This four tier cake features the career accomplishments of the recipient, starting down at the bottom of the cake, as an Airman to his retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel. BRAVO! Job well done Sir!

The American flag was created by cutting alternating stripes of red and white fondant. To keep the fondant from ripping or tearing the stripes were laid down on each tier rather than one solid sheet of fondant down three tiers of cake. To hide the seam this created in between the tiers I rolled out a very long rope of fondant, doubled it over and twisted it as I placed it onto the cake. At the end of each rope I made tiny tassels out of fondant. The rope and tassels were then hand painted with edible gold dust.

As for the stars...well...I actually redid that section like 4 times! At first, I punched the stars out of white fondant and placed them onto a piece of blue fondant. To get the stars pressed into the blue fondant I gently applied pressure with my fondant roller. Then, I cut the pieces into strips. I actually had them laid out onto the cake but then I realized that the stars looked bulbous and not like the real thing. So...I pulled the blue strips off the cake and started again. This time I punched the stars out and placed them onto the blue fondant with just a tad bit of water. Then I gently pressed them in with my finger which looked far better. The stars didn't stretch out this time. However, I cut them into strips again and placed them onto the cake. This is when I realized that was a mistake. I couldn't get the flag to look like material and it looked as if I had cut the union of the flag into strips because of the seams. That's when it occurred to me that the union of the flag needed to be one single piece. So, I took it off the cake and started again. This time, one single piece of blue fondant with stars finger pressed into it but I didn't create the piece big enough to create the flowing fabric look. On take four I got it...YESSSS! My husband says that I am a perfectionist and I always reply "Well, yeah but I'm good at it". LOL!

When I made the AWACS plane I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to incorporate a finished base. The day before I started assembling the cake, I was thumbing through images of the airplane and came across a desktop AWACS model airplane. That's when it occurred to me that this was what I was searching for. The base was created from a 6" half ball that I under-filled with batter. Then I leveled the top off and cut the face of it flat. After some buttercream and fondant, I painted it with a mixture of high grain, clear alcohol and corn syrup. What happens is the alcohol evaporates off and the corn syrup stays in place; creating a shine that won't diminish. Word of warning...once it sets up do not touch it because it will leave fingerprints. To create the lettering on the name plate I bought these tiny stamps from Hobby Lobby. They interlocked so that I could keep the wording straight. After I imprinted his dates of service and name onto a piece of fondant I cut it to size, painted it with edible silver dust and painstakingly hand painted the lettering.

Viloa....C-A-K-E! Well....not just cake but cake art!