Not just a weekend but a week of baking...! - Drum Kit Cake

This cake has had to be one of my biggest challenges, with many obstacles thrown in along the way. I am pleased with the final result, but it's a long way from where the design first started! Unfortunately I have only taken pictures of the finished cake and not the stages along the way to show how the design has evolved (read changed beyond all recognition!) This has probably been the most stressful cake I have ever had to produce, so now I am just praying that it tastes amazing to make up for it.

The original brief was for a drum kit cake, complete with base drum, snare drum, high-hat and cymbals and all of the other elements that come with a drum kit. I created detailed lists and notes for the bake, and was fairly confident that it would all go to plan. The other element that had to be taken into account was the fact that the cake would have to travel and be assembled at the venue and some pieces would have to be suspended on dowels in mid air, everyone loves gravity-defying cake!

I started with the decorative elements such as the cymbals and made sure that they would stand up and be substantial enough for decoration, but it was when I got to the cake part that everything went decidedly pear shaped.

The base drum was supposed to be red velvet cake, however when I removed the greaseproof paper from around it, the reaction between the bicarb and the vinegar had been particularly fierce and had created huge pockets of air, so the cake collapsed. 

To make the individual drums I had made miniature chocolate cakes and cut them to the correct sizes. However, when I started to fill and cover them with a mint buttercream, they crumbled and disintegrated as soon as I touched them, and soon I had nothing but some very sticky lopsided towers (it's not a good look!)

So, surveying the carnage that covered my kitchen, I decided to start again, this time on a single base drum with decoration. I made two chocolate sandwich cakes and filled them with mint buttercream. I covered the cake in white fondant and then cut out a black circle for the top. It needed to be a Pearl drum kit, so I found a logo and hand painted it on to the circle, adding a 50 and the name in fondant letters. Whist I left it to dry I added the drum decoration in grey fondant, then once dry I painted it all silver. I attached the circle to the top and then added the back to the black base board, attached the letters and stuck on the ribbon.

I have to admit it has knocked my confidence slightly in that despite planning it still didn't work, but these things are definitely sent to try us. I'm looking forward to the next challenge to show myself that I can do it! Just please let it be something flowery...!