Well....I had a very quiet week leading up to Hallowe'en (for a change) as I had decided not to spam the local selling pages to try and get orders in, this gave me the opportunity to try my hand at a cake I had been wanting to do since last year...a PUMPKIN cake (with or without a face).
I had recently purchased myself a bundt tin and was dying to try it out on this design. So I trawled though other cake makers blogs and youtube videos for advice and ideas and then set to work.
Having not used bundt tins before I chose to keep the recipe simple (vanilla) so I didn't have to worry about trying to scale it up or down.
So I baked a 4 egg mix for each bundt half, then when they were cooled i sliced them in half and sanwiched them together with orange coloured vanilla buttercream and crumbcoated them into a ball shape.
I had recently purchased myself a bundt tin and was dying to try it out on this design. So I trawled though other cake makers blogs and youtube videos for advice and ideas and then set to work.
Having not used bundt tins before I chose to keep the recipe simple (vanilla) so I didn't have to worry about trying to scale it up or down.
So I baked a 4 egg mix for each bundt half, then when they were cooled i sliced them in half and sanwiched them together with orange coloured vanilla buttercream and crumbcoated them into a ball shape.
I was being very generous with the amount of buttercream I used in the crumbcoat, as when it comes to molding the pumpkin shape into the fondant it will push the buttercream sideways slightly.
I also wasn't happy with the height of the cake, so I also sliced an extra centimetre off the bottom once the cake was chilled and the buttercream was hard. This gave it a much nicer squat appearance.
As bundt cakes have the hole in the middle I placed a little 4" cake board over the top of the cake to seal it up, and also applied a thin coat of buttercream to it so it would stick and blend in, this central hole could also be filled with hard shelled sweets like a pinata cake...perfect for the trick or treat theme.
I allowed the buttercream to come back up to room temperature so it would be a little softer for the molding process, and allow the fondant to stick properly.
Having never covered a ball shaped cake before it actually took me 2 attempts to get it right, also keeping the fondant a nice thickness so it wouldn't tear when the features were added.
I used one of my modelling tools to push down the sides of the pumpkin, these do not have to be at regular intervals so no need to measure, just do whatever looks right. real pumpkins are also full of blemishes so no need to have it completely smooth.
I then used my fingers to lightly press and smooth down.
i then rolled out the remaining fondant into a long strip and covered the board, sticking it down with a a little water, I didn't need this to be perfectly smooth as it was going to be a muddy ground so I just ensure it was pushed up against the base of the pumpkin.
The remaining fondant was shaped into the stem of the pumpkin and fixed centrally onto the top. Again using one of my modelling tools I textured this with a lot of lines, using my real pumpkin as a reference.
i then left this overnight to dry out a bit and firm up before I would start airbrushing it.
I also wasn't happy with the height of the cake, so I also sliced an extra centimetre off the bottom once the cake was chilled and the buttercream was hard. This gave it a much nicer squat appearance.
As bundt cakes have the hole in the middle I placed a little 4" cake board over the top of the cake to seal it up, and also applied a thin coat of buttercream to it so it would stick and blend in, this central hole could also be filled with hard shelled sweets like a pinata cake...perfect for the trick or treat theme.
I allowed the buttercream to come back up to room temperature so it would be a little softer for the molding process, and allow the fondant to stick properly.
Having never covered a ball shaped cake before it actually took me 2 attempts to get it right, also keeping the fondant a nice thickness so it wouldn't tear when the features were added.
I used one of my modelling tools to push down the sides of the pumpkin, these do not have to be at regular intervals so no need to measure, just do whatever looks right. real pumpkins are also full of blemishes so no need to have it completely smooth.
I then used my fingers to lightly press and smooth down.
i then rolled out the remaining fondant into a long strip and covered the board, sticking it down with a a little water, I didn't need this to be perfectly smooth as it was going to be a muddy ground so I just ensure it was pushed up against the base of the pumpkin.
The remaining fondant was shaped into the stem of the pumpkin and fixed centrally onto the top. Again using one of my modelling tools I textured this with a lot of lines, using my real pumpkin as a reference.
i then left this overnight to dry out a bit and firm up before I would start airbrushing it.
I started by airbrushing the board brown, I kept this as neat as I could up against the pumpkin so there wasn't a lot of overspray, again it didn't have to be perfect as any brown on the bottom edge of the pumpkin would blend into the effect of it being sat in the mud, and the shadowing due to the shape.
I also made some areas darker than others, as I would later be blending in black and greens to darken it up a bit. This was a great opportunity to try my hand at mixing different shades.
The pumpkin was sprayed straight orange, and i then mixed a drop of brown into the orange to get a darker colour along the grooves and around the base.
The stem was then carefully sprayed with the brown, with a little bit of dark green, being careful not to overspray onto the top of the pumpkin.
Once complete it was left to dry for an hour or so.
I also made some areas darker than others, as I would later be blending in black and greens to darken it up a bit. This was a great opportunity to try my hand at mixing different shades.
The pumpkin was sprayed straight orange, and i then mixed a drop of brown into the orange to get a darker colour along the grooves and around the base.
The stem was then carefully sprayed with the brown, with a little bit of dark green, being careful not to overspray onto the top of the pumpkin.
Once complete it was left to dry for an hour or so.
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Airbrush colours used...
Board & Stem: used brown, brown mixed with a drop of black, a dark green (made from blue and yellow).
Pumpkin: primarily Orange but also Orange mixed with a drop of brown for the shading in the grooves and around the base.
I had left a large overhang of fondant on the board to protect the edge and the turn table, this would be trimmed off once dry, and the ribbon added
Board & Stem: used brown, brown mixed with a drop of black, a dark green (made from blue and yellow).
Pumpkin: primarily Orange but also Orange mixed with a drop of brown for the shading in the grooves and around the base.
I had left a large overhang of fondant on the board to protect the edge and the turn table, this would be trimmed off once dry, and the ribbon added
As it is usually the little details which can MAKE a cake, I chose to finish it off with a few leaves and vines made using an ivy leaf cutter and my fondant extruder, placing a few around the base of the stem and on the board.
And I know everyone in my office loved it!
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Not to mention everyone on my Facebook page!
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