Elmo Cake

This is my first REAL character cake. I was slightly apprehensive about it considering I had never done one before, but I knew I would have to tackle it at some point so it might as well be now! It's a simple vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream. I made the elmo using the "pin-prick" method which was also something I had never attempted. So YAY for trying new things. (sarcasmsarcasmsarcasm) I wasn't really sure this cake was going to happen. I had the most trouble with it. It didn't completely rise the way it's supposed to, the icing was a DISASTER, and the pin prick method...well, it was a learning experience.

Basically you print an image out that you want to use, tape it to a piece of parchment, and poke little holes all around the outline and details of your image. Then, after the icing on your cake has formed a nice crust, you lay the parchment down and slightly push it in. When you remove the parchment, you have a perfectly outlined version of your image. All you have to do then is fill and ice it!

Not as easy as it sounds. First, you really HAVE to use parchment. I'm not sure why I thought wax paper would work but it DEFINITELY DOES NOT. Second, you can't put your cake in the freezer before you lay the parchment on it. You just really cannot do that.

Also, when the power goes out in the midst of making a batch of icing and there's a severe thunderstorm over your house with circling tornados...you should probably expect things to go wrong. (yeah, the power was out for over 3 hours. sucky)

I had some other issues but in the end, it turned out decently. The customer was VERY happy with it, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought. I have a tendency to loathe everything I make.