Something's Fishy

After much anticipation, Matt and I have tackled another cake in tandem. And we have officially decided that we love this cake making thing! We had been planning to spend this past weekend practicing a new type of cake and mentioned to some of our friends that they were going to have to take the cake off our hands when we finished. Afterall, we can't have a constant supply of cake sitting around the house, or this hobby will cause lots of problems for the waistline! Our willing friend, Sarah, piped in, "My dad's birthday is this weekend. I should have had you make him a cake!" Great, problem solved! We have a taker.

Now, up until this point, we had been planning to make a square cake with a fondant bow on top...much like a gift-wrapped present. But, once we had our male subject lined out, we were thinking that a fancy bow probably wouldn't bowl him over. So Sarah threw out what she thought was a joke, but definitely got the creative wheels turning, "Can you make a trout?" Sarah's dad is an avid fly fisher, so anything with a trout on it is a trophy.

I will confess (now) that I initally panicked. Trout?! We were thinking of a neat, little square with a bow, and now we are going to shoot for a trout?! Yikes. But once Matt and I started brainstorming, we got excited and had LOTS of ideas. So we guarateed Sarah a trout for Sunday delivery. We baked the cakes Friday night (4 - 8 x 8 squares that were pieced together and layered) and then spent the majority of Saturday (and maybe even the early hours of Sunday morning, but don't tell Sarah!) decorating our little trout. Matt and I had a blast, learned a lot, and were really pleased with our end result. I think we may be on to something that will be a long-lasting hobby of ours.

We documented the cake start to finish, so bare with me on all the photos. If you want, you can just skip to the end and see the final result. Hope you enjoy!

We started with four 8x8 square yellow cakes, then leveled them, and attached them all with good layer of chocolate icing.

A little carving to make a fish shape...

Adding the fondant...

Working on all the details...

He's starting to really look like a fish...

Some added color, and tada...he's done!

Here is a large picture of the final result:

Now, off to brainstorm the Fourth of July cake...

Natalie