Zack's 5Th Birthday - Castle Cake

Zack's 5Th Birthday - Castle Cake on Cake Central

Here is Zack's 5th Birthday Cake, the Castle... this one took forever, but learned a fun technique for the stonewall - Press Plates. I created a plate using a sm. rectangle of plexiglass & royal icing. I made a pattern of rough hewn stonewall on the computer. (completed below)

Comments (30)

on

Printed it out placed the plexiglass over the page & traced the pattern w/icing. As each layer of icing dried I would trace over it again, and again, until I had a pattern about 1/8 to 1/4" deep. then after the cake frosting got crusty, I pressed the pattern into the frosting gently. dipped it into powdered sugar to reduce sticking. And then covered the cake with pressings. Work out pretty well.

on

Hmmm, I would use the thickest acetate you can find because the caulk is going to be heavy. But as for the pattern, I drew it by hand. I did look online for different pictures of stone walls but in the end I just took a ruler and drew a basic brick wall pattern. The piping made it slightly irregular giving it the more hand hewn affect.

on

I mean a really thick acetate could work certainly would make going around the towers a bit easier, but anything but a thick piece will be too floppy and difficult to keep straight. As for the Plexiglass, I used a small piece about 2x3 inches, that made it easier to control, if not a bit longer. And in some corner I just used a piece of thin box cardboard to fill in a line here or there. Would love to see a picture when you finish katherine_arthurs at hotmail dot com

on

i couldn't find any non-toxic caulk.......but I was wondering did you have any issues with the royal icing crumbling off the plexi or no???

on

Not during the process. But I had hoped to keep it for the next castle if I ever did one, and after some time in the cake toolbox it did crumble, but I had no problems while making the cake, I had many many layers of frosting one on top fo the other to create the depth. And continually dipping into powdered sugar was key. And a soft blush brush to dust off clumps of sugar is good too.

on

ok, I just figured out the greatest imprint maker ever........I bought some sculpey clay..you know the kind you bake.....what I really was after was a stone wall....so I bought some little river rocks for like a dollar and imprinted them on the clay, baked the clay and it turns into almost a plastic making a perfectly hard, easy to clean and reuseable "stamper" for fondant or frosting.....works great, I'll post the pic soon

on

I'm getting ready to make the same kind of homemade impression mats but I'm using non-toxic caulk like you would use for sealing countertops, etc. and I'm putting it on sheets of acetate so they're more flexible........they will be reusable for many many applications by the way where did you find the image for the stonewall????????

on

can you tell me please if your turrets are cake like the body? did you cut them or are they from a small pan? also, how did you attach them to the cake body? did you ice them separately or did you assemble the castle and then ice? I would appreciate any additional information you could provide. I've been asked by a friend to produce a castle cake for her briday shower. it will be my first paid job and my first shaped cake. needless to say, I'm extremely nervous. thanks so much!

on

I made 2 castle 1 w/the turrets as part of the cake (this one) & 1 w/them separate. separate does not work. pattern is a rectangle & circles at each corner. it wastes more cake but the separate turrets are too hard to secure. From a small square cut 4 more circles same size to stack on top of each corner to complete the turret. I frosted the whole thing as one. For a bridal shower you may want to soften it here is my other fairytale castle (...)

on

Printed it out placed the plexiglass over the page & traced the pattern w/icing. As each layer of icing dried I would trace over it again, and again, until I had a pattern about 1/8 to 1/4" deep. then after the cake frosting got crusty, I pressed the pattern into the frosting gently. dipped it into powdered sugar to reduce sticking. And then covered the cake with pressings. Work out pretty well.

on

I'm getting ready to make the same kind of homemade impression mats but I'm using non-toxic caulk like you would use for sealing countertops, etc. and I'm putting it on sheets of acetate so they're more flexible........they will be reusable for many many applications by the way where did you find the image for the stonewall????????

on

ok, I just figured out the greatest imprint maker ever........I bought some sculpey clay..you know the kind you bake.....what I really was after was a stone wall....so I bought some little river rocks for like a dollar and imprinted them on the clay, baked the clay and it turns into almost a plastic making a perfectly hard, easy to clean and reuseable "stamper" for fondant or frosting.....works great, I'll post the pic soon

on

Hmmm, I would use the thickest acetate you can find because the caulk is going to be heavy. But as for the pattern, I drew it by hand. I did look online for different pictures of stone walls but in the end I just took a ruler and drew a basic brick wall pattern. The piping made it slightly irregular giving it the more hand hewn affect.

on

I mean a really thick acetate could work certainly would make going around the towers a bit easier, but anything but a thick piece will be too floppy and difficult to keep straight. As for the Plexiglass, I used a small piece about 2x3 inches, that made it easier to control, if not a bit longer. And in some corner I just used a piece of thin box cardboard to fill in a line here or there. Would love to see a picture when you finish katherine_arthurs at hotmail dot com

on

i couldn't find any non-toxic caulk.......but I was wondering did you have any issues with the royal icing crumbling off the plexi or no???

on

can you tell me please if your turrets are cake like the body? did you cut them or are they from a small pan? also, how did you attach them to the cake body? did you ice them separately or did you assemble the castle and then ice? I would appreciate any additional information you could provide. I've been asked by a friend to produce a castle cake for her briday shower. it will be my first paid job and my first shaped cake. needless to say, I'm extremely nervous. thanks so much!

on

I made 2 castle 1 w/the turrets as part of the cake (this one) & 1 w/them separate. separate does not work. pattern is a rectangle & circles at each corner. it wastes more cake but the separate turrets are too hard to secure. From a small square cut 4 more circles same size to stack on top of each corner to complete the turret. I frosted the whole thing as one. For a bridal shower you may want to soften it here is my other fairytale castle (...)

on

Not during the process. But I had hoped to keep it for the next castle if I ever did one, and after some time in the cake toolbox it did crumble, but I had no problems while making the cake, I had many many layers of frosting one on top fo the other to create the depth. And continually dipping into powdered sugar was key. And a soft blush brush to dust off clumps of sugar is good too.