Baby Crib Cake...for a baby shower!

This Crib Cake was one of the most special cakes I have seen or made until now :-) 

My friend S had seen my graduation cupcakes on the blog and she loved them so much that she asked me if I could bake a cake for a baby shower that she and her friends were throwing for their good friend and neighbor who is expecting their second baby in June. 

I was more than happy to oblige and the only requirement was that they wanted a quarter sheet cake, the flavor and theme was left to me. S had mentioned that the couple did not know the gender of their to-be-born , so I had to think of a neutral theme. 

The baby shower was on May 12th , I'm so late in posting this I know, but I had a lot of things going on, which you'll see in subsequent posts...so read on !!

Trust me, I have never given so much thought into anything I have done until now. The idea for a Crib cake came to my mind one day after I was returning home from work ;-) . 

My main inspiration was from this video on youtube. I literally lost sleep thinking of different ways and methods to get this cake done. :-)

I just couldn't fix on a design for the crib sheet and comforter until the last minute. I knew the theme should be neutral, but I din't want to use Pink-Blue or Yellow-Green combos, very very common. Finally I saw an actual crib sheet design online with Lavendar-Brown and I thought, that would look unqiue and different and I must say, it was just perfect.

Also, this is my first try ever at making a Fondant cake and that too with homemade Marshmallow fondant (recipe below), which tastes absolutely yummm. Ok, so theme was ready , I knew I would use fondant, now all that was left was a killer cake flavor that everyone would remember. 

I found one at my most favorite baking site, a Chocolate Banana cake (recipe here) and I used Chocolate buttercream frosting (recipe here), which was a super duper hit at the baby shower...Hurray!! 

The whole cake decoration was a mathematical situation! My cake size was 9 x13 x 2 inches. I had to take measurements to roll the fondant such that the fondant would be atleast 2 inches more than the cake width, length and height. I used different cutters to give the polka dot design and heart shapes for the bed skirt and the teddy bear on the comforter.

I also threw in some cute little baby feet candy around the Crib Cake :-)

My darling husband offered to help with the crib railings and he measured and drew the beautiful railing shape on 3 sheets of paper and stuck them on our table and placed a parchment sheet over the drawing so that I could trace over it. How sweet :-) The crib railings were made using melted dark cocoa flavored candy melts.

These railings were the most delicate and difficult portion of the cake. They did break twice or thrice, but I glued it back on with more candy melts, Phew!!!

The Donald and Daisy on top were added at the last minute. I wanted to make a teddy bear, but my skills at that were quite limited :-) So i decided maybe a small puppy or teddy bear would be cute and also a nice gift for the couple to remember the cake for years to come, and was I glad I found these 2 cuties at Toys R Us, and the Daisy doll literally matched the color of the cake... :-)

The Crib Cake was a absolute hit at the shower. Everyone, specially the children were all really happy with the cake and it was over within seconds of cutting the cake. Too bad there were no seconds ;-) They loved the taste of the fondant too.

Here are few snaps taken on my mobile from just before and after the cake cutting.

I forgot to take my camera in all the hurry , so here's a snap taken by the father-to-be :-) and isn't it just lovely. 

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant Recipe 

You'll need

Marshamallow - one 10oz bag (you can also use mini marshmallows)

Confectioners or Powdered sugar - 1lb (4cups) + extra if needed

Water - 2 tblsp

Vegetable shortening (optional) - to grease work area and hands [ I did not use this ]

Directions:

1. In a large microwave safe bowl , add 2tblsp water and the entire pack of marshmallows and heat on High for 1 minute or until marshmallows begin to puff up and melt.

2. Stir the marshmallows until a thick paste is obtained.

3. Add powdered sugar into the bowl and stir until the sugar and marshmallows are somewhat mixed together.

4. Over your kitchen counter spread some powdered sugar and add the marshmallow-sugar mixture here and knead continuously until a smooth dough is obtained. 

(You may use vegetable shortening to grease your kitchen counter and also your hands , so that the dough does not stick to your hands, but I skipped this).

5. Wrap your fondant in cling wrap immediately, coated with some powdered sugar or shortening and keep it aside for sometime. Before using, again knead until soft and use as needed.

[ I used Wilton Icing gels to incorporate color into the fondant wherever required ]

To color the fondant:

1. Take the required amount of fondant and using a toothpick or coffee stirrer add some coloring gel into the fondant and knead well until the desired color has spread across the entire fondant ball.

This recipe for fondant is a keeper and I already made two cakes using it and everyone loves the taste. Try it out.

So what do you think of my Crib Cake? Do let me know. Also come and join me on Facebook , we'll have lots of fun sharing, learning and eating some yummy food and creative cakes ;-)

Hope you all had a lovely Memorial Day weekend!! Enjoy!

-Manju