I need to make a birds nest for the top of a baby shower cake. Does anyone know how to make one?

I would think it would be neat to make it out of gum paste or fondant .. make small snake like "twigs" and weave them to form the nest. You can do it on an upturned bowl to hold the shape & help form it. That is the only idea I have. HTH

Rylan made one recently.

Here is the link to that one , maybe it will help. Or You could PM Rylan and ask .

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1415661

Thanks Jaime for the introduction.

There are different ways to make them. I would have made them out of noodles if I had the knowledge to know whether they are safe eaten raw (when you are asian, there are more than 8 types of noodles in your pantry). I was thinking of frying it and dipping the noodles in chocolate.

In my case, I rolled foil to look like small sticks and then dipped them in chocolate. I assemble every time I dip, that way it will naturaly form a nest. The sad part about this is that it is not edible

Dip chow mein noodles.

I have used coconut and white chocolate or almond bark. I do birds nest and jelly beans at easter time.

I did a few this way - works great and tastes great too!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chocolate-cake-with-crepe-paper-flowers-and-a-phyllo-nest

If you take a mix of rice noodles and thin spagetti and boil them for a few secoonds only (not as if you were going to eat them). You can add color to the water in brown and moss green. Then pull them out of the water and put them on paper toweles making sure you get all the water out of them. Then arrange them in the shape you want and let dry for atleast a week. They will look like the real thing when you are done. I use this idea for spanish moss also for my basket cakes. If you want the client to actually eat them, you can add some sugar to the water to make them on the sweeter side.

Jaime, what did you think I was?

Oh I love spicy food! I don't think I can live off of noodles though.

Btw, who is the model on your website?

The best way and so yummy:

Melt chocolate chips with a pat of butter in the microwave or double boiler. Add chow mein noodles and stir gently, trying not to break too many, but it can be a little rough since it's supposed to be a nest. Then, in a bowl the size that you want the nest to be, sprayed with PAM, softly form the mixture up the sides and hollow it out a little bit. Let it firm up in the fridge and yummy edible nest!

I don't know how big this nest needs to be, but something you can do is to use an upside down bowl. Cover the upside down bowl with plastic or wax paper and squiggle melted chocolate over it. You can then embelish it with twigs made out of modeling chocolate.

Those are some great nest ideas I think I will experiment !

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! I will give some of these a try and see what come out best!

This baby shower is going to be different than any shower I have ever seen. The colors are fuchsia, turquoise and lime green! It's very hip and modern so I want it to look great! Here is a sketch of the cake they want. Wish me luck!

Oh that is going to be cute! The colors are a little bold but I bet it turns out great! Good Luck!

The sketch is awesome. Can I ask how you do that? Do you use a certain computer program?

You have probably already made your cake but here is an idea. I did a nest out of buttercrem. I just made "twigs" overlapping .... I really don't know how to explain it but if you look at it in my pictures "Easter Birds" Yu will understand. Hope it goes great for you.

I just did this cake for a baby shower to match the invitations - is this what you are looking for?

Or mix up some gp & fondant to the color needed, put it in an extruder and use the multiple strand die, cutting sections and forming them and building up to size needed.
Then airbrush or hand paint some more colors for depth and variation.
Hope it turns out great!
W.

I kind did a circle the size I wanted the bottom to be and then I just piped one branch at a time overlapping each other. The flowers are gumpaste, four seperate petals. I really just played around with one until I got it how I wanted it to be and then just did the same thing on the rest of them.

korensmommy - i love your nest! please do tell how you made it .
diane

It looks like a brandy snap basket to me, which I think you can buy in some supermarkets or specialty stores. That would work and be yummy too with whatever embelishments you choose. I love the shower cake design it will be gorgeous!

I just did a nest on my dragon cake in my photo gallery. I did the asian noodles(chow mein) and melted white chocolate technique. I mixed the two then pressed them in a bowl(glass). I then took another bowl(smaller) and fit it on the inside to press the noodles into a bowl. Let it dry and you get a nest. I also spray painted mine with cocoa butter food color to increase the depth. Worked great.

Good luck!

Thanks Nicolesprinkle. What a good idea!

So here is what I came up with! Im not 100% happy because it looks kinda like a basket. Here is a progression and the picture of the cake!

Adorable cake.

What if you made it out of poured sugar - you could line a small bowl with baking paper, heat your sugar etc and then get a spoon full and pour it lightly over the top from side to side until you build it up to make it look like a nest. It will dry quickly.

Hope this makes sense.
Kim