I am going to make a tug boat cake for the groom and have never made something like this before (groom actually built this boat from scratch). They want it made out of carrot cake with a cream cheese icing. I have included a couple of pictures for reference.
Here's what I am thinking - make the base of the boat out of the carrot cake, the cabin out of rice krispy treats. Once I have the cake baked and frosted with the cream cheese icing, I should cover it with the colored fondant - do you think this will work? How do I shape the edges of the boat so they are rounded like the picture? With cake, or with the rice krispy treats? or with something else?
I don't think I am going to be able to find the string of signal flags to use, so what should I make those out of? I am going to look for sugar letters to spell out the name on the back - "Little Toot" .
How far in advance of a Saturday wedding can I make this? I am thinking Sunday previous to Saturday wedding, since I am also making the wedding cake (Wednesday through delivery on Saturday)
Any and all suggestions and guidance appreciated!
scratch carrot cake is not my favorite choice for a sculpture -- add in cream cheese icing that has to be handled correctly because it is hazardous and this is not the best recipe combination for you to sculpt and especially for the guests at the wedding --
if you use a boxed mix carrot cake that will hold together better than a scratch carrot cake -- you would have a better chance -- and i mean i've used crazy fillings for topsy turvy cakes -- whipped cream and strawberries , thick fruity fillings etc. but for a catering job serving families and friends coming together you have a greater responsibility to make it safe first --
if you do go with scratch carrot cake be sure you squeeze the juice out of the shredded carrots first and here is an alternate faux cream cheese icing that tastes as good and is shelf stable -- plus cream cheese icing under fondant may not be the best choice performance wise either --
https://www.cakecentral.com/recipe/61811/white-balsamic-american-buttercream
but depending on how big you make it you could almost bake it in an oval pan and trim it a bit -- or you could bake it a rectangle pan and sculpt it from there -- when you put the rounded pieces of trim around the tug is when you will see the definition there -- you could almost use red & black licorice ropes -- i think the rkt idea is good one for the cabin -- and the flags you could even make out of paper or cloth and sting them up or you could use fondant if you wanted -- it's a cute project a cute tug boat -- can't believe he made it!
what is that white thing strapped across the front -- nets?
I agree with everything -K8memphis said, starting with carrot cake and cream cheese frosting are not good choices for a sculpted cake. I think you should talk them into something more sturdy, like pound cake or kakeladi's Original White Almond Sour Cream Cake, but great choices for carving.
The wheel house could be made of RKT's or, due to the shape, could easily be made of cake, as well. For the flags and even the name of the boat, you can have edible images made, printed on sugar sheets or wafer paper. You should be able to find the flags on line. There are places on line where you can order edible images, but our local Walmart will do them for you at a very reasonable cost. Just provide pictures in the size you need and they will print them for you.
It is a really cute boat and will make a really cute cake.
Oh.....for a carved cake, I would use ganache instead of buttercream, under the fondant for greater stability.
............use a boxed mix carrot cake that will hold together better than a scratch carrot cake ............
Yes the *original* WASC cake recipe is a good choice: https://www.cakecentral.com/recipe/7445/the-original-wasc-cake-recipe and can be made into a nice carrot cake with few extra additions. I have used either a carrot or spice mix as the starting point, add the extra ingredients in the recipe PLUS: a jar of baby food carrots and one or two large grated fresh carrots - more if using a spice mix. I prefere to use pineapple jam for the filling instead of adding pineapple into the cake itself. You can also add raisins & nuts (Not a good idea in the cake if sculpting.) but in the fillig if you want &/or mix in some cr ch b'cream.
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