Sunday, February 26, 2012

Rapunzel Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair

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Mommy can I have a Rapunzel tower cake too?  That’s what I get for looking at cake pictures with Rowan sitting next to me. 

Rowan’s party was pretty simple because we held it at Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh.  This is probably one of the best kids museum I’ve been to and it was Rowan’s first choice for her party location.  Now originally I was thinking we’d have a small party at home but Rob thought this would be easier and in all honesty, it was.  I never thought we’d be one of those parents, but apparently we are :)The museum gave us a museum host who was awesome and helped out with so much.  We ordered some Papa John’s pizza (another Rowan favourite) and then they ate cake, we gave them cookies and then we set them loose in the museum.  No fuss no muss and the museum cleans up after!  It was exhausting but all of the kids had a blast.  SUCCESS!

Making this cake was truly an educational experience for me as this was the biggest, most designed cake I’ve ever made.  Now that it’s finished, I only see the flaws of course. This morning I got a great twitter message from my friend Melissa of My Baked Equation of another blog post from Erica O’Brien  about things she learned from making cakes and it snapped me back to reality.  Thank you so much Melissa.  I also posted my progress on FB and twitter and was given great encouragement from so many followers and friends.  Trust me, I need and loved it!  THANK YOU!

I also now know all the things I would do differently and I thought I’d share what I did and how I would do them next time. (IF there is a next time).

Here’s how I did it:

Day One:

1. Get your handy friend or husband to make you a tower cake boards.  I scowered the internet and asked fellow cake makers, who have undertaken this cake, and then had Rob make this.  It’s a 20”x20” base board with 3/4” dowel screwed into the base and then a 6” top board screwed into the dowel.  I covered the base a food safe foil wrap.  I actually did this several weeks ago, but this was the second attempt at the party as we were all flattened with the “plague” and had to re-schedule.

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2. Then I made cereal treats and made the 6” base for the tower house.  I covered it in buttercream and white fondant.

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3. I used brown fondant to make the wood details. I then used ice cream cones covered in buttercream and cut pieces of fondant for the roof.  Rowan and I did this together.

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4. I baked the cake, dirty iced and put in fridge over night.  This was vanilla cake with lemon buttercream. Very simple.

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Day Two

5. I then made a lot of little flowers out of coloured fondant.  Each had a silver dragee in the center.  This was time consuming.

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6. I made some green fondant and covered the dirty iced cake.  In the cake board I put a hole the same size as the dowel.

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7.   I then took a dowel and pushed it into the centre of the cake and through the hole.  I then placed the cake onto the main cake board by placing it onto the dowel from the top.  Since it was screwed into the board, I couldn’t think of another way and since I made the hole in the paperboard, it worked quite well.  I also added the cobblestone detail grey fondant. I really like these fondant mats for details.  To get rid of the cornstarch I used a small brush and vodka.

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8.  I then took the cereal treats and using another piece of dowel I rolled them around it.  I didn’t take a picture of this (sorry).  I then slid it onto the dowel.

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9.  I then covered with buttercream and cobblestone grey fondant.  I then added some rocks and grass. 

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10.  This is where the first “almost” tragedy happened.  I forgot to use a small cake board and dowels in the main cake to support  the cereal treat tower and it started to sink.  So I had to remove the tower and make the structure to prevent it from getting worse.  Next time, it’ll be first.  I also didn’t use the Tylose glue on the dowel, so as it settled it didn’t quite reach the bottom of the top board.  I then grabbed some fondant and filled in the space.  Next time I’d make the cereal treat tower longer than the dowel and let it settle.  Now with all the oopsies, it actually gave the tower a well loved look.  Like it was meant to be :)

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11.   I then added flowers, vines, hair and a few Disney character figurines and stuck it into the garage and hoped it would be still standing in the morning.  The happy big sister.  At this point of the day Rowan was too tired to want to have her picture taken.

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Day Three (party day)

12.  The cake survived the night, I then added some royal icing leaves to finish it off.  I ever so carefully took it to the back deck to take pictures of it in the sunlight.

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13. We then had to transport it to the museum.  I sat in the back of Rob’s car and it was the most heart wrenching 25 minutes ever.  The train tracks nearly killed me as it swayed back and forth and we lost some hair.  We got to the museum and then had to take it it’s final 50 yards.  The best feeling was several other patrons stopping and telling me how amazing it was!  Yay me :)

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14. Then the time came for destruction and you know what?  it wasn’t as hard to do as I thought. Stress over :)

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What I learned:

  1. Don’t sweat the small stuff.  You may see the flaws but no one else does.
  2. Take the compliments and be proud.
  3. Don’t transport with tower house attached.  I did because I had such a gap between the cereal treats and the tower board so I had to fill it in and then had to hide the mistake with the vines and flowers.
  4. Make the dowel bigger and probably square.  It needed a bit more stability for my sanity.
  5. Enjoy the ooohs and aaaaahhs :)

I also made cookies as party favors because I don’t do loot bags. Maximus was my favourite!

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So over the last three days I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I nearly had a heart attack but all in all had a fabulous time watching my little 4 year old run around with a grin from ear to ear and be in true and utter heaven.  So was it worth it???  Absolutely!

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Thanks for looking!



Linking with:
Mix It Up Monday
Mingle Monday
Melt In Your Mouth Monday
Mouthwatering Monday
Get Your Craft On
Tasty Tuesday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Sweet Treat Thursday
Chic & Crafty
Gallery of Favourites
Foodie Friday
I'm Lovin It Friday

25 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Karen-

    #1: Awesome cake
    #2 Thanks for sharing the process
    #3 You the guttiest woman even to transport that totally intact!!!
    #4 I am so so so glad that the blog post was encouraging to you. I remember when I too would only see my flaws, and then I read that and it changed my total perspective. :-)

    Love it!!!

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  3. You rock! That is an amazing cake! I have gotten into more trouble looking at cookies and cakes online with family around! LOL

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  4. That is stunning! Absolutely perfect. What a lucky girl. :)

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  5. WOW, you are amazing!

    Happy Birthday to Rowan and if that picture isn't a mini Garry Bond, I don't know what is!!! Such a cutie pie and Abby is beautiful!

    Thanks for sharing!

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  6. What an incredible cake. The things we will do for our kids! :)

    Thank you so much for sharing your cookies at the CookieCrazie 4th Birthday Party! :)
    http://www.cookiecrazie.com/2012/02/cookie-birthday-for-cookiecrazies-4th.html

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  7. Wow! That is just amazing! My daughter would love it! You have really outdone yourself, just gorgeous!

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  8. When I saw your *tweeted* picture of the finished cake I could not believe how tall it was and I was truly in awe of the detail. This will be a birthday that little Rowan will remember (she looks adorable in the last picture)and when something is made with such love there are never any flaws.
    You did a wonderful job on the cookies too and I admire not only you skills and talents but the fact that you were gutsy enough to transport this cake.

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  9. This is truly a masterpiece. Just to be able to look at a picture and create something is a striking talent. I see no flaws at all. I can't tell ya how great this is...what an incredible memory!

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  10. Karen -- that cake is SO AMAZING!!! WOW!!

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  11. Wonderful cake! I just recently made a tower myself too and I agree, the transportation/drive was perhaps one of the most stressful times of my life!

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  12. Replies
    1. what is the midsection made of???? i don't think it is cake

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    2. In the tutorial I show you how I made it. It's cereal treats

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  13. Wow this is one big cake!!! Sooo impressive!

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  14. Oh my goodness is that amazing! Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday :)

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  15. oh my goodness..!!!!! You did great job..!!!

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  16. ABSOLUTELY amazing. wow.

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  17. What a lovely cake and a lucky little girl! I love your tips at the end too.

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  18. Oh my goodness!! So beautiful!! I can only imagine how absolutely loved and thrilled your daughter must have felt! Love truly is in the details and your cake is overflowing with love. Well done!

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  19. Thanks for sharing this at Mrs Foxs Sweet Party :) I am a little late in telling you since you know, but congrats on being featured today :)

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  20. Bravo! Great cake!

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  21. Wow! This cake is awesome! Your daughter must have been so excited for her party! I used to make special birthday cakes for my children but I never attempted something as amazing as this!

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  22. Woooww What an amazing cake-art :) And your little girl looks so sweet and happy. Good job
    Thanks for the inns and the outs, it helps a lot to know how to, and especially how NOT to do ;))))

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