Good evening all. I absolutely love this beautiful cake and would like to use it as an inspiration piece. Just wondering if some of you experienced decorator's can tell me the best way to create that soft, marbled pink color and also what is the best way to do the branches. I am VERY new to decorating so please have mercy and be detailed! lol

a picture of what you are talking about would help tons....

well now there is a picture... there wan't earlier.. honest

add some pink color to white fondant but don't completly mix it... just until it is marbled like you want. I would do the branches in RI.... very pretty and good luck

Should be showing....

Sorry, I should have said I'm still trying to master using buttercream and haven't moved up to fondant. Can it be done using BC icing?

I have tried fondant once..very hard for me but first time using it would make sense since I had NO idea what the heck I was doing! lol It looked easy on TV so my daughter and I walked out to the kitchen and went at it. This is the picture of the end result!...NOT a pretty sight!
Actually I do look forward to working more with it but would like to work at my skills getting very smooth buttercream icing first...like as smooth as Tonedna's if you've seen hers on here...she's amazing! But I'm excited about moving to fondant. Hardest part was figuring out how to roll it then smoothing out the wrinkles and the bottom.

i know this cake and who made it, she is on flickr and might help if you pm'd her ? but i would say the marbled effect is due to mixing pink into white fondant, but not mixing thoroughly...i would also use r.i for the branches, or cut out black fondant. hope this helps x

Thank you for your advice. Is there a reason to use Royal icing instead of buttercream? I haven't worked with RI yet. I am starting wilton course 2 next week so we will be introduced to it then.

I think that the pink looks more like it was stippled on, like a faux finish on a wall...maybe using a crumpled paper towel?

SugarGal...do you know if she uses this board?

you can marble your bc, just dont mix in the colour properly. probably not the same look, but probably as close as you will get. (you could always be kinder to yourself, and just make the teir completly pink)
im pretty sure it would just creat mess trying to sponge on bc, even if it is well crusted.

you could also do the branches in bc if you want. i think ri just looks a bit more 'real', and it is easy to use.
xx

Thanks ya'll! I appreciate all your advice!

You can get a marbled look in bc very easily. Apply the bc using just a base color (we'll say white for this cake). Smooth it, but don't be worried about it being perfect. Before it crusts, put some of the pink frosting in a piping bag and drizzle it on the surface of the cake. Then, use your spatula and continue the smoothing process. Play around with it and you'll learn how long you can smear it around and smooth it to get the proper marbling effect. If you do it too much, the pink with just blend in and look smooth. It's something you just have to attempt a few times to understand.

Rose...you are a wealth of information for me! I will play with that and see if I can achieve that effect...