I was so excited to get a call from my friend saying that she wanted to order her daughter's b-day cake. She wanted a Schnauzer and loves purple, other than that I have complete autonomy. YAY! So I decide I want to do a big round birthday cake with the Schnauzer kind of jumping onto the edge of the cake, like his paws are messing the cake up. I was thinking of doing the "cake" in purple and pink but then I call her to tell her and she says daughter wants camoflouge and hates pink. Now I can't get my mind off of my original design and need help to bring together the Schnauzer and purple camo; my brain won't function properly! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated TIA

I guess all I can offer you is a suggestion with the camo. I would do a light and dark purple, then maybe a tan color and a bit of black. A lot of tan colors have a slight purplish color to them and I think you can make that work. If you work in fondant, I made a camo cake in fondant by cutting out different shapes of the different colors and rolling it together, then flipped the mat up over the cake. I hope this helps with the camo anyways, here is my camo cake...

I reciently did a green camo cake for my hubby's goddaughter. Yuck! It came out great but not my choice of colors. I just airbrushed it and it was pretty. You could use different shades of purple, and stick with the dog idea. It sounded really cute. Good luck with it.

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that I like your original idea for the cake, I would just take the pink out of the camo!

With friends like that.......... what a bummer. So much for you being creative! Tomorrow she'll remember that her daughter likes pickles and you can incorporate that into the design

Forget the camouflage. Just do your design in shades of purple or purple and white, or purple and some other color. Add the dog and she gets a cake that's awesome because you're stoked about the design, not baffled.

Carson, thanks for the tip on doing the camo. It sounds like a good one... Cheferyn, is your cake in your photos? I'm going to go peek, now. So do you think I should stick with my original idea and just make the b-day cake w/ the camo. design?

I think you should do what you and your "customer" agree on. I always find it hard to get people to see my vision and when I talk them into it they always love the end result. I think the schnauzer digging into a camo cake could go over well too!

leta, Now I'm going to have pickles in my head J/K I really am thinking about it but I feel like I need to incorporate the camo now. I think I have OCD

Yes, i think you should keep your design. I don't have any photos up yet. I'm not real computer savey. I'm trying to figure it all out. I'm lucky I've figured out how to post messages here. .

I didn't take a photo of that cake anyway. it was just a quickie birthday for family. not my greatest moment. the kid liked it, and i've completed my obligation for this year .

Maybe you can stick with your original idea with making the cake purple (just don't use pink), and put some camo army boots on the dogs back paws, or give the dog a camo vest or hat? That way you can have YOUR way, and they still feel like you incorporated what THEY wanted (which is not what I would imagine from a little girl? And what little girl likes purple but not pink? I'm surprised she likes purple, how funny!) Anyway, the idea just popped into my head... thought I'd share. Good luck with figuring it out (oh ya, and I like the purple camo idea too, my mom got a purple camo onesie for my 5 month old daughter, it's cute!)

Now the wheels are turning! Cover the board in purple camo, then a purple camo bow on top - that would be cute! Although, getting the different colors to "stick" together is not that easy - so covering the whole cake in fondant might be easier! I can't wait to see what you finally come up with!

Thanks you guys! Yes, my wheels are turning a bit now I like the idea of the board being covered in camo and perhaps the dog wearing something w/ camo. I'm starting to let go of my deathgrip on my original design. This cake is for next saturday, so I wanted to have a specific design worked out and perhaps start on whatever I could early on... Great ideas, so far... Thanks and keep them coming if anybody thinks of something else I love you guys

I love your "deathgrip" comment, because I do that with so many cakes! I have one customer who notoriously orders the ugliest cakes. I offer some really cute ideas & they just like ugly stuff! Anyway, I'm just wanting to agree with leta that too much camo will detract from your dog. The dog has to be the showcase piece & I know that little girl will love it!!! Good luck! =)

I have a schnauzer and she has a Sweater.

What about putting a purple Camo Sweater on the Schnauzer and just doing your idea with the round. Maybe make it a little more mauve than pink.

cCc

Thanks CourtneysCustomCakes! I think I'm going to go ahead with your idea. I had been thinking of a bow, collar or hat but didn't think it was enough. The sweater sounds like a good amt. of camo. and I get to minimalize my work on the fur, as well. I think I'm going to make the cake light purple w/ some white flowers and some dark purple (maybe pansies?)... Anyway, Thanks again everybody for your input. I think I should be making the "head" today as I thought I'd make it from RKT. I've never worked w/ RKT before. Is it too early to make the head today? Should I wait until tomorrow or Wednesday? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I'm so glad I was able to help. I think You have a cute concept.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

cCc

This will be one cute cake, can't wait to see it!

I think it will be fine to work with the RKT today - they have amazing staying power I discovered. If you're making them from scratch, just leave out the butter in the recipe and it works wonders!

Good luck.

crislen, I just went to check out your photos and your Elmo is adorable! Did you have to frost him first or did you start in w/ the fur tip? Did the frosting stick well? TIA

Thanks!

I just started right in with my fur tip and the icing (buttercream dream) stuck really well. Although I think next time, I would ice a really thin layer first since from some angles I noticed after I missed some spot and the RKT showed through barely.

It was alot of fun, but man, alot of fur to pipe!

Ok, I am getting ready to finally start working on this thing. Talk about a procrastonator I've never worked w/ the RKT so I need a little help, Puleeeaaassee Do you make the RKT and put it into a pan first? Or do you just start working the stuff into the shape/figure that you want? I've heard that you should compress the treats , as it were, compactly so that they'd hold up well... But that's about all I know. Soooo Can anyone give me a quick run-down? TIA

I was so scared the first time I worked with them - and then it went so quickly! So you'll do great.

Yup, just start moulding them once they are cool enough to handle - no need to put them in a pan. I just dumped them out onto a plate once combined and went at it. Compacting them is a good idea since it will make them more stable. When forming teh beaker I started with a loose ball and then began pushing them into a tight ball as hard as I could and then shaping that. It was quick, I promise! Once I had my shape, I let it air dry for a few hours to firm up before decorating.

Also, I know some people lightly grind their RKs to make the final product more smooth. Since that didn't matter to me, I didn't do it.

Although now that i think of it.. even when they are cooled they would still be easy to work with - what does everyone else do?

I just tried working with RKT for the first time when I made the plane in my photos. I just used the premade RKT, compacted them pretty well, then I coated it with royal icing to smooth all the bumps and let it dry overnight. That was to be covered in fondant though, I don't the little bumps will matter if you are covering with fur.

Can't wait to see this, it sounds adorable!

Good luck!

Anya

Well, It's finally done! Thanks everyone for your helpful posts! Being the total procrastonator that I am, I didn't start until Friday morning. Everything went really smoothly and quickly... I loved the RKT once I got the hang of what I was doing! I doubt my picture will fit here (they never do ) so if you'd like to see the final result please look at my photos. I'd appreciate any feedback They are picking up the cake and my daughter for the party, tomorrow at 2 p.m. I hope they likey

ETA: Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that I went ahead with the camo on a hat and collar, as this is what my daughter insisted upon She told me she knew what Heaven (birthday girl and good friend) would like, so I had to change my plans a little I think we all made a pretty good collaboration, don't you? THANKS again everyone!

I don't know if I'm just "talking" to myself now hehehe but they just came and picked up the cake! She LOVED it! My friend said she was awestruck and felt like crying. I can't remember the last time I've received such a compliment I feel good even if my doggie wasn't so well received on CC Thanks to all of you that have looked and boosted my confidence earlier

That cake is adorable! The dog turned out very well and the colours are great Good job, I bet the birthday girl loved it.

crislen, Thanks so much for the compliment and for your help before I started out. I used the tip you gave about crushing the cereal up a little and it worked great! I felt it was very stable... Thanks for your confidence boosting before and after said project