AWESOME! BOB MARLEY CAKE

This Bob Marley Cake has been the most requested cake EVER! I wish I could ship him! 

I've had so MANY requests for him across the USA!  Trying to figure out how to ship my cakes - being so fragile, it is hard to do!  

He is ALL delicious and edible - except for the wire in his dreads! Yummy, and all made of sugar and chocolate. Skin is tinted white chocolate, eyes and ganja made of sugar, and dreads made of chocolate. ALL YUMMY! 

I LOVE Bob Marley and his music - I listened to his music entirely while making this cake. I felt like he was REALLY staring back at me - kind of strange!

AND, more videos coming soon of Lady Liberty New Mexico style, and Mick Jagger: "Shattered"!  FUN STUFF! Subscribe to my web/blog be on top of it!

web/blog: www.cakemontage.com 

The Video of how I made him is below. Yes, in the still-shot he is a work in progress: The YouTube shot (which YouTube picks for you - so, not so good!) But, he was fun to make, and just watch the video! 

Thanks for looking - and comments are very much appreciated!

Shiver Me Timbers!

I published this a couple weeks ago on my other web/blog, and here it is again on my cake site...

I've been making some crazy cakes! My youngest son just turned 8 (already!), and for his birthday cake this year he requested a pirate themed cake. No more baby-cakes for him!

I wanted to make a pirate ship, but he wanted a skull and cross bones. The scarier, the better, for 8 year old boys! The cake was a hit at the party! I'm not sure if 8 year old girls would ever want a cake like this! I am outnumbered in my house with 4 boys (including my dog), so it is all boy stuff around here, all the time!

Everything on it is sweet and edible. The bones are made of white chocolate covered crispy treats. The scull is chocolate cake covered with fondant, and the scarf is also fondant. The "dirt" on the cake board is cocoa powder.

More pics of it to come in my "Cake Pics" Page: Cakes For Kids.

...And Those Lips!

Mick's Lips And Teeth Made Of White Chocolate

Whenever I make a cake-face it helps when the face has some distinct features that people recognize. With Bob Marley it was the dreads & the ganja - with Frida it was the eyebrows, with John Lennon it was the glasses - and so on... With Mick it is those lips! Those wonderful lips!

I finished this cake awhile ago & just now getting around to posting the pics.  He was fun to make, and after finishing I realized his features look quite pretty! I think because it is of young Mick. He was pretty!  He would have a little more character if he had some lines and wrinkles, as an older version. Maybe someday I'll get around to the mature Mick...  One big challenge I had with him is that I was working from the black & white classic photo of him - getting colors right was difficult (almost all photos of him young are also in black and white).

This version is a cake topper - all made of rice crispy treats, white chocolate for the skin, gum-paste eyes (previous post), and chocolate hair. He is 100% edible, made of yummy stuff! If he had been an actual cake order - there would've been a little more to him - including an actual "cake"underneath, maybe some crazy Mick hands...  Anyway, I just made him for fun - and my kids ate him : )

I am in the process of making a little video of the making of him. Stay tuned if you'd like to see more (subscribe to this blog, or my YouTube channel).

A few finished pics... Lots more to come in the video!

Young Mick Cake Topper

Young Mick Cake Topper

Young Mick Cake Topper

Mick's Baby Blues

Okay, Mick is on the way! I haven't made a cake-face for awhile, so I thought it was about time to do another...

Mick has always been my very favorite rock and roller - there is just something about him! Still!!! Couldn't decide if I should sculpt him younger, or older, or somewhere in the middle... Older faces are easier, because making the white chocolate skin smooth perfect and wrinkle free can be difficult! I decided on young, just because I love this iconic photo of him (pictured below). He sort of resembles Jim Morrison in it though, but oh well! Jim Morrison is also a favorite! Since it is a black and white photo, I needed to look for a close up of him in color...

Whenever I make a cake-face I always start with the eyes, and base the rest of the cake around them.
Finding his eye color was a little difficult - but this photo was the best I could find: they look light blue to me...

Vegan Gum paste, mixed with gel colors... See my previous post "Vegan Gum Paste" for the recipe.

 







A measuring spoon is a good shape for the eye ball - different sizes work depending on the desired finished overall size.















 And, voila! I have my eyeballs ready! Now they just need to dry overnight.

I always make extra, because sometimes they crack or don't match up right. It's good to have some back-ups ready to go!








Stay tuned to see the rest.... Coming very soon!

Make Your Own VEGAN GUM PASTE! It's Easy!

Finished Gum Paste Flowers

This Gum Paste recipe is super easy to make, and it doesn't contain egg whites or gelatin like many recipes call for - so it is vegan and you don't have to worry about the danger of using raw eggs. And, many pre-made gum pastes contain unsavory ingredients and chemicals. Plus, when you make it yourself you can add any extract of your choice for flavoring.  It is easy to work, can be rolled very thin, dries very hard, and tastes great! (as far as gum paste goes!)  I use it for all my flowers, eye-balls! and other decorations. It dries very white if not colored, and mixes easily with gel color.
It makes about 1 cup, and will stay fresh for months in an air tight container (I always wrap in plastic wrap first to ensure it doesn't harden). It works best if made at least a day ahead. It does become firm, but softens up when worked with the hands (It can be nuked in the microwave for a few seconds to soften up a larger amount).

4 Ingredients + Water

 Cake Montage Vegan Gum-Paste:

1 Tablespoon "Gum-Tex", tragacanth gum, or "Magic Gum"  

1.5 Tablespoons of glucose syrup

3 Tablespoons of hot water

1 Tablespoon of almond extract (any extract can be used. Caution with using Vanilla: It will give a slight brown tint)

1 Pound of powdered sugar

Combine 3/4 of a pound (a common bag size from the supermarket is 1 lb.) with the gum powder of your choice, whisk together.  Combine glucose syrup with hot water, stir until dissolved (if you glucose is not dissolving in the water, just nuke in the microwave on high for 30 seconds, and it should do the trick), then add in almond extract. Pour the liquid into the sugar/gum mixture. Mix together, and add in more powdered sugar if needed, until it reaches the consistency of play dough. Gently knead for a few minutes until very smooth. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and put into an air tight container. It'll be ready to use in about 24 hours (it becomes more pliable and "gummy" after it sits for awhile).

Mix The Liquid Into The Sugar Mix

Finished Vegan Gum Paste Ball

Humpty-Dumpty: He is made entirely of gum-paste covered crispy treat (Except for the white chocolate skin on face)

9000+ Foot Cake

I made the move from Oregon to New Mexico in 2000. The move climbed from only 50 ft above sea level, to over 7000 ft in Santa Fe.  I didn't yet realize how much more difficult baking would become at the much higher altitude. I had it easy in Portland!

After many attempts, and many disasters, I learned a few things. I now strictly follow the baking adjustments needed at a specific altitude, especially for cake (which for me has been the most finicky of all baking mediums!).

A few years ago, I made my son's birthday cake at Taos Ski Valley (above 9,000 ft.). I followed my usual Santa Fe recipe for 7,000 ft - and I learned a big lesson. From then on all my cake recipes are adjusted for the exact altitude - It does make a difference! My Taos cake resembled Swiss Cheese, with holes as big as marbles, it was also very dry, crumbly and (almost) inedible - although the kids still ate it!

I haven't had as much trouble with other doughs like for cookies, bread, pizza, or pie - but they also are much harder to master at this elevation. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I am still learning... It does take extra time and effort to adjust every recipe, and sometimes I am lazy with things other than cake.

Why does altitude matter when baking? The higher the altitude, the lower the air pressure, which I now know, effects everything!

If you live at any elevation above 3000 feet, and are having trouble with baking, you might want to Bookmark this informative article/web page on the King Aurthur Website with several helpful charts for different elevations. It just might save your next high altitude baking experiment!

Mick Jagger Cake Is (Almost) In The Works!

Been thinking about doing a Mick cake for a while now - and since it is the slow time of year for cakes, I have a little time to do one just for fun & to add to my portfolio of face cakes. 

Gotta keep the skills fresh! 

Can't decide if it should be of him current, or past...? 

Photos of the process coming soon, so check back!