Make-a-Cake Series: Gumpaste Crown
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A few posts back I promised I would show you how to make the crown I put on THIS cake.
I have two little girls and I am sure this crown will come in handy over the next few years!
Yay for the princess stage!
Here is the crown I made:
I have a little surprise for you all at the end of the post, so stay tuned.
Supplies:
Pattern:
It’s not a perfectly symmetrical drawing and it’s done in crayon…….but you get the idea right?
click to enlarge
Dust your work area with corn starch and roll your gumpaste out about 1/8 inch thick.
Dust the top of your gumpaste with cornstarch so your pattern will not stick.
Using the small circle cutter, cut out 3/4 of a circle, on each side of the point, to create the distinct point at the top.
Apply a thin layer of shortening to the bottom of you cup and wrap your crown around the bottom of the cup.
Seal the ends together with a little bit of water to make a seam.
Remove the crown from the cup after 1 hour. Let the crown dry on a cornstarch dusted baking sheet for 48-72 hours.
The beads on top were sprinkles I bought at Michael’s, attached with a thin line of buttercream.
And then place the crown on your princess cake, like I did here.
I started cake decorating 18 months ago for fun. I didn’t know I would fall in love with this art.
This was my first cake!
The flowers were awfull, the buttercream is just falling off
You can laugh or wince…I know it’s bad. Ha ha!
Here is my second cake……..a little better, right?
This one I gave to Ashley and she was so sweet to tell me it was amazing!
A truly good friend!
Here is my first fondant cake.
It was ok. It was a start….but look at the purple ‘P’! It makes me laugh!
I remember I was so frustrated that I could not get it to look right.
Again my loving friends gave me support and praise! (Thanks Melissa!)
But we all have to start somewhere right?
I have wanted to show you all where I began.
You don’t get to see my failures, but trust me, they happen!
Hopefully it will inspire you to start.
you are so cute! i can't believe you took pictures and still can remember them in order. you have come a long way with your skills. keep up the good work. i am jealous. thank you so much for making this blog. i love looking at it everyday.
You have come a long way in 18 months. Keep it up and you might be the next cake boss! ;)
I just love what you make! My first fondant cake was my son's birthday cake! Luckily he was only one and can't remember! hahahha! But I had fun making it!
Thanks for sharing all your tips!
Just beautiful! You are a true artist! I, too, took up cake decorating once upon a time. It was right after I made a birthday cake for my daughter and the whole top layer slid OFF….frosting and all. Unlike you….I did not do well even after taking a class. I will stick to oil painting and EAT other people's 'works of art'….
So cute. My daughter told me that I need to make that cake for her birthday. I want to start decorating cakes also. I was wondering if you would be willing to share your buttercream recipe. I've never made it before.
I love your blog!!!! Your first cake reminds me of the cakes my mother would make for us seven children growing up. Thanks so much for sharing it!!
YAY!!! I am SO excited that you posted this! I am making a princess crown this weekend for my daughter's cake, and I was going to wing it! HA! Thank you SO much for sharing your talent with us! BTW-you are seriously awesome…if you can improve that much in 18 months, imagine where you will be in another year or two. You are already incredible. I can't imagine what you will have up your sleeves in the future!
oh man this is adorable! I'd love to start but it looks like so much work and I'd need little people far far away, i love the first cakes too and its good to see improvement.
What recipe do you use for the fondant?
gilchrist- My buttercream source in coming in the next post! One more week. Its just that it is not my recipe but i will tell you all about the one I do use!
Bumspainer- My fondant recipe is in the post "making and coloring fondant" you can find it on the side bar with the list of projects.
Good Luck!!
I love to see the progression of your cake skills. I have tried my first fondant cake this year and it was a disaster – i think i'll just stick to buttercream until I take a class on fondant and gumpaste! Love the tiara cake :)
I love your posts. I made my daughter for her 2 birthday a 2 tier cake and it turned out perfect! My question is where do you get your gum paste? I have looked at craft stores but have not been able to find it.
Thank you for sharing these great ideas! You've come a long way in just 18 months from that first cake! LOL Your cakes and ideas are wonderful!
Kelli- I get mine at Micheals craft store but I know they have it at walmart also. You can always order it from the internet too.
I hope that helps!
This cake is darling! I love that it was inspired by "Fancy Nancy". I made the baby-shower clothes line cake last week, and it was my first fondant cake. It turned out great. I am really wanting to try to do the Yankees Baseball Hat one that you have on your blog. My brother's birthday is next week, and he's a HUGE Yankees fan. Any tips?
You have def come a long way. We all have our moments, but of course it takes time. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
You have def come a long way. We all have our moments, but of course it takes time. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Brittany… I absolutely LOVE your posts! You inspired me to try out fondant for the very first time.. and I'm totally hooked!!! (I actually have pictures up on my blog of it.) Keep the posts coming!
joynn- for the baseball cake I used a half of a sports ball pan for the hat. For the bill I traced the bill of a baseball hat in cardboard (a cake mix box) and then covered the cardboard with gumpaste. I bent it to a bill shape over a cup and let it dry that way.
I hope the helps if you have more questions feel free to e-mail me. brittanyscakeworld.gmail.com
So I wanted to thank you for always sharing all of your great cakes and ideas! You really have inspired me to try new and different things! Now knowing that you started this not very long ago really gives me hope to try it even more! I'm doing a bridal shower and I wanted to try to make my own cute fancy cake! I'll post it for everyone to see (if you dare to check it :) ) Thank you once again!
I was curious how long an average cake takes you to make start to finish? How soon before the event do you start working on the cake?
Natelyn–Oh this is hard question. It really changes with every cake. If there is detail work for a cake (animals, things that stand up, seashells, ect..)I make all that stuff a week before to give it time to dry. Then I cover the cake 1.5 days before the deliver and decorate the night before. It can take anywhere from 10-20 hours for 1 cake.
You really have inspired me Brittany. I made my first fondant cake a few months ago following your instructions and it turned out perfect! I also made the flag cake and again, thanks to your specific instructions, it was great. (I need to upload some of my pictures in the "You made it and loved it" section…) I just started a cake decorating class a month ago and am enjoying it. I only hope I can come as far as you have! Thanks for all your great posts! I too would love your buttercream recipe. Keep the posts coming girl!