Wii Cake II: Redemption

[grav_ity]

A year and a half ago, I made a cake in the shape of a Wii. I did this without ever having ACTUALLY SEEN a Wii, and with only general knowledge of how to build a cake (it was my second cake, I think, and the first one after I got home from Korea). It was kind of a train wreck. I ran out of icing. I didn't have black icing dye, so the grey base was really more like puke. I didn't trim the edges, so it wasn't flat and that made it nearly impossible to decorate.

But the cousin I made it for loved it, and his little brother loved it even more, so when I asked him what kind of cake he'd like for his birthday, he requested a Wii Cake. I decided to use the opportunity to improve myself.

This time, I made much more icing. I also used thinner layers of cake, so the cake was eight layers off the base instead of three. I used a piece of cardboard in the middle to give it stability. And I had all the right colours.





Here we are, all constructed (and half iced, actually, though this is obviously the un-iced side). It's still a bit slope-y, thanks to mum's very un-level pans, but it's much more solid than it was the first time!



And here we are all iced and decorated. The internet was down, so I was once again without a picture of a Wii...but I think you get the general idea. ;)



I have no idea why everyone loves the controller so much.



Redemption!

+++

BONUS CUPCAKES!!!

When "What's New Cupcake?" came out, I went to Chapters and cried when I saw the Chinese Take-Out page. Then I called Rachel and invited myself to her house so we could make them.





SERIOUSLY!

Also, I made a tiny model of the Appa Cake using cake scraps. If I'd had the white icing made at that point, I totally could have done it up, but I didn't, and I ate it before I did. ;) But you get the general shape.



*hearts cake*

Comments

[laura-josephsen.livejournal.com]

First of all, the Wii looks AMAZING. I love how you did this controller as opposed to last year's controller.

Second, OH MY GOSH YOU MADE THE CHINESE CUPCAKES THEY LOOK FANTASTIC!!

Third, LITTLE APPA!!!!! ALSO LOOKS FANTASTIC, even without frosting!!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

OH, DELICIOUS APPA!!! ;)

Thanks! It was fun!

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

Since you love baking so much, and you're so good at it, have you considered making a career out of it? Or at least maybe advertising in the paper or on flyers or something and making a few extra bucks here and there by taking on a few projects?

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I have, but the expense/return is a bit higher than I am really interested in. For example, to make money on the Wii Cake, I'd have to charge $50 plus materials. And I still wouldn't make $10/hr, because it took me more than five hours to make.

Also, I am not very good at "pretty" things (flowers, lace, lettering).

Basically, I just love doing it for FUN. ;)

[emmy-roo.livejournal.com]

The coke, maybe - it's hard to make a living on those without a full-on bakery. (And yes, I only know this because I'm obsessed with Cake Boss, or rather my dog is.) (Yes, my dog is really and truly obsessed with Cake Boss. When I put an episode on for her to watch, she stops being clingy and needy and settles down on the sofa to watch, and doesn't even greet my husband when he gets home from work. Obsessed.)

BUT. Those cupcakes look FANTASTIC. And I stalked you clicked on your cake tag and you have made INCREDIBLE gorgeous cupcakes that you could easily sell for a few dollars apiece! Since you're making them anyway, just for the fun of it, it couldn't hurt to advertise a little with some fliers, or just word-of-mouth in 'Loo and among family members. You might not make extra money, but you would have the fun of decorating the cupcakes, plus the joy of seeing other peoples' reactions to them, and you might recoup some of your expenses as well.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

All true. I think right now, however, I need to focus on getting a job that will support me, and then I can have fun. ;)

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, it was worth a thought.

As long as you're having fun! Have to have a hobby, after all, and this is a particularly yummy one. ;)

[emmaorgana.livejournal.com]

OM NOM NOM.

Also, it looks AWESOME.


WEE APPA CAKE.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was SO DELICIOUS! ;)

I had so much fun with this one! Building something and then eating it is THE BEST.

[mingsmommy.livejournal.com]

You are SO talented.

This is the problem I have when icing cut cake, I get crumbs in the icing...how do you prevent that?

Really gorgeous stuff here!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

1. Freeze Cake
2. Use a ludicrous amount of icing
3. Pick out cake bits with toothpick and/or cover with more icing
4. Only ice in one direction (use your fingers if the knife is being "sticky" and picking up the icing as you try to spread it)

...I've heard professionals do this thing called "crumb coating", wherein you do a thin layer of icing, freeze it, and then do the rest, but I find just freezing it works for me.

[mingsmommy.livejournal.com]

I had a teacher show me crumb coating where you add little bit of water to some icing, so it thins it, then do a base coat of icing...it works okay, but not perfectly...I will try the freezzing...thanks!

[morwen_peredhil]

The Chinese take-out cupcakes! Eeeeeeeeeee! :D

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, EH!

[dm-lunsford.livejournal.com]

*is impressed*

[stephdub.livejournal.com]

You're so talented! Seriously, those take out cupcakes look SO GOOD!!!

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Cake. *ponders finding some*

Those cupcakes are awesome. =D