Fit for a Princess

Confession:  I haven't watched the movie "Tangled."  Mr. Scott and I were just having a discussion about how we don't have the attention span for movies, all we watch is tv shows.  I really think this is a trademark of our generation:  We are impatient for information and entertainment.

Anyhoo!!!

I was able to find pictures of Rapunzel's tower on the internet, and also research prior attempts at this cake to find out what was going to work best.  Of course I wanted the cake to look better than any of them, with my own details and flourishes.  As always, I wanted to keep the cake as "edible" as possible.  In my internet searching, there were some really amazing and elaborate versions, but inside there was more styrofoam, pipes, and rice crispy treats than cake!  My philosophy is and always will be, "This is first and foremost a CAKE that people should want to eat."

Movie still.

Movie poster from the French version was the best one I could find for some reason....

The only inedible elements in my version are a cardboard cone to form the roof, a skewer for the spire, four 12" plastic tube supports to form and support the tower, the the Rapunzel toy provided by the client.  The "house" part was a 4" cake (three layers of cake, 2 layers of buttercream), and the base is a 12" chocolate cake with vanilla Bavarian cream filling.  I used rice crispy treats to form the rounded base of the house and the large boulders at the bottom (covered with fondant).

My messy little workspace.

I worked on the tower upside-down to keep what would become the platform for the house flat.  I used four 12" Wilton dowel tubes, taped together and wrapped with fondant to create the tower (I applied individual "rocks" over this for texture and definition).  The exposed white part went down into the cake for added stability. 

The finished roof, a cone of cardboard covered with foil.  Shingles were applied with white chocolate.  

I tinted some clear glaze blue to make the windows look glassy, and I really dig the "watercolor" look.  The skewers were for support during delivery as the tower was pretty top heavy.

The dew drops is more clear glaze piped into droplets.  You can't tell from the photo, but the hair is brushed with gold luster dust for a shimmery effect.

 

It was hard to fit this whole thing in one picture!  It was easily 2 feet tall if not more. 

I only wish you could see more of the cobblestone stem of the tower, since it did take me a flippin' hour to cover it.  I would have liked to add the additional wing of the house (you may notice there are two spires in the movie still), but for the sake of stability, I wasn't sure how to add it without the whole thing tilting to one side.  Had the house itself been smaller, this might have worked better.  Next time!!!

Needless to say, little Princess Alexa LOVED the cake.  Unfortunately, they did complain about finding a hair on it.  BAHAHAHA, just kidding :)

Love,
Rach

"Dress My Cupcake"

We all know how I feel about cupcakes:  They better taste good, and they better look smashing.  Now that is appears cupcakes are no longer a trend but a bakery staple, I think we will be seeing more and more trends in styles of cupcakes, flavors, etc. (I'm waiting for the $1,000 cupcake that comes encrusted with diamonds.)  One trend I am totally on board with is cupcake wrappers.  Unlike the baking cups cupcakes are baked in, these are fancier, bottomless "cups" the cakes sit in.  They come in all varieties of colors and prints for any occasion you can imagine.

Dress My Cupcake is the leading manufacturer of cupcake liners in the world, and even better, they are made right here in the US of A!  When I found out they were offering samples to local bakers, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on just of few of their designs.  Dress My Cupcake wrappers are available through retailers, but you can easily view their collection of over 1000 designs and order through their website.

It's hard not to be inspired by the changing seasons in rapidly approaching holidays, which is exactly where my head went when I received my dazzling assortment of wrappers.  I started by grouping them into coordinating color schemes. 

Halloween palate using the "Emma" and "Halloween Scream" designs. 

Each are sold in packs of 12 for $9.99.  Decorations are all fondant, made by me!

Cupcakes roasting by an open fire....Fall palate using the "Emma" design again.  Fondant leaves and acorns by me.

Winter palate.  I could easily see these at a black and white wedding, a la Kim Kardashian (I can't believe I just said that).  Styles used here are the "Classic Black Damask" and "Platinum Glitter" in silver and black ($23.99/12).  I really like these because they are grease-proof.  And the silver dragees set them off perfectly.

Christmas is coming...palate.  I really love changing up the expected Christmas green by swapping it for turquoise.  The look is fresh and chic.  These ruffled cupcakes in their "Platinum Glitter" wrappers would be lovely for a sophisticated holiday gathering.  Make your own ruffles by cutting circles of fondant, folding them in half, and then folding in half again.

P.S.  I love Christmas.

 Spring brings a palate of girly pinks and purples, flowers and butterflies.  I think girls of all ages would appreciate these at a birthday party or spring tea.  This first photo finally caught a fraction of how much these things sparkle.  I made the decorations using colored white chocolate.

Thank you again to Dress My Cupcake for this awesome opportunity to get creative!  Cupcakes with no wrappers will look so boring from now on...*sigh*

Love,

Rachel

 

My favorite wrapper off the website.