 

 

Okay for real that's all.  Follow the blog for more updates....I have some good stuff in the works with Cake Decoration Heaven, Cake Central Magazine, and Grace Ormonde!!!  Just found out today and I am dying!!! ...no pun intended again;)

 

Follow me:)  www.facebook.com/joshuajohnrussell or www.twitter.com/joshuajohncakes

 

Add a comment below and let me know what designers you love or techniques you would like to see.

 

Bye!