Between the ages of 8 and 13, I was obsessed with rainbows. Almost all my worldly possessions were in full rainbow colours, including pillow case, leg warmers, and hair accessories. My favourite sweater was a black cardigan with different rainbow coloured buttons. For Grade 4 art class, I made a mobile festooned with rainbows which hung in our family room for probably 6 years. I could go on listing my rainbow-mania childhood memories but I shan't.
Today, while my love of bright, some may say garish, colour is still alive but less visible in my everyday life, I have the opportunity to relive this rainbow fixation through my niece Caitlin who celebrated her 4th birthday on Sunday.
The rainbow cake was constructed from a 10" diameter round cake, which was divided into two halves, one for the rainbow arc, and the other further divided to make two clouds. Three layers of vanilla cake were filled with a vanilla-lemongrass mousseline and fresh strawberries, with Italian meringue creating the puffy cloud decor. (And yes, I purposely left out indigo.)
Having leftover rolled fondant, an impromptu turtle, reminiscent of last year's birthday cake, was added. I figured that it would be a nice keepsake for Caitlin to enjoy since she still loves turtles and rolled fondant seems to last forever. I was incorrect and thank God I was not at the party to witness such savage yet innocent consumption of my well-dressed turtle (party photos by Auntie Jennifer). Happy Birthday Caitlin!
Monday, November 3, 2008
ROYGBIV
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
You are amazing!
You're work leaves me breathless. It's so clean and perfect. You're what I aspire to be! Bravo!
how adorable!!
So cute!
*GASP!* i LOVE rainbows STILL, and this is just absolutely wonderfully gorgeous. theres something to be said about colors when their in the right order in the spectrum, makes them all seem so much more beautiful!
This is so lovely :)
Great job!
How beautiful! The rainbow looks so perfect, I'm sure your niece loved it!
Beautiful!!! I love it!
I came upon your blog while doing a search for Ganache Patisserie. I found it very interesting that you switched from a career in medicine to pastry. I have been in pastry for 5 years and now I am switching to medical radiography this January, though I wonder if I am making the right choice. I still love pastry, but carpal tunnel syndrome forced me to leave. Are you going to apply to work at the soon to be finished Shangri-la hotel or the new Fairmont Pacific Rim?
That is so cute. I've been looking for new cake ideas for my bakery and you've really outdone anything I had. Don't worry, I won't steal your idea ;)
My daughter is turning 5 next week and she is set on a rainbow cake. I was scanning through google images of rainbow cakes with her and she fell in love with yours! Would you mind posting further instructions on baking and assembly? I'm not looking for recipes, but rather how many 10" rounds you baked, how much batter was used, how you cut/divided the layers for the rainbow and the clouds, etc. Thanks for your rainbow inspiration!
MK
Monica: I bake sheet cake and stack 10" rounds, alternating with filling, into a 10" ring, reaching about 4" height. Chill to firm up and then cut in half. Cut one of the halves into quarters. The intact half, when upright and placed on a narrow rectangular cake board, becomes the rainbow arc while the two quarters are the clouds. For internal support, I used a block of styrofoam between the two clouds on which the arc can rest (secure the cake board to the styrofoam). Mask everything in buttercream and cover in rainbow in fondant and the clouds in italian meringue. Goodluck!
Post a Comment