I have a wedding in June that I am making the cake for and they want a cake with this texture:

Any ideas on how to achieve this?  It looks more detailed than a simple spatula technique.

Thanks!!

Sorry - I'm not sure why the picture turned out so small.

AHmmm if that's buttercream, then maybe do the texture with a wrinkly waxed paper or foil ball, as if you were stamping the icing, and then very gently use the spatula and turn table to remove the bits that point outwards. As for the top and bottom tier, do the same but then scrape the pointy bits from bottom to top. For the heart part, I'd wrap a heart shape cookie cutter with foil and sink it carefully.

That's not a bad idea, I'll try that out.  Thanks!

Try a damp rough textured sponge, you will get something that looks like a stucco effect, then take a fine textured sponge and gently press it against the sides of the cake and sort of smooth out the peaks.  Press don't rub, with both sponges.  hth

AI made tree bark on fondant, but never with buttercream. I'd love to see how this turns out. Good luck!

For this cake I put the BC on in a rough coat with a spatula mixing the two colors right on the cake, then used a fork to create the crenellation of the "bark".

http://cakecentral.com/g/i/2375327/a/2376323/happy-birthday-bekki/

That was a small cake (6 in).  The effect you are looking for would be more easily and more realistically  done by putting on one coat of buttercream.  No need to over smooth it.  Then use a round tip to apply scattered vertical strips of buttercream, some shorter, some longer and with varying intervals between them.  Finally, use the tip of your spatula to drag the buttercream up and down with light pressure so you don't smooth it too much.  HTH and post photos when you're done.

AThis tutorial is on the home page, OP used an impression mat on fondant and then painted, maybe you can find a mat with the bark instead of the grain?

http://cakecentral.com/b/tutorial/gravity-defying-chocolate-cake

I would just about promise that this cake was made using the Winbeckler's tree bark silicone mold.  Their site is called cakesuppliesplus.com and the mold is $22.  It's what I used for my daughter's wedding cake and it looks identical.   I will try to post the cake here but if I fail, my name is RoxieCakes and it's a tree bark - tree stump - sunflowers cake.  FYI - I used chocolate ganache but tried the mold on buttercream and it worked perfectly.  The site says it works on fondant and although I didn't try, I would agree.  Also, the Winbecklers' use an airbrush but I don't own one so used thinned dusts in white, black, browns, and moss greens to achieve the look.   I'm glad to answer specific questions if you have any.  And I can't say for sure that the artist used this mold, but it sure looks like it to me.  Happy Baking!!

Thank you for all the replies! 

I tried using a silicone mold of bark but because I use SMB it didn't work.  The frosting stuck to the mold.  I think you need to use a crusting buttercream or fondant for this method.

What I ended up doing was using MyFairDiva's suggestion of using tinfoil.  I created a tool with tin foil that had a round point and used that to make the lines and then I used another tool made with tin foil that had a flat point and used that to make all the texture lines.  For the heart, I used a heart cutter wrapped in tin foil and pressed it onto the cake.

Here is the final product.

Absolutely gorgeous!!  Great invention too.  Definitely if you use the silicone mold, you must use a crusting BC but with your technique, why bother??

Or, you can do what this Yankee (me) did.  Go out back with a can of Pam spray and a huge fist full of magic molding compound.  Spray the heck out of an area on a rough bark tree, slap the molding medium on and wait a half hour.  Run outside and rip it off before your husband sees what you're doing, wash the mold thoroughly and use.........worked for me.   And in the original photo, I totally agree that a mold was used on the bottom tier but not on the top two.  Looks like the decorator either was in a hurry and couldn't fuss with it any longer or gave up trying to make the top two tiers look as good as the bottom.  Just an observation.

ALol that sounds like something I'd do! As long as nobody sees and it's for family it'll be alright :-D

DeniceNH - It's only wrong if you get caught!!  Naughty is normal in my book!!  

I have no problems making a bark mold at my house with a tree from my property.  We all use "found" household items to make molds.  It's my husbands reaction I was trying to avoid.  He already says that I'm odd from sniffing all that white stuff ...............powdered sugar.  And being odd makes us much better artists.  We were born thinking outside every box.  :-)

So, lross11... how did the rustic wedding cake turn out?  I have to make this same exact cake for a bride next month and was wondering what technique that you found worked best for the texture.

google "tree bark silicone molds" and you will find a website that sells the coolest tree bark molds. they have one like an oak tree and one like a smoother tree

Also, Winbecklers has a tree bark impression mat

http://www.sugardelites.com/search.asp?keyword=tree+bark&search.x=10&search.y=12

Roxiecakes - I have a tree stump cake I am doing, you indicated you used thin dusts to achieve the look. Could you please explain how? I would love to know how you did this stump cake step by step. You can either email me here or reply t

Teresa.burn43@y ahoo.com. Any help is much appreciated.  Sincerely tess7591 cakecentral user