Contrary to last year, where I had a free range to make a unicorn cake topper, this year the theme of her birthday party was “Moana”. This was by far the most complex topper I’ve ever made, but I’m glad with how it turned out. And so was Mila, which of course is the most important thing.
I tried to defy gravity again but this time I focused very much on a strong base structure. Each time, just adding part of the Moana figurine spread over two days made the world of difference.
I used a combination of an image of Moana staring at the edge of the water (water) with a YouTube video of a much more experienced fondant sculpter. Especially for things like the hair and the clothing, this tutorial was very helpful.
Like the previous years, I wanted to try a new technique. This year, I tried piping butter cream icing for the first time. Kim had the great idea to blend shortbread cookies to use as sand — we used royal icing to make it stick — and I wanted to also create a nice looking ocean. YouTube there again was my friend.
It turns out it was one of the easier first tests with icing as you can be quite messy. After the same stressy drive to the venue of the birthday party — you are never as aware of the bumps in the roads around your neighbourhood as when you’re transporting fragile things — we got to enjoy an amazing party with a bunch of Mila’s friends.
Here are some pics of the progress and the final result.