Going Away Cake

At the beginning of summer we had to say good-bye to our neighbors who were moving across country.  We did a neighborhood going away party and I was tasked with making a going away cake.  I had plenty of time to do the cake and the family is originally from Hawaii so I knew I wanted to do something with tropical flowers, but wasn't sure what.  My piping skills aren't that great, so buttercream flowers where out of the question. I decided to think about it for a while and hope for some inspiration. I gave it so much thought that it was the night before I needed the cake and I still had not decided what to do.  This indecision ruled out dried fondant/gum paste flowers, so chocolate flowers it was.  Waiting to the last minute meant I had to use what was in my stash, which was yellow and brown chocolates, so they got sunflowers and not the beautiful tropical flowers I had envisioned.  

This was definitely a rushed last minute cake and it shows in the final product, but most of the cake was eaten at the party, with just enough leftover for them to enjoy the next day.