These cakes were made for MY first GRANDson, Casey, and his beautiful bride, Megan. Casey is a handsome young man who can turn his hand at anything! And he really did good when he snagged Megan!! She is quite a lady, beautiful and smart, and can accomplish anything she puts her mind to! At the time of their wedding, Casey had just joined the Army of the United States, so he chose an Army cake for his Groom’s Cake, and Megan chose RUFFLES for her Bride’s Cake. These were really a lot of fun to do and used some techniques I had not done before, and I ALWAYS love that!!
Jaime (Casey’s Mom, MY first daughter) printed templates of the Army emblem, dog tags, and patch for me and sized them to the measurements I was needing. She made a ruffle to go around the base for the Bride’s Cake out of a rustic burlap lace ribbon and attached it around the edge. She also helped me search for the tools I was looking for to do the letters and stars, and purchased them for me! I did a lot of praying before (and during) that Army emblem and United States flag.
Day 1: Baking Day! Today, I baked two 6-inch, two 8-inch, two 10-inch, and two 12-inch round vanilla cakes for Megan. I also baked one 8-inch square chocolate chip cookie cake and one 9x13 chocolate chip cookie cake for Casey's Army Cake. While they were baking, I made a batch of vanilla Buttercream. After the cakes cooled, I torted and crumb-coated the round cakes with the Buttercream and put a light coat of Buttercream on the chocolate chip cookie cakes. As I did this with each one, I put them in the fridge to firm up.
Day 2: The first thing for today was to put another coat of Buttercream on the chocolate chip cookie cakes and make sure I had a smooth surface for the fondant to go on. Then it went back in the fridge to firm up. Next was more Buttercream on the round vanilla cakes and, of course, back in the fridge. I then rolled white fondant and covered the Army cakes. I used a camouflage vinyl tablecloth, which Jaime had gotten for me, and cut a piece to cover the cake board. I spread a little Buttercream on the cake board to glue the 9x13 cookie cake in place. After this, I glued the 8-inch square cookie cake in place with more Buttercream. I then rolled out some black fondant to 1/8 inch thick and cut strips 1/2 inch wide for the border on both tiers. I brushed a line of water around the base of each tier to make the black fondant border adhere to the white fondant. After I finished covering the Army Cake, I turned back to the Ruffles Bride’s cake. I rolled white fondant and covered all four tiers. Then, I put dowel rods in the bottom three tiers to support the tier above each and stacked Megan’s cakes on the cake base that Jaime fixed with a rustic burlap lace ruffle, which worked beautifully with the decorations. I then put a long dowel through the whole cake to keep it stable. For the shell border around the bottom tier where it met the burlap ruffle, I used a large star tip, then a 104 tip to cover the bottom tier and second tier with ruffles. Then, I put a ruffle border around the base of the top and third tiers.
Day 3: EAGLE and FLAG DAY! I really had to pray about this day before starting! I began with the emblem which I built ON the cake! I used black fondant 1/8 inch thick for the base of the emblem, cut it by Jaime’s printout to get the correct size, and glued it in place with a little water (but not water too close to the edge). Then I did the same thing with yellow fondant, followed by green. I then cut out the letters from yellow fondant and stars from white and set them temporarily in place. Then I had to breathe and PRAY and OH SO CAREFULLY glue them in place with a touch of water on a tiny brush. I used a rope mold and yellow fondant to make the border of the emblem and glued it on by brushing a line of water around the edge and putting the rope in place. Now for the EAGLE, and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!! I started forming the Eagle with white fondant. I used Jaime’s printout to make the size correct. When I had the Eagle formed, I made indentions to separate the feathers and give them character, as well as a realistic look. Then, I used gel coloring to paint the beak, wings, and legs brown, and a blue band at the top of its chest. I then put it aside to dry a little. While that was drying, I made Casey’s dog tags and used plastic letters to make indentions for his name. Then, I painted it silver and put it on a rack to dry. Next was the Army patch. I used a little over 1/8 inch thick black fondant, cut the patch to size using Jaime’s printout, and rounded the edge with my finger. I then used yellow fondant 1/8 inch thick and cut the patch 1/2 inch wide. Then, I centered the yellow on the black and glued it in place with a little water. I quickly used a fondant tool to make an indention where the two colors met, which gave them a puffed look. I also made marks so that it looked like stitched material. Back to the dog tags… I used a very fine brush and black gel color to paint the indentions of the letters and numbers to make them pop! Now to finish that EAGLE! I glued the Eagle on the emblem with a little water. I then formed the “Olive Branch” and “Arrows” by hand out of white fondant and painted them. While they were drying, I formed the feet out of yellow fondant by hand. Then, I cut out the Logo, a circle of yellow fondant and blue fondant with stars cutout so the yellow would show through and glued the Logo in place with a little water. I also made a white rope to go around the Logo. After the Logo was finished, I placed the Olive Branch and Arrows on the Emblem and glued them in place with a little water. I also used a touch of water to attach the feet to the legs and across the Olive Branch and Arrows. Next, I rolled a little blue and red fondant to about 1/16 inch, cut a strip 1/4 inch wide and 3 inches long for the ribbons, and glued them in place. The blue ribbon represents loyalty, vigilance, perseverance, and truth. The red ribbon represents courage, zeal, and fortitude. The final touches on the Emblem was to use my finest brush and paint the Eagle’s eye black and six red stripes on the chest which made the 13 stripes for the Colonies. The last thing was to make the flag!!! At this point I had to have a coffee break and a talk with my Savior!!! I wanted the flag to be a little wavy so it had some life to it and looked more realistic. I rolled out some white fondant to 1/8 inch thick and cut it with a pizza cutter to size. Then I rolled out some blue fondant to 1/16 inch thick and cut it to size for the field of blue, and red fondant to 1/16 inch thick and cut for the strips, and white fondant 1/16 inch thick for the stars. I kept all this covered while I was working. I lay out my white background and put the field of blue and the stripes in place. After which, I used a brush with a little water to glue it all in place. Now, BREATHE and PRAY for a steady hand!!! I put ALL those tiny stars in their place and used a tiny brush to put a dot of water on the back of each star and glued it back in its spot. Then, I glued the Patch and dog tags in their spot. I took a few deep breaths and prayed over this flag again! I brushed a little water on the cake where the flag would touch, then I VERY CAREFULLY lifted it and lay it across the cake so that it would drape and give the effect I was going for. Oh, WHAT A DAY and NIGHT!!!! The roses were added at the wedding.
I will always treasure making these cakes for Casey and Megan. They are very precious to me—my first Grandbaby and his beautiful Bride! It means so much to me that they called on me to create these cakes for their Marriage Celebration!
At the wedding while all the family was visiting and waiting, my first-born son, Rusty, said, “I bet there’s not 50 stars on that flag!”. I said, “I bet the farm there IS!” He counted! “50”!!!
