Molding Figures

I had an email from a woman in Stockholm, Sweden a couple of weeks ago. I thought she had contacted me for a cake in error. It wouldn't have been the first time I've had someone from another country surf the web, find my website and contact me for a cake. I usually explain that they aren't in my "delivery area". lol  But, as it happens Marija has a sister who lives in the Clark Summit area and is a veterinarian at the Justus Veterinary Clinic. Marija's sister Jelena is celebrating her 30th birthday today and Marija wanted to do something special for her. She wanted me to do a two tier cake in red & yellow with five hand molded figures on the cake. Each of the figures represented someone in the family doing something they love to do. Marija wanted a figure of her mom with a camera and her dad holding a fishing pole and wearing a cap. She wanted one representing her that sat on the edge of the cake eating a burger and one of her husband sitting on a motorbike. The fifth figure was Jelena's husband and she wanted him taking a bite out of the cake.

Marija emailed me pictures of the family to use as a guide. While I don't have the talent molding figures to make them look realistic, I did want to make sure, eye color, hair color and styles were correct. When I delivered the cake this morning at the veterinary clinic, Jelena had no idea it was coming. One of her co-workers let me and my husband in the back way to set up the cake and we were able to stay and take photographs of Jelena when she saw the cake to email to her sister. It always makes the stress of working a under a deadline disappear when you get to see a happy customer. And...Jelena was thrilled. She got the biggest kick out of her husband's curly hair and was very definite that him taking a bite out of the cake was exactly his personality.



All of the figures bodies and legs were made with rice krispie treats. Their heads started with one inch styrofoam balls covered in gumpaste. The motorbike was a block of rice krispie treats that I cut with a motorcycle cookie cutter and covered in gumpaste. The cake itself was vanilla chocolate chip with bavarian cream filling and covered in Satin Ice Fondant.