Calling Cake Decorators....

[Jennifer D]

I know there are plenty of fantastic cake artistes on this board, so I am seeking some advice.

In addition to cupcakes for DD's upcoming Peter Pan bday party, I am planning on making a pirate ship cake [Hook's ship ]. Basically - take 2 cake rounds, cut in half, level off bottom so they will "stand", frost together and voila! looks like a ship. I'm going to place it on a rectangle base [frosted blue, of course].

I read A LOT of comments/reviews of the recipe below. Many people had trouble with the cake not sticking together or falling apart pre-party. Recurring suggestions included freezing the layers before cutting and assembling, then re-freezing [or refrigerating] before frosting the outside.

I am not using boxed mixed or store-bought icing, and many of the comments were geared towards those products. My homemade chocolate cake is really moist - so I dunno if that's going to give me fits or not. I actually baked the cake layers today so they will be in the freezer for several days [trying to bake everything ahead of time]. I wonder if anyone could provide suggestions for timing on the thawing/cutting/icing together etc? I don't know if I can refreeze or just refrigerate after the cake has already been frozen for 5 or 6 days. Not sure how long it needs to thaw before I can cut and ice it together. Etc...

Many people also had problems getting the layers to stick together.. Again, these generally seemed to involve store-bought icing. I honestly never use the stuff, so I have no idea how that consistency compares to icing I would make [your basic butter/confectioner's sugar/milk mix]. A couple of people mentioned using royal icing - would that work better? Either way is there sort of an ideal consistency I should be looking for that would up the odds of the layers sticking together?

I know this was a long post, many many thanks for any suggestions!!

Jennifer


Ingredients
2 baked 9" or 10" round cakes
3 to 4 cups chocolate icing
DECORATIONS:
Chocolate wafer sticks (such as Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Cookies)
Milk chocolate wafer rolls (Waffeletten cookies)
Several pieces of white or off-white paper
3 10" wooden skewers
Malted milk balls
Rolo candies
Root beer barrels
Plastic pirate figures (we used Playmobil), washed thoroughly
Instructions
Cut the cakes in half and layer them, rounded sides all facing the same direction, adding a thin coat of chocolate icing between the layers.
Trim the bottom curves of the cakes slightly to help them sit flat, then turn the cakes upright, as shown. (Tip: If necessary, wrap the cakes in plastic and chill in the freezer to make them firmer. Also, two drinking straws stuck through the four layers of cake will help keep them together.)
Cover with the chocolate icing, then create planking lines along the hull with a butter knife. Chill at least one hour to firm the icing.
Use dabs of icing to anchor wafer stick gunwales along the edge of the deck.
Press the wafer rolls into both sides of the ship for cannons.
Cut sails from the paper, then slip them onto the skewers and set the masts in place.
Add malted milk ball cannonballs, plenty of Rolo gold booty, and root beer barrels, then station a few pirates to keep watch.
For safety, place the candles in the cookie cannons, far from the paper sails. Also, make sure that the surface on which the cake rests is impervious to wax, as the burning candles will drip.

[stephanie678]

I'm not as experienced as many on this board, but I would suggest using a mix or a least a non-moist recipe for the rounds that make up the ship. I know that you already made the layers, but maybe you could have a mix on hand in case you have problems when you start to decorate.

When I've made a "3-D" cake like that, I've had a really hard time getting my homemade recipe cake to stay together. I put a large rectangular homemade cake underneath and serve that, because it tastes better. Of course, the kids will probably want to eat the pirate ship!

You can also help your ship to stay together by inserting drinking straws cut level or dowels made for cake decorating.

I think the buttercream you describe would actually be easier to work with than store-bought. You can also use shortening in place of 1/2 of the butter to make it easier to work with.

The cake is adorable! Good luck!

[Remoulade Sauce]

I made this pirate cake for my son a couple of years ago. I let it sit unfrosted on the counter overnight to sort of dry it out and let it sit in the fridge between frostings. I didn't have any problems with the cake falling or not staying together although I did not do the flat blue "water" sheet cake - just the ship on a tray.

One thing was that I used chocolate icing and then most of the chocolate decorations (like the malt balls and barrels) didn't show up too well. Next time I would either tint vanilla icing a tan color or at least use milk chocolate for more contrast.

I hope this helps!

[DanaSD]

I wouldn't do the cake that way because its not very stable. Instead I have used sheet cakes (stacked) and carve away the sides to get the shape.

The most stable cake is a pound cake. You want something dense. Also if you do try the upright rounds go very light on the icing between the layers.

Here's a large one I did awhile ago. I didn't carve it much so that the bottom is narrower than the top so that it had good stability. Just add 'waves' to the bottom sides.

http://simplysweetsaz.blogspot.com/2...-birthday.html