Let me start off saying that I had a major case of zero confidence when I started this cake. The first thing I made was the crown, and I got to use my brand new silicone flower/leaf impression mat. This thing is awesome. So anyway, it was really fun. It's been a while since I made a cake and I got back into the spirit of things really quickly. I made up the bowling pins by making a template out of paper and using that to guide my cuts on the gumpaste. I made the bottom part of the pins long, so there is gumpaste sticking into the cake as well as wooden picks. I thought it would give a little extra stability. The characters were fun to make. I was giggling as I made Ray, the Cajun firefly. I love the teeth.
I used my old recipe and I have to say I think I'm going back to it. It took me over a year to develop it and it is dense and moist. The new recipe is a little easier to make and it is more consistent, but goodness, this cake was good!
The bowling ball is two little cakes I made in my Wilton Wonder Mold, layered with buttercream and carved into a ball, and covered in marbled marshmallow fondant.
I also made 16 cupcakes to complement the cake. The cake pops in this photo were made by another amazing cake lady! It was fun to talk cake for a while. The kids had a ball eating the bowling pins and the characters.
