Life’s a Beach…Cake

Last week, my coworkers and I held a celebration dinner at a local pizza restaurant to celebrate a coworker’s upcoming wedding. I was commissioned to make the cake and, because it was a pretty casual event, I wasn’t restricted in making a traditional wedding cake.

This is the first cake I’ve made that wasn’t for a decorating class, and the first I’ve ever stacked! It came out a little crooked which ended up working out for me since it looked like a sand dune. I learned a lot from making this cake, so I am sure the next one will look better. One piece of advice I received in decorating cakes is people will rarely notice your mistakes. All they see is cake and what piece they want. Luckily the flavors of these cakes were pretty delicious. The top tier was lemon with a cream cheese frosting and lemon zest filling and the bottom tier was french vanilla  cake with cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries as a filling.

My inspiration for this cake came from my coworker’s love of surfing and the couple’s appreciation for nature.  The “sand” is made out of crushed graham cracker and pressed against a layer of frosting. The seashells and starfish are made using a chocolate mold and pouring melted chocolate into them. To give them a more realistic look, I used small brush to add a teaspoon of  cinnamon all over the shells and starfish. For the wedding cake topper, I used to shells to make a clam, squeezed in some blue frosting, and my boyfriend added the couples initials using pearl sprinkles. I am proud of all the details and how it really dressed up the cake.

Enjoy my fashion picks inspired by the chocolate seashells and starfish!