my first tortoise cake

this past weekend, I made a cake for a customer that was challenging, nervewracking, and exciting all at the same time.  When she first called several weeks ago to ask me to make the cake, I was very apprehensive.  I had never worked with fondant, and I had never carved a cake into a shape.  And beyond not having the skills, it wasn't really the type of work that I really want to do long-term.

However, I'm still in a place where I just feel like I don't have the option to turn down any business or new customers.  I wrote her a long email explaining my lack of experience, but told her I would give it a try if she still wanted.  Despite all of my disclaimers, she still decided to go for it.  Then I started getting excited, because it was an opportunity to do something new, and truth be told, she is exactly the kind of customer I need while I am starting out - willing to trust me even though she has absolutely no reason to, and willing to give me a chance even though I'm so green.  Ok, I know part of the appeal is that I still haven't gotten past my "I'm just starting out" pricing structure, but I am raising the prices a little more each order and getting closer to some realistic numbers.  I'm just still struggling with that part and being bold enough and confident enough in my work.  I know I'll get there, I'm just taking my time. 

Luckily I had plenty of time to do some research on a few different techniques and come up with my plan of attack.  Here's what she wanted - two small cakes that look like tortoises.  And not just any tortoises, HER tortoises.  A South American Redfoot and a South African Sulcata, to be exact.  The cake was for her and her boyfriend's first anniversary, and without going into her personal business, she wanted to do something extra special for him because they have been through a LOT in their first year together. 



The reference pictures she sent me - Redfoot on the left, Sulcata on the right

We decided on chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse filling and chocolate buttercream.  Originally I was going to do a chocolate French buttercream because that is my favorite and we all know my aversion to American buttercream, but after doing some of my fondant research, I realized I really needed the sturdiness of the American....sigh.  It was actually pretty good though, still too sweet for me but when all combined, I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Step 1 - six thin layers of cake

Step 2 - Carving

Step 3 - Icing

I ended up using six layers of cake (well, in the middle).  I will say, one of the benefits of carving cake is there are a lot of scraps leftover for taste tests. 

The colors of the tortoises were my biggest challenge by far.  I really struggled trying to get food coloring to make realistic blacks, grays, and browns.  I used gum paste to make the heads, legs, and tails, and I was happier with the coloring on those than in the fondant. 

Finished product

And although I had plenty of constructive criticism for these guys when they were all finished, all in all I was fairly satisfied with the outcome, and pleased with my first attempt at several techniques.  And the only thing that really matters is a happy customer, and she was thrilled and has already promised to call me frequently for more cakes.  I even got to meet the tortoises when I delivered the cake, and they posed for the perfect comparison shot. 



meeting my muses - they dropped their lettuce and came right over to check me out