Meeska... Mooska.... Mickey Mouse! - The Mickey Mouse Club House

OK, I think I have kept you all on pins and needles long enough.... Especially since my nephew's 2nd Birthday party was today. So it's OK for me to let the proverbial "mouse" out of the bag.

All those Rice Krispie treat bits and baubles were the pieces necessary to construct... Well, I will let the picture speak for itself.

Welcome to the Mickey Mouse Club House!

Originally, we were going to make the whole thing out of cake, but we decided that the head part would be just a little bit too unstable. So I suggested Rice Krispie treats for the ears.... After mulling it over several times, we decided to just use a simple sheet cake base, turn it into Mickey's Front yard and make the club house as an edible cake topper. I think it worked out pretty well....

Though the Rice Krispie Treats were a little on the bumpy side; so I made some crusting butter cream. (I probably should have just left well enough alone, I think I just made more work for myself than was needed - I was "over thinking" it)

Frosted all the pieces and let them dry.

Then smoothed them out with a paper towel.

Then I made a ton of Marshmallow Fondant. (DD! You Totally Rock!)

Divided it and colored it Blue, Yellow, Red and, even though I missed photographing it, Black... I also left some of it white for Mickey's glove.

I also made gumpaste window and door frames as well as a gumpaste slide (though when traveling, the foot fell over and broke the slide) Grrrrrrr.

My big goof-up was that it was all a little too big for the cake....

so Mickey's hand had to be set behind the cake, on the table instead of being ON the cake where it belonged. It was the leg and the foot that were the problem, I made the leg about and inch too long and the foot should have been about 3/4 of the height I made it. Oops!

My brother Chris, Marshall's dad, added all the finishing touches.... graham cracker sand, green coconut grass and some stepping stones, to complete the look.

Marshall, was VERY excited about his birthday cake.

Then the excitement ebbed and he was ready to eat it. LOL


Mangia!!
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Aloha - The Volcano Cake

Mt. Liliana rises from the sea floor; the newest Volcano in the Hawai'ian chain.

And whaddya know, it was just in time for my niece's Luau Birthday party.

This is how my brother and I built Lillyann's Volcano Cake.

Chocolate MMF (Thanks to DD)
The Awesomest Chocolate Cake, EVER!
Chocolate Swiss Butter Creme

First we acquired a Styrofoam base, cake boards, supports, a vase and some 'store bought' fondant (it wasn't suppose to be eaten)

Chris glued the cake board to the Styrofoam which was then covered with the 'store bought' fondant and trimmed with a pizza roller.

Then, a smear of butter creme to hold the base in place.

First the 10 inch, then the 9 inch, then the 8 inch.

At this point the supports had to be placed in and another cake board places on top.

This was to support the cinder cone that my brother had baked in his pampered chef batter bowl.

Once the cinder cone was in place, complete with embedded vase, it was time for a quick crumb coat of Butter Creme. (And a beer)

After that had chilled, the second coat went on. (and another beer, cause it was midnight at this point)

Then the marshmallow fondant was rolled out in 1 big 24 inch round sheet (Probably no the best idea, but we didn't want to have a seam)

We tried to gather the extra fondant to form ridges, it wasn't working really well, but we managed some sort of "ridge-ing" with just a little bit of water to smooth things out.

Then we mixed food color with vodka and painted an ocean of blue (Sky Blue and Teal to be exact)

Then it was time to place the lava rock (from previous eruptions) which came from the tin foil my brother had placed under the cake when he baked it and burnt hunks of the batter. (I thought that was pretty clever; wish I had thought of that)

A sprinkle of Nilla Wafer sand....

And a dash of silver luster dust to look like ash.... and finally, the gum paste palm trees (that survived), but I didn't photograph the palm tree process

The mountain is angry, dry ice steam is issuing forth (though it's hard to see with the bubbling caldera of punch behind it) So we sang "Happy Birthday", but we must have sang off key or something because the mountain got REALLY angry ;)

Suddenly, molten lava spewed angrily forth from the mouth of Mt. Liliana!!! (OK, it was beaten egg and Lemon juice with dry ice dropped in and a mixture of Baking Soda, warm water and vodka poured over it; ALL of which had to be dyed in a combination of No-Taste Red and Burgundy)

Then we all got hungry (please note the vase in the cutaway) - All Egg exposed fondant was removed and thrown away.... Hmmm Right now it looks kind of like the Northeast slope of Mt. St. Helens.

It was a mighty tasty Volcano.

My niece was quite pleased, I must say... :)

Mangia!!
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OMG! My BFF DD's MMF!!! - Chocolate Marshmallow Fondant

Sorry, but I just had to take the opportunity to use the obnoxious "text" speak.

Have you ever met my friend DD over at DDPie's Slice? She has more talent in her pinky finger than... Well, I am not sure what, but you won't believe the beautiful cakes that sally forth from her kitchen. Her attention to detail is unparalleled. Dare I say it, her cakes are more fantastic than Duff's on Ace of Cakes. A true artiste if ever their was one.

The reason I am bringing this up, is because I am working on another multi-post project. My niece's Luau birthday party is on the 19th (She's a Solstice baby) and I am in the process of helping my brother with her erupting Volcano cake. We think we have it figured out, but the first step was to protect the cake from the raging torrent of artificially colored Lava/Magma. Mainly because many members of my family are allergic to things like Allura Red 40 and Red 3 (Honestly, the stuff is horrible for you anyway) and it's gonna take A LOT of dye to create a dark enough lava. Thus the cake will be swathed in fondant to protect the sumptuous Chocolate Swiss ButterCreme that will not only bathe the cake but will nestle between the layers as well.

Well, the problem with fondant is that it tastes like sweetened cardboard... YUCK!!! This is when I looked to DD for some help. She has this awesome recipe for MMF (Marshmallow Fondant). It has everything.... Flavor, Texture, Workability... and it's fairly simple to whip up... Well, the ingredient list is simple, the process takes a little 'know how'. But DD, in her omni-awesomeness, has provided not only a recipe and instructions, but has bestowed upon us, all of her hands on knowledge in working with the stuff. (Located Here)

See? Cool Beans, huh?

So using DD's recipe as a guide, I made Chocolate Fondant, because it is going to be a volcanic mountain in Hawaii, thus there will be very little snow, if ya know what I mean. I used the modifications DD suggested in her post. Oh, and for an extra little twist, I happened to have Chocolate extract as well as Hazelnut extract

but Almond and Coffee might be nice too. So take a deep breath, cause we are plungin' right into the deep end where the big fish swim... :) NO FEAR!!!!

Chocolate-Hazelnut MMF

16 oz (454 g) Mini-Marshmallows
3 TB Water
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Chocolate Extract
1 tsp Hazelnut Extract
30 oz (850 g) Confectioner's Sugar
1/2 Cup (43 g) Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark, which is a mixture of Natural and Dutched Cocoa)
1/3 -1/2 cup (5 1/2 - 8 TB) Vegetable Shortening (Depending on humidity and/or ambient Temperature)

Place the marshmallows in a large bowl along with the water and set the whole thing over simmering water, stirring occasionally until mostly melted.

At this point add any flavorings, I used Vanilla, Hazelnut and Chocolate extracts, stirring to combine. (The marshmallows will turn from white to a light beige color)

When everything is all melted, add the Cocoa Powder and about 3/4 of the Confectioners' Sugar.

Then begin to stir, and stir and stir...

When it becomes too stiff to stir, it should be cool enough to touch, go ahead and knead it in the bowl by hand.

Turn it out onto a greased (this is where the shortening comes in) counter,

and grease up your hands too, then start kneading in more of the confectioners' sugar a little at a time.

Re-grease your hands as necessary, continuing to knead in more confectioners' sugar until you achieve a smooth elastic blob of fondant. (You may not use all of the confectioners' sugar)

Smear the whole thing in a little more shortening to keep it from drying out.

Place it in a Zip-Loc bag (remove as much air as possible) and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. (Up to 2 weeks)

Awesome!

Thanks DD, You ROCK!!!
~~