Step-by-step Instructions on making a 3-D Fireman’s Helmet Cake

This cake was made as a “his” cake for a “his and her’s” bridal shower for friends of mine in New York.  It would also make a great grooms cake or birthday cake.

It helps to have a picture of a helmet or a plastic fire helmet to get your dimensions.  I was lucky enough to be able to borrow an actual fire helmet for this one.

1. First, the shield for the front of the helmet.

You want to make this in advance so it can dry.  I made mine from a picture of a New York fire helmet because the cake was for a NY firefighter.  I used an exacto knife to cut the pieces out of fondant and layered them.

I then placed the shield over a pitcher covered with powdered sugar to dry.
2. Next I prepared the base of the helmet.  You could make this out of cake but I didn’t need that many servings so I made mine out of cardboard.  I traced the shape of the base onto cardboard and cut it out.  I then covered it in fondant.  I didn’t cover the center because it would be covered by the cake.

I also used a small cowbell type cheese grater to texture around the edge of the rim to match the original helmet.
3. Now for the cakes.  I baked my top cake in a round pyrex bowl about the size and shape that I wanted the hat.

I baked a second cake the same size round as the bottom of my top cake so they would stack well.
4. After cooling, the cakes were torted, filled with buttercream and raspberry jam and stacked.

The cake was then covered with a thin layer of buttercream.
5. Black Fondant was then rolled out to cover the cake.
6. The fondant was then placed on the cake, smoothed and trimmed.

Ok, now it’s starting to look like a firehelmet!
7. Place the cake on the base.

I also placed the shield on the cake to see how everything looked.  The shield is actually just sitting on the base leaning slightly back onto the cake.  I cut a small piece of fondant to fit between the shield and the helmet to help keep it stable.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before actually putting it on the cake.  You can see it in the pictured in step #9
8. Now for the details.  Using the picture or helmet as a guide – make your details.

I drew a template for the yellow fondant cutouts and placed them around the helmet similarly to how they were placed on the original helmet.
9. Now is when I realized that I had forgotten to put thin rolls of fondant under the fondant covering to form the ridges so I had to place them on top of the covered cake.  I simply rolled out long ropes of fondant and placed them on the cake trimming them as necessary.
Now take a look and see if it needs anything else.
I made two little balls of fondant and painted them with gold luster dust mixed with vodka and placed them on the front for detail.  I also painted the spacer between the shield and front of the helmet with the gold mixture at this time.

Now you’re done!

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