Vicky and poohsmamma

For sand, somewhere on here, I read that someone had used a combination of Brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs. That was perfect for me because I usually have some crumbs left over that I don't get around to using and was told it was very realistic.

I make my own piping gel and add the food coloring to the water. Because the lemon juice leaves the piping gel a little cloudy I switch it out with the same amount of vinegar.

I use the recipe here on CC:

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/piping-gel-that-works/

I answered one of your questions on the comment thread for my pirate ship cake http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1958101.

Here are some more details.

For the ship:
I used 2 8" squares a 2 8" rounds. The rounds we a bit skinny and all four are stack for the bow. I cut 2" off the squares to make rectangles and then used the extra cake to build up the back. The rounded part on the back is cut from the rounds on the bow. I covered the cake in ganache (which I do for every carved cake now), and then in one big piece of mostly chocolate fondant (I mixed a bit of white in there to lighten the color). I cut the fondant at the back 2 corners and the bow. I then used a ruler and exacto knife to cut all the planks, and 2 holes at each end to look like nails. I used my pasta machine to cut fettuccine which made all the edging and rails. I went back with a paint brush and brown color to give the boards a bit of color to differentiate them from each other.

For the Sails:
I made the sails about a week in advance, when I made the pirates. They were gumpaste and I let them dry on my violin case to get the curve. I "glued" together the dowels and skewers to make up the sails with stiff RI. Once dry (the next day) I painted them with melted chocolate and attached the sails with RI too. These were removed during transport.

For the water:
Blue fondant and blue piping gel (using the recipe in the previous post).

This was still one of my favorite cakes to make, I hope you have fun making yours!

Hiya Jules!

Thanks so much for that clarification! Makes much more sense now! AS for the railing.. those were also great tips! Just wondered... what if I used a wire running through the railing.. wouold that not give it some support and stop it from drooping down? Just a thought?

I live in Paris.. so not highly humid.. and these days is getting cold I think (sorry am away in Egypt right now.. so don't know the weather! hehe!... don't think I'll do the rope instead of the railing... but may do some rope curled up on the ship itself... haven't thought all the details through totally... have so many ideas.. but no idea if it'll all work out or if I'll have time to do it all! Luckily the "order" was just for a pirate ship.. so I have pretty much free reign on what to do! ) Also don't know how much I'll have a chance to do things far enough in advance to dry properly... as I only get back just under a week before the cake is due! Wish me luck!! heeh!

Poor you... sorry to hear you broke your finger!! Hope it's not stopping you from caking too much? which finger is it??

Best of luck to you and hope you feel better soon!

Vicky

Thanks so much deborahanne & jennajane for your responses!

deborahanne.. just wondered if you knew... if I already have store-bought piping gel... is it easy to just color it? Do I just mix in some color paste till I get the color I want? Or is there a trick to it?

Jennajane... you say you used your pasta maker to cut the edgings etc... do you have to prepare it in a special way so the fondant doesn't stick? I've often thought of using the pasta maker to even roll the fondant one thickness (especially after watching cake boss and seeing their roller thing! haah!)... but never dared to try it! lol!

Thanks again to you both for your input! Am getting so excited about making this cake.. but wondering if I'm just envisioning a bit too much for my limited abilities! lol! Guess only time will tell, huh?

Best,

Vicky

I'm pretty sure you can color commercial piping gel with gel colors.

As to using the pasta machine, just make sure you have enuf cornstarch on your fondant so it doesn't stick in the machine and that you reduce the thickness gradually again so it doesn't stick in the machine..

Thanks deborahanne for those tips!! And can I just say... have just had a quick glance at your site.. OMG you do some amazing work!! I bow down to you! hehe!! You should be very proud of yourself!

Best,

Vicky

Thank you. . . .two years of practice and neighbors and family who don't mind being my test audience. has paid off.

well, Vicky, I tried once to reply, buy this thing messed up. I would think wire would help a lot. especially if you put it in both pieces of the rope and twisted it together. I think drying it some would help if you can manage that.

fortunately, it was on my non-writing hand, but it is amazing what you can't do one handed. I have a lot of baking to do the rest of this week and to say that it is going to be a challenge is putting it lightly. I will do fine. though. I am not sure how much caking I can do until the doctor decides what needs to be done and it is properly wrapped. I am not in a lot of pain right now so as far as that goes I am being patient. Broke it Sat. morning and went to my follow up visiti today and the doctor could not see in the x-rays what I was showing him in person so he requested a ct scan and has to wait back to hear from the insurance compsny to give their go-ahead. My husband does not think that will be a problem.
If it is, I will call the insurance myself and let them know that I do not want a crooked finger for the rest of my life just because they do not want to pay for the scan. See if I can help them get it figured out and approved.

Hi Vicky.
I saw your question about piping gel and I thought I'd tell you that I recently colored some black. I just stirred a little gel color in and Voila! Black piping gel. It colors a lot easier than frosting, and doesn't require much color.
Dawn

Vicky: If you are going to do just plain board railing and put wire in it I would think that you need some of the finest wire you can get and I saw where you said that you weren't going to be home much before the cake was due. My suggestion would be to do your railings as soon as possible after you know the pattern of your cake and let them be drying for as long as they can before you put the cake together. Then obviously set about putting everything else together that needs drying time also. your cake itself is not going to take that long to put together if you have done your prep work ahead of time. I just got to thinking again and I am thinking that as soon as you make a pattern for the cake that you need to measure and figure out your railings and get them made and drying as much as possible even with a wire in them. then of course any thing else that needs to be made and have any drying time like your sails. even if you make them out of paper and want to color those so they look somewhat realistic and they need time to dry the way they are to hang also. so if you sit down and figure out what needs to be made ahead of time and in what order. Work on that the first day - day and a half then start making your cakes and getting them ready and into the freezer. then you can make your icings and what ever else can be readied and waiting for your cakes as soon as theiy are thawed and you can start to work on them.

Hiya Dawn!

Thanks so much for clarifying the piping gel thing! That makes it much easier than I thought! phew.. At least somethinggg will be easy! Hahhaha! Still have your pics on my iPhone and keep looking at them for inspiration! Hehe!

Best,

Vicky

Hi Jules!

Thanks again so much for your input and detailed help! And with a broken finger too!! Much appreciated! thank God it's your non-writing hand!!! But can imagine it's still not going to be easy to do a whole lot of caking!!! And as for insurance companies.. Ughhh... Sometimes they really can be a pain huh??? Hope they respond soon so you can get the right treatment! Best best of luck and lots of fast healing vibes being sent your way!

Vicky

Vicky, Yes, I am very thankful that it is my non-writing hand. That almost makes things impossible as far as caking goes, but I am not worried about that right now anyway. I have a ton of stuff to do before the holidays get here and they are basically here for all intents and purposes for me. I have a very busy weekend baking for a church thing Sunday night and then I have got to get myself organized as to what candy I am going to make for Christmas gifts and figure out how much stuff I am going to need to buy for it and get it budgeted in quickly. I also have some sewing to do for Christmas and I have got to get that done very soon so it is not too cold in my sewing room to sew. So I know that it will all go very quickly for me. I know that I can sew and bake. I just have to be careful. You are very welcome and I hope that your cake goes well and is what you want. Please, if possible put a picture on here. I would love to see it.

Lots of great ideas and tips since I last checked in. Thanks to everyone for sharing.

I just finished crumb coating. I have this horrible feeling my upper deck in the back (don't know the nautical term) is going to fall right off the back of the ship in transport. It is four layers total, with the top deck being two layers on its own board with support underneath. I'm hoping the mast for the sail will hold everything together. I'm putting it through the cake like a center support dowel.

Sails and palm tree are made. Top railing is made.

I'm trying to keep it simple, but things keep getting added.
I ordered some better airbrush colors, but of course I haven't gotten them yet....

Poohsmomma: after you get everything put together why don't you wrap it really good and refrigerate it until you have to deliver it. The refrigerating it should help the icing to kind of set things and hold them better. Have you seen the directions on here(CC) for refrigerating or freezing cakes that have fondant on them? I have seen the cakes after and they looked really good. Unless you did something wrong in your support or your balance is off on the ship's end you should be good to go. I know that sometimes I have the same thoughts about my cakes. I would take an emergency kit with you and leave early. If something happens then you will have something to fix it with and the time to do it. I am betting that you are good to go. I do not know which end is the bow end and which is the starboard end, but I know the terms(I think) and so I am not any better off then you are not knowing the terms. Best wishes.

Thanks, Jules, for the tips.
I don't like to refrigerate cakes. The condensation as they are warming up is a real problem in my humid area. Mine is mainly bc. I checked it this morning, and the crumb coat set up nicely, and the whole cake seems a little more stable.
And my repair/emergency kit is already half packed! I don't leave home without it.

Latest dilemma: my husband has been vomiting all night. He has a tricky stomach, so this happens sometimes. I don't think I'm catching anything. I'm thinking I'll call my DIL and tell her to buy cupcakes to eat. I'll finish the cake, but it may just be for display: I'm not sure anyone should eat it.

I'll let you guys know how it all turns out.
Thanks again for the help.

Well, Vicky and others, I'm done!
I uploaded it to Flickr; here's the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hjscakes/6313763190/in/photostream

It turned out pretty sturdy so I'm not quite as worried about the transport as I was previously. The impression mat didn't work so well, so I just used my airbrush. I made a stencil and used it to make the board patterns. I touched it up a little with a paint brush.

I pass the baton to you, Vicky.
Can't wait to see what you do with fondant.

Poohsmomma, I just took a look at your cake and I am really impressed. You did a beautiful job and I so admire your BC skills. I have been following this thread on the off chance I might make a pirate cake, myself. I've printed out tips and pictures and am just waiting for the right opportunity to come along. All of the suggestions and commentary will really be helpful then.
Once again, congratulations!

Jan

Poohsmomma, I just took a look at your cake and I am really impressed. You did a beautiful job and I so admire your BC skills. I have been following this thread on the off chance I might make a pirate cake, myself. I've printed out tips and pictures and am just waiting for the right opportunity to come along. All of the suggestions and commentary will really be helpful then.
Once again, congratulations!

Jan

Poohsmamma: Was your husband in the areas that you were working on the cake when you were working on it? I don't think that there should really be a problem if he wasn't. If you aren't sick and displaying any symptoms of sickness that would transfer to the cake. It would be sad to see that amount of cake go to waste. What do you do if your husband gets sick and you are doing a cake for someone else? Do you start all over? I mean if You were sneezing or coughing while doing the cake and didn't step away that would be one situation where I would say the cake probably did need to be a display only, but If you yourself are not sick and you wash your hands and make sure that everything is clean when you are working on it there shouldn't be a problem. You did a fantastic job on that cake and I think it would be perfectly safe to cut and eat.

Milkmaid, thanks. It was really fun to do, especially since it was for my grandson.

Jules, I'm not worried any more about a virus. Took my husband to the dr. yesterday, they did an x-ray of his lower abdomen. Seems he was just incredibly constipated, lol. (I can laugh about it; he was in abject misery) Seems everything he ate had to come back up because it couldn't get through the other way. So, he has gotten straightened out-thanks to Mr. Fleet, and Dr. Miramax-, and the cake is ready to get eaten. We had a family reunion in the x-ray waiting room. My DIL was there with my 18 month old granddaughter who was getting checked to see if she had pneumonia. (She didn't-just broncitis) It was a crazy day. That's why I didn't have quite all the details I had planned for my cake. Just couldn't get it all done.

Thanks again Jules for your help.

Oh poohsmama!!!!

I can't get over how wonderful your cake is!!! Now I am getting even more nervous and verging on scared! Lol! Not so sure I will be displaying my cake here anymore! Hahahahhaha! It certainly won't be anywhere near as good as yours I'm sure!!! Loved your sails btw! How did you end up doing those??

Ok my iPad battery about to run out but will comment more later tonight!!! Great great job! You should be very proud of that cake!

Best,

Vicky

Vicky,
Thanks, and I've seen your cakes. You certainly have nothing to hide!
The sails are fondant. I dried them on various mugs/jars to get the shape. I wrapped the top over a straw (while still soft, of course). I then ran a wire through the straw, made a loop, and put it over a thumb tack I hammered into the dowel I used for a mast.

And, yes, Vicky, you will share your cake with us.

I just got back from the party. We had lots of kids and lots of fun. Nap time.

Thanks again,
Helen Jo

Hi everyone!!

Well... a ton of work and sleepless nights (literally!) - though that's perhaps because I'm slower than everyone else here? lol! .. and it's done and dusted! I've put a pic in my gallery... looking back.. there are definitely things I would have done differently... but you live and you learn, huh? Thanks to you all for all your amazing help, advice, tips, inspiration... you're amazing!

Now... I can sleep!! zzzzzzzzz... lol!

Best,

Vicky