I originally made this cake for my daughter’s 2nd birthday, a butterfly-themed affair we called “Tykki-dyw is Turning Two.” (My daughter’s nickname is Tykki-dyw, which means “butterfly” in Cornish.) This cake is time consuming, but not difficult, and the end result is so impressive! I was originally inspired by a Peggy Porschen design, and adapted it to suit my needs and the materials I preferred to use.Materials Needed:
Cake base
Cakes
Cardboard cake rounds
Straws
Two batches of buttercream
Approximately 10lb fondant (8lb of which is made into fondant roses and leaf shapes)
Spatula
Long wooden dowel
Royal Icing (in piping bag, preferably)
Food Coloring
Artificial butterflies
Step 1, Plan the Size of the Cake:
Step 2, Make Fondant Roses:
Step 3, Stack Cakes:
The cake won’t look pretty at this point, and that’s ok! Forge ahead.
Step 4, Carve the Cake:
Sharpen a long wooden dowel with a pencil sharpener, and push it down the center of the entire cake. Cut off any excess wood that pokes out of the top of the cake. The only reason we’re doing this is to add stability, both when you carve the cake into the cone shape, and when you have to move the finished cake.Use a large serrated knife to cut off excess cake, creating a cone shape. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just get the general shape. Keep all those delicious cake scraps to feed the family or make cake balls.
Step 5, Crumb Coat:
Coat the entire tower of cake with buttercream icing. This is called the crumb coat, and as you can see, it’s messy. Once again, you don’t have to make it pretty or perfect. This just seals the cake and gives the fondant something to stick to.Step 6, Cover with Fondant:
Color remaining fondant to match your darker roses. Roll fondant out, and cover the cone of cake. I’m like a broken record at this point, but it doesn’t have to look great, really! You can see in the photo how I didn’t quite roll the fondant wide enough and had to do a patch job. It’s all going to get covered. This is not the time to worry about how the cake looks.Step 7, Add Roses:
Use royal icing (colored to match your roses) to attach the roses to your tower of cake. Once all the flowers are placed, use royal icing or clear piping gel to fill in any gaps with the fondant leaves. Insert butterflies (found at any major craft store) so that they give the appearance of swarming around the cake.I finish off all my cakes with a spray of
Super Pearl Luster Spray and a sprinkle of disco dust edible glitter to give my cakes a little extra sheen and sparkle. It adds the perfect finishing touch, and makes the cake look much more professional.
This cake is time consuming, yes, but it’s actually much easier to make something busy and completely covered like this look great than a supposedly “simple” cake. Have an imperfection in the fondant? Stick a rose on it! Indented the fondant with your finger? Stick a rose on it! And remember my favorite mantra in cake decorating: every cake has a back. It’s a great comfort when things aren’t going quite according to the plan in my mind!
ibeeflower says
Wow! What an awesome tutorial. I have seen this cake before and have ALWAYS wondered how this could be done. Do people pick off the dry roses? Also, how do you unstack to cut? Genius!
Thank you for this tutorial. It is simply astounding.
Nikki @ Tikkido says
I just kind of hacked at it from the top with a large serrated knife and cut my way down. 😉 Most adults tend to leave the roses behind, most kids tend to eat them.
Frog Prince Paperie says
SImply amazing! This is one of my favorite cakes ever–definitely too pretty to eat. 🙂
Meegan Fast says
Wow! Wow! and Wow!! Cake is amazing and everything else is incredible!!
Great job.
Meegan
What Meegan makes
Rachel M. says
Did you make your own fondant or buy it? If you bought it, what kind did you buy? I’m always looking for a good fondant that is actually not terrible tasting. I think Wilton’s is terrible! 🙂
Also, does the luster spray stay wet long enough for the disco dust to stick as you sprinkle it on?
Thanks! This cake is so beautiful.
Kari Sweeten says
Nikki,
This cake is “jaw-dropping” gorgeous! I’m amazed at the detail and talent that went into this. Thank you very much for being our guest!!
Danielle says
Nikki-
Your cake is absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Becky Marie says
LOVE IT! Truly beautiful cake!
Amy T. says
Truly beautiful cake