Hi everyone,

I just wanted a bit of advice as i'm making my brother in law's 30th birthday cake and my sister in law wants me to make this one (pics below)

Please would someone be able to let me know the best way to make the structure as i'm wanting to use real cake?

I saw it at the Cake International in Trafford Park in March time.

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated,

Thanks,

Jess

AI can't tell how big it actually is, but I would use a giant cupcake cake pan to get a good base for the pot. I bet the head is RKT, but since you want all cake, might just have to carve it out as best as you can.

AHi minabakes,aww thank you so much for replying to me. It wasn't that big on the board and thought it might have been rct but thanks for yoir advice for the base plant pot :) x

AHere's another picture more up close if it helps? [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3260201/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

What MinaBakes said, giant cupcake tin for the plant pot. You could use hemisphere pans (5" in diameter, I think that's their smallest) from lakeland for Audrey's head and just carve it to get those grooves at the top and for the mouth. I'd have a cake board for the top cake as well, and dowel it so it doesnt' sink into the bottom cake. Have a centre dowel going through both cakes for stability. 

You could also use pyrex bowls for the head if you have bowls small enough if you can't get to Lakeland :) HTH

That's a fantastic cake project by the way! Please show us a pic of the final result. Good luck!

Off topic here but I missed the Cake International in Trafford this year by two days! I could have cried 

This can all totally be done with all cake, you just need to be sure you have ample support.

For the sake of argument, lets assume the top diameter of the pot is 8".  

I would say take two or three 2" high 8" diameter cakes, stack and fill them as you normally would.  If you plan on using three of the 8" rounds, you will need supports inside the stack half way up to support the top half of the pot.

Then you are going to carve the stack you just made in to a flower pot shape.  I find it easiest to get a cardboard round an inch or two smaller than the top diameter (8") and use it as a guide by placing the smaller round on the top of the cake, and carving at an angle between the 8" cardboard on the bottom of the stack and the 6" cardboard, if that makes any sense at all.

Next comes supports inside the top half of the pot which will hold up the head.

You can either do the head all cake, or half cake half styro/RKT.  The important thing you have support holding up the top half of the sphere like shape.

So there will be 2-3 levels of support in this design depending on how tall you want the flower pot.

EDIT:  Looking at it again, there may very well be a more advanced internal structure involved as it looks like the mouth is actually open space, and not just flat like I thought.  Doing it that way would require some wood work.

AThanks everyone cos I really appreciate all your advice and I'm sorry Petitecat but there's always next year cos it's always around the same time I get leaflets through about their offers and events and will definately post a picture when it's finished. I haven't got a sphere tin but have got loads of pyrex dishes lol x x

AWhat colour should I make for the plant pot? I've got chestnut and dark brown? I might use RKT for the head and make some cupcakes to compensate for the party guests :-)

AI would start with orange and add tiny amounts of brown to it. I've heard wilton's copper color is close to that terracotta pot color. Or Americolor has a color called terracotta.

Hi Minabakes,

thank you so much and i've got Wilton orange as well as the brwon so I will give it a go, thanks again x

You're making me want to make this cake now! LOL

Hi minabakes,

sorry to be such a pain..you know the ice bit on the board do you think this is isomalt or rockcandy? I would love to be able to re-create this effect?

regards,

jess

oh sorry petitecat! LOL think i'm gonna make some cupcakes as well :)

A

Do you mean the black and white "tile floor"?

ANo sorry I meant the sign that says this is Audrey II on the board x

Hi,

Sorry I thought I'd replied on my phone and it's for the glass effect on the board that says This is Audrey 11?

Thanks,

Jess

AVerusca Walker has an online video tutorial for a Venus flytrap cake, you can purchase it from Learn Cake Decorating Online. She uses PVC parts for the stem but hers sets up much higher away from the pot. You can watch a quick demo on YouTube to get a look at the structure. They have their own YouTube videos (Learn Cake-Youtube) or just google it.

I am a big fan of Verusca Walker, the site is a great collaboration of tutorials from other great decorators like Jessica Pedemont, Handi Mulyana, Louise Vansleve, Margie Carter, etc. I think it's like $19/month. They have recipe books, templates, Q&A...

FYI I am in no way affiliated with this site, just a fan. They have great tutorials for every skill level.

Good luck! I just love Little Shop of Horrors!

hi sorry it doesn't seem to be sending my message! it's for the clear effect name for This is Audrey 11?

thanks,

jess

Hi Smckinney07.

oh thank you and I know what you mean so don't worry and i'll def give it a try so thank you!

Jess

A

It looks like sugar. I'm not an expert when it comes to confectionery, but it if you cook sugar and water to a certain degree, then pour it in a mold, it should harden like that.

A

Hey minabakes,ah right well thank you x

Hi everyone,

Sorry only just posting now only have access at work to use it.

I bought the 3D sports cake tin with the half cylinders and then carved the head and painted the top of the head.

For the base I used x2 six inch cake tins, cooled them and then froze them so that i'd be able to carve them better and then used the orange and tiny amount of the dark brown to make the 'teracotta' pot. I put a thin cake board underneath Audrey's head and then buttercreamed and used some crushed oreo's for the 'soil' and then just did the board in black and white fondant but it's the first proper tiered take i've had to do that was more complicated cos it's two different shapes but loved every second of it and would know how to do it quicker next time.

Here's a couple of pictures.....

Brilliant cake! The birthday boy must have been very pleased :)