Threadcakes Baking Competition

When it comes to decorating cakes, anything could be your source of inspiration. How about turning your favorite t-shirt design into an edible work of art? Well, the creative folks at Threadless.com have done exactly that. They started this fantastic online baking competition called Threadcakes and it's going on right now. Here are some of the winners from last year (photos courtesy of Threadless.com and Threadcakes.com)

I had a chance to browse through their cake gallery this week and the entries so far have been amazing. There were quite a few cakes that I was really impressed with, including Zombie at Tiffany's,  Bitter Teeth , Why is an Owl Smart? and Phascolarctos Cinereus. What's so cool about this competition is that each participant shows you the step-by-step process (with photos!) of how they made their cake. I really enjoyed reading the stories submitted with each cake and I got to learn some new cake decorating techniques for use in the future.

It's not too late to participate. Bakers and non-bakers are welcome to enter. The contest ends August 16 so check outThreadcakes.com, pick a design and start baking!

Monogrammed Birthday Cake

 

Here's a quick tutorial on how to make an elegant yet simple monogrammed cake. I made this one for my friend Ket.  I used her favorite colors red, pink and gold to match her ultra-feminine style :-) 



After I covered the cake with rolled fondant, I measured halfway up the sides of the cake and marked it with paring knife. I mixed together some red food coloring and a little bit vodka then applied it to the bottom half of the cake. This is the same painting technique as the one I used for my birthday cake and the mini wedding cake. I added some more vodka to the red food coloring to lighten the color and applied it to the top half of the cake.

I made some fondant scrolls and attached them to the sides of the cake. Some of the scrolls were lined up straight and some were tilted just a little.  I thought it would make for an interesting design but I think it was so subtle that it wasn't even noticeable. Oh well. I still like how it turned out.

My sweet friend Maggie came over to visit while I was decorating this cake so I gave her a quick lesson on how to paint the fondant scrolls. I showed her how to mix together the gold luster dust and vodka then she painted the scrolls with a small paintbrush. She did a fantastic job!

I used the same monogramming technique I used for my cousin's wedding cake. I painted the round plaque with red food coloring before placing the monogram on top. Then I painted the monogram with gold luster dust. 



Voila! The finished cake :-)