“Immortalised in Stone"- My daughter turns one
For my daughter’s first birthday cake, I had drawn inspiration from many places and moments my daughter enjoyed during our recent trip to India in November 2019.
The scenic mustard flower fields of Punjab and Chandigarh need no introduction if you are from India.Easily one of the most vibrant sights we have come across.When we stood by these fields gazing at a million yellow petals swaying in the wind, I was sure about having an impression remade for her cake.
The next vivid memory from the trip was this magnificent houseboat cruise through the backwaters in Kuttanad,Kerala. The patches of green we witnessed have been used as a pop of colour to bring life to my cake. Also my girl wore a lovely yellow dress that day and found herself swaying side to side to Malayalam songs that we played for her. This feeling was something I wanted to recreate in the accents of the cake.
The largest chunk of my girl's cake was inspired by the fort and church ruins in Vasai. Vasai by itself plays as a little extension of Goa with plenty of Portuguese style houses with narrow winding roads around fields. We spent an entire day there and it came as a shock to me when I saw my girl being content with colours that don’t usually attract little ones. If you ever visit Mumbai, plan a day out to drive down to Vasai and you will find yourself happy for the decision you made.
You may argue that this isn't remotely a first birthday cake. It isn't pink or blue, it isn't colourful or vibrant. I had come around to understanding early on that quite a lot of one-year-old babies don't even look at their cakes at the event. They are too young to have an understanding of what day or occasion it is. For them, it is just yet another day of their life. This was just the case with Emira.
My daughter sure sat and finished her slice and asked for another helping( that makes me happy ) This will probably be the last cake that I can design my way for her and in no time she will be dictating what colour or theme goes on her cakes in the years to come.
The major chunk of the cake is finished in an edible stone texture inspired by Vasai fort. Like I mentioned previously, a hint of green from Kuttanad was used to bring in a pop of colour. The torn wafer paper petals depict the mustard flowers from the fields of Punjab.
I wanted to recreate the embellishments found on the church ruins of Vasai fort. Patches of Bas relief touched with edible gold were handcrafted on various portions of the cake making it complete and aged looking.
The Stone cake technique was inspired by the celebrated Artist Jasmine from @jasmineraecakes. Her cakes have a soul and personality of their own and I would urge you to see her gallery.
Many many thanks to Liz @sugargeekshow for busting myths about how complicated this cake is through your tutorial.
I hope you all liked following the story of this cake to the end.