This weekend I had the opportunity to make a birthday cake for a little boy turning 3. He was having his party at a fire station, so of course he needed a fire truck cake. The cake was a white butter cake with a chocolate mousse filling and iced with butter cream. The cake was made to serve 25, but the costumer ended up with a higher guest count than anticipated, so we added a dozen white cupcakes which I frosted with fire orange buttercream. I got a lot of my ideas for the truck on-line, there are some great tutorials available. The ladders were done in white chocolate and the fire hydrant and puddle were done in fondant. For the lights I used Jolly ranchers and M&M's. It was my second attempt at a truck cake and I think this one was much cleaner than my first attempt. I still need to work at the detail on my cakes and figure out a way to work around my shaky hands, that make my piping look like I was working during an earthquake. As I do more cakes it is becoming easier for me to set up a work schedule. I am getting a better idea of how long each step will take and what can be done ahead of time. Having a schedule definitely helps eliminate some of the last minute rush, there are still steps that have to be done last minute, but at least I am getting a better idea of what those steps will be.
Mon: Sketch design, make templets, make cake board
Tue: Chocolate work - ladders
Wed: Fondant work - fire hydrant, puddle, ladder sign
Thur: Bake and freeze 2 9x13 cakes
Fri: Chocolate mousse filling
Sat: Build and ice cake - do all piping work
Sun: Add detail - candy, ladders
The next things I need to get better at are determining how much cake I really need and making better ingredient lists so I only make one trip to the store instead of ten.
Fantastic cake!
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