Verity is a very good friend to my sister and a follower of my blog, so I was really pleased when I was asked to make the cake for her son's first birthday party.
I had complete free reign on the design of this one. My sister told me little Harry has lots of animal stickers in his room, and he especially likes the zebra, so a zebra theme it was.
Animals are my favourite things to model. This little zebra took me two hours to make but I honestly didn't notice the time go by. (I'm sure it wouldn't take anyone else that long but I think I move in slow motion.)
To achieve the stripy fondant I used the StreetWise Mat. I know I've mentioned it before but I cannot plug this enough. It is brilliant and now they have a new and improved version for sale.
Lessons Learnt:
If you are going to attempt a wire spray make sure the decoration is not so heavy that it refuses to stay upright. These are the little holes you can see in Harry's name, as originally the letters were on wire and should have been standing out of the cake, in the same way as the stars are.
Inside is three layers of vanilla sponge, sandwiched together with one filling of vanilla butter cream, and one of strawberry jam. I'm told there was just enough for everyone to have a slice and Harry very much liked the zebra.
Many thanks to Al and Verity for sending me pictures of Harry enjoying his cake. I'm glad he had a great first birthday:
A quick note on wire sprays...
Never stick wire directly in to your cakes as it is not food safe! Wire should be inserted in to a flower posey pick, or as I have done, in to a big blob of fondant that your customer knows is not for consumption. Don't worry, I did inform Verity the letters and stars must be removed before eating the cake :)
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