Friday, January 18, 2013

blue whale baby shower cake



My cousin Yvonne asked me to make a cake for her baby shower a few months ago, and of course I was happy to do it!  We decided on a vanilla cake filled with fresh whipped cream and strawberries, with a blue whale on top (inspired by her current favorite emoticon).  After doing a quick sketch of the whale, I also decided to do blue ombre petal sides on the cake, to resemble waves.


For the vanilla cake, I decided to use the same Sweetapolita recipe that I had used for my son's Spiderman birthday cupcakes this year, except for an 9-inch cake instead of cupcakes.


Once the cake layers were baked and cooled, I whipped up a batch of fresh whipped cream flavored with a hint of vanilla, and also a batch of cream cheese buttercream, which I used to pipe a border to contain the whipped cream.


After filling the piped border with whipped cream, I arranged freshly sliced strawberries in an even layer, and then covered it with more whipped cream.


Then I added my second layer of cake, and then did a quick crumb coat with the cream cheese buttercream.


Then came the fun part - the ombre petal sides!  A while ago I found a great tutorial at Hungry Housewife, and since then have done a purple ombre petal cake, an all-blue petal cake, and a camoflauge petal cake as well!  They are so much fun to do!


Next, I divided my frosting, colored, and filled my piping bags (fitted with a Wilton #12 tip), and then I was ready to do my petal sides.



Then I was ready to pipe my whale.  I started by piping an outline of the whale, then added eyes and the fins, and then filled it in using a star tip.


Then I added a dotted stream of water coming out of his spout, and a congratulatory message to finish it off!


Baby Ethan was born about a month later, healthy and happy!  Isn't he adorable? :) Congratulations Yvonne!



14 comments:

  1. that handwriting is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, this cake is super cute! Just like this nice little baby :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @IFeelCook - thank you! and i've got three more baby shower cakes to post about too! :)

      Delete
  3. Great cake and technique with the buttercream. I've always loved the petal cakes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks @Chineka ! :) i really love petal cakes as well!

      Delete
  4. I love this! How adorable. Cute cake for a cute baby! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. The wave design on the side of the cake is so clever! I really adore it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love this!! Thanks for linking the tutorial; it was so helpful. I plan to try this for an upcoming baby shower. Question: Which color of blue did you use? I LOVE it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @mlgarwood - thank you! i believe i used americolor soft gel paste food coloring in "sky blue", and to get the darker blue i used "sky blue" with just a tiny bit of "royal blue". hope that helps!

      Delete