Cicco Creations

My friend’s daughter just had her sweet sixteen party and they hired me to bake the cake. It was a hollywood theme and they wanted something fun (obviously), with black and gold and maybe a red carpet.

I decided to get an early start and a few days before the party, I got out my Cricut Cakes Mini, a batch of fondant I had already made, and some gum paste.

To store fondant, coat in shortening and wrap well with plastic wrap.  Then, place in ziplock bag.  It can last several weeks this way.   When ready to use it again, cut off the desired piece, and warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds to soften before kneading it.

I rolled out my fondant and used my Cricut to cut out the letters for “Happywood.”  Then, I used fondant to cut out the one and the six.  I used gum past for the one and six because I wanted them to dry hard enough to stand on top of the cake.  I wanted the letters for “Happywood” to keep their flexibility, so I stuck with fondant for them.

All the Cricut cartridges work on all their machines, so a friend of mine lent me this font so I could make letters better fit the theme.  The fonts in the cartridges I have are very different and wouldn’t look quite right for this cake.

It wasn’t too long before I had some very sparkly stars and happy white letters.  To keep them safe from my kitties for two days while still allowing them to firm up, I cleared some space for them in my china cabinet.

 
I used gum past to make the one and the six.  Once they were cut out, I sprayed them with Wilton’s Color Mist.  I had never used this product before and was hoping it would provide the solid black color that I can’t ever seem to achieve by kneading dye into the fondant or gum paste.  I was a little disappointed that it didn’t quite do the trick.  But once doused in edible gold glitter, the numbers were looking pretty good.

Strawberries mixed in added a soft pink color.  It was very appetizing.  I taste tested, and it was pretty good.

Once the filling was ready, I got the cakes ready.  I removed the cakes from their pans and leveled them off with a VERY sharp bread knife.  This is how you get finished cakes that are perfectly even on top instead of rounded.  And, my husband always enjoys the discarded cake tops.

For added moisture to the cakes, I spritzed them with a simple syrup solution.  Equal parts sugar and water mixed together till the sugar dissolves.  I don’t go over board with this solution, but I pick-up this tip recently and have been pretty happy with the effects of late.  I think it will be a permanent step in my cake making process from now on.  

I prepped the cake board with some wax paper and a dollop of frosting.  This wax paper helps keep the board clean while frosting it and the frosting hold the cake in place.

I stacked up the two layers putting the pan side out on both top and bottom. This helps ensure the even shape of the cake.

Once getting the cake covered, I applied my letters.  I used some of the frosting as “glue” to hold the letters in place.  Once I had everything where it needed to be, I went back with a toothpick and cleaned up this edges.

And then it was just a matter of decorating, placing all the pre-made stars and letters.

I used chocolate to adhere toothpicks to the backs of the 1 and 6 so I could stand them up on the cake.

I used chocolate on the backs of the stars to adhere them to the wires.