Sunflower Cake

It was my mom's birthday a few weeks ago and instead of the usual buttercream icing and HAPPY BIRTHDAY scrawled with an unsteady hand I wanted to create something a little more special than my previous cakes...
This sunflower cake was the answer! 

It looks complicated but really, it was tedious moreso than difficult. I've broken it down into the different elements below so you can re-create the look yourself.

1. Covering the cake

After crumb coating the cake (covering with a thin layer of buttercream) I allowed it to stand. I then rolled out white fondant and covered the cake.

    2. The Petals

I rolled out yellow fondant and used a large tumbler and a champagne flute to cut a large circle and a smaller one within the first. I removed the smaller circle and using an ordinary table knife cut out the petals freehand. (I'm sure there's an easier way of doing this, but it worked for me!) I did this twice so I would have loads of petals at my disposal.

The petals should be shaped like the image below [which I found on Google Images, credit to owner] so if you have a shaky hand you could use this as a template.

    3. The Stamen (Middle)

For this, I used the tumbler to cut a disc from rolled brown (chocolate flavoured!) fondant. I poked holes in it with a flower tool I had, but a toothpick/cocktail stick would work just as well. This added some texture to the stamen.

   4. The Grass

I rolled some green fondant and cut out a long rectangle. I then cut a zig-zag line down the middle of the rectangle, without cutting through the rectangle outline. I separated these and voila, two strips of grass!

Adhering these pieces was easy, I just dabbed some buttercream onto the cake. I placed all of the petals in a circle (overlapping some to add texture) and placed the stamen in the centre.

To make the cake shine I took a pastry brush and rubbed some vodka over the different elements. As always, I finished the cake by piping "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" with gold piping gel from International Home of Cooking in Brussels.

I hope you enjoyed going behind the scenes in my latest foray into the world of fondant! Apologies for the lack of photos, I was under pressure to produce this! ;) But was it tasty? What do you think?...

Fancy hosting a sunflower-themed party? This fab dessert table will definitely inspire you!

I guess this cake is really a last hurrah of summer. Today for the pulsating All-Ireland Hurling Final I made a lovely Autumn cake that I'll share with you soon... Just in time for the replay! REBELS ABU!!! (For the non-Irish check this out!)

Stay sweet! x