I love the look of embroidery and had been wanting to try and get that effect on a cake topper for a while. I knew that I wanted to use jimmy sprinkles for the "thread" and possibly have it on a royal icing disk but I couldn't decide on a pattern. I doodled a few designs and then got sidetracked by other recipes and projects and forgot about it all together.
It wasn't until I came across the Polka and Bloom blog that I was remembered the cake idea. She has great designs that are so pretty, modern, and colourful. I wrote to her asking if I could use one of her patterns for a cake topper and she was nice enough to agree (which is good because my own attempts at embroidery patterns for the cake were pretty sad).
I had to go out and buy jimmy sprinkles but I could only find the colours that I wanted in mixed jars. Sorting them was tedious. Normally I don't mind sorting, cutting, and other repetitive tasks that I can do while watching TV... but the sprinkles were hard to pick up and my tweezers had decided to hide themselves never to be seen again. Next time I see single colour jars of jimmies I am buying one of each.
Laying out the actual design was much more fun and I am really happy with how it looked in the end. I plan on trying out another design and taking some step by step photos in case anyone else wants to try making a similar cake.
The cake itself is pink lady cake made with pureed raspberries instead of strawberries and lemon swiss meringue buttercream. The cake was delicious but the icing was not really what I wanted. Cream cheese icing or a sharper buttercream would have been better.
On a completely unrelated but equally sweet note: We have solved our cat-hair-on-the-furniture issue. Wellington sheds like nobodies business and he would literally coat the furniture with fur. Daily vacuuming required.
Not anymore. We gave him a shoebox that he seemed interested in and now he doesn't sleep anywhere else. He has a serious love affair with this slightly too small orange shoe box. We can just pick it up and carry it around and he's happy to sleep wherever it is.
Aww. Cats and cakes (and sunshine..finally) are always a good weekend combo.
Love the cake!! My cat is the same way...he only sleeps in his box, and I can carry it around the house with him just purring away at it.
Posted by: Kat | 11/08/2011 at 05:37 PM
What a unique and beautiful cake! I have to tell you, I have been thinking about entering a decorated cake in our county fair {ours are in January here in Florida} but I was undecided as to a design. I only made it through two Wilton courses before I lost interest in being taught, so I have pretty much zero decorating ability, but I WANT to be good it! Once I saw this idea, I just KNEW that this is what I was going to do!
I hope you do another tutorial or post more about how you did it, any information would be much appreciated! I'll come back and let you know how my contest entry goes!
Posted by: Peach @ idratherbebarefoot | 11/09/2011 at 12:19 PM
LOVE IT! what are the pink strips on the sides?
love the cat too! meow :)
Posted by: Randi Tollner | 11/15/2011 at 12:02 PM
After spending an entire day looking for sprinkles in the right color, I opted for the sorting method AND DIY sprinkle method. The DIY sprinkles are super easy and you can make you own colors.
Try this recipe next time! It may save you some time and sanity! http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/how-to/how-to-make-sprinkles-for-cupcakes-cookies-cakes-138957
Love the cake! Its fabulous.
Posted by: Sarah G. | 11/17/2011 at 10:13 AM
What a lovely cake! I saw it on pinterest.
Posted by: Rachella | 02/05/2012 at 01:25 PM
Very cool idea. I think I will have to try this one. I just love the "It's the Little Things" line. Thanks!
Posted by: Cheap Timberland Boots | 02/17/2012 at 06:43 PM
WOW what art and the kitty is so adorable.
LOVE LOVE LOVE both.
Love Claudie from Canada
xoxoxoxo
Posted by: claudie | 02/24/2012 at 11:14 AM
Cake looks beautiful and the kitty looks sooo cute.
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Posted by: Maria | 08/10/2012 at 01:34 PM
How did u place the sprinkles? A toothpick?
Posted by: D Calloway | 01/19/2013 at 10:57 AM
D Calloway: I used a combination of my fingers and a tooth pick. Tweezers would have been easier
Posted by: Stephanie | 01/19/2013 at 01:39 PM
I love that cake!
Posted by: Imogen Eve | 01/30/2013 at 11:13 PM
Lovely idea! I had to laugh at "jimmy sprinkles". Here in Massachusetts, we have jimmies *and* sprinkles. Sprinkles are always colored sprinkles, and jimmies are only chocolate sprinkles (which we never call chocolate sprinkles, only ever jimmies). Wonder if we got both words from Canada and just separated them later!
Posted by: Amy | 02/05/2013 at 11:42 AM
Love your cake!!
Posted by: Lori Kramer | 03/03/2013 at 03:36 PM
Genius! Both the idea to turn sprinkles into something a little more elegant and the preserving the furniture from cat hair with the clever use of boxes
Posted by: Neko | 07/15/2013 at 05:31 PM
Look's good and the cat is soooo cute!
Posted by: Luteze | 06/14/2014 at 06:48 AM
Love this cake! Looks really beautiful. The cute cat in the box was an unexpected but very cute addition to this blog post. :)
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