After launching my website on July 1st, I was planing on taking a few days off but -as you all know- once you fall in love with cake decorating that's nearly impossible. Every family gathering, holiday, birthday, special day or just because... the first thing that pops in my head is 'what kind of cake can I make this time?' So when my cousins invited us to come over their house to celebrate the 4th of July, I couldn't resist.
As I recently made a patriotic cake for my husband, I wanted to make something a bit different this time. I browsed cake designs online, looking for some inspiration. But it was with the help of my husband that the final idea came to mind. For this cake I only had 2 days to make the whole thing from scratch, but of course with 2 toddlers running around I barely had a few hours each day to design, bake and decorate.
I wanted to make this cake special inside and outside, so each slice had the American flag! Here you can find a video of how to achieve this. I know the idea is not new, but still it's something that I wanted to try but adding my personal touch. Usually the flag is made by coloring a big batch of vanilla cake in red and blue, and adding no color to make the white bars. Instead, I made vanilla cake for the white and the blue, using chopped blueberries and only a little bit of gel paste for the latter. For the red bars I made red velvet. The combination of flavors and the surprise of finding the American banner inside the cake was definitely a big hit!
Golden Gate and Statue of Liberty
Space Needle, Empire State Building and Sears Tower
For the first time I entirely decorated the whole cake with modeling chocolate only, using the paneling technique. The top tier was designed after uncle Sam's hat. The bottom tier represents America at night, waiting for the fireworks to start... dark blue skies, black horizons and silver landmarks.
God bless America!
