Ride 'Em Cowboy.... Hat

There is an absolutely wonderful gal, she also likes ska music. We skank it up at the shows, and I think she is cool. This girl asked me to make a cake for her Dad, and I was most pleased to oblige.

After much discussion, and several ideas, she decided on a simple cowboy hat, for her  paternal urban cowboy. I thought this would be an fabulous opportunity to try the velvet chocolate spray I have coveted for so long. So I got busy making an extra lemony cake, and fresh strawberry Italian butter cream. put the cake together, carved up a shape and covered it in fondant.

I put the cake in the fridge overnight to set up, and when I pulled it out the next day the fondant was moist, this is common. I was so excited to try out my new chocolate velvet spray that i went ahead anyway. to be honest I was so excited about my velvet spray that i coated my finger in the Quizina parking lot before i even got it home. Anyway, for those of you who do not know, chocolate and moisture are not  buddies. They do not get along at all. So when I sprayed the moist fondant with chocolate, it cracked and was terrible. You would think this would be a lesson learned.... but no. I was tired and frazzled, and I did it again. peeled off all the fondant, and recovered it. sprayed t again...cracked again. I thought, maybe the cake is too cold, if i torch it abit the chocolate will blend. (this is when I should have walked away, but NOOOO I'm too stubborn) I lit my torch and the whole cake went up in a giant ball of flame. Seriously I almost had a heart attack. i put it out no problem, but yikes! mental note, aerosols stay flammable for afew minutes.  So as my comedy of errors continued, i peeled off the fondant again. and recovered the cake. this fairly simple cake was making me feel completely defeated. finally I decided the velvet spray, as cool as it is, was perhaps not the medium I should work with in this situation. So I pulled out my air brush. I just said i needed practice right? I can't believe I'm sharing all these humiliating details of how daft i was. All part of the process, you have to make mistakes to learn and grow.... that's what i keep telling myself

Luckily I got it on the first try, I was able to get the texture and depth I wanted with the airbrush. Of course most of my kitchen was now brown, but I learned several valuable lessons. And when my lovely friend arrived to pick up her cake, she was thrilled, and i forgot about he tears, the frustrations, and the aggravation .I was just happy she liked it. 

I know what you're thinking....where are the pics of the velvet chocolate? well I was too RAWR-Y to take any pics. but the good news is, that I have to get some more for Momma D to play with, So I will eventually try again... and take pics 8) stay tuned...