A Weekend of Baking...Tropical gerbera birthday cake

Once I had baked both cakes (Victoria sponge with strawberry jam and chocolate mud cake with white chocolate icing) I covered them in white fondant and left them to rest. I then measured the top tier and drew out my design for the polka dots, taking into account the size of the spots, the spacing from the top of the cake and the width of the ribbon.

Once I was happy with the design I then wrapped the greaseproof collar around the cake and transferred the design using a pokey tool.

I cut out my fondant spots using my smallest round plunger cutter and then stuck them on one colour at a time to ensure they were all in the correct place.

I was originally going to stick my gerberas on to the cake using just royal icing, but when I picked one up and felt its weight, I realised the icing probably wasn't going to support the weight. Luckily the gerberas were not completely set hard, so I managed to push cocktail sticks into the bases which I could then secure into the cake with royal icing for support.

You can see the finished polka dot tier in the background.

To finish the bottom tier I cut lots of coloured stripes and let them dry slightly before attaching.

I then used sugar glue to attach each stripe, and then cut them to length with a knife once they were attached to make sure they were flush with the top of the cake.

Here you can see the completed and dowelled tier without its ribbon finish. 

When I assembled the cake I stacked the polka dot tier on top of the striped tier and added all of the ribbon in complimentary colours to the fondant colours chosen.

When it came to placing the gerberas on top, I didn't want to have them flat as I thought this wouldn't really do them justice. I made a cone of white fondant and stuck this to the top of the cake, then arranged the gerberas leaning up against it. To cover the cone I used the remainder of the polka dots scattered down the sides to add a little more decoration.

I attached the gerberas to the sides of the cake with a dab of royal icing on the back then pushing them in using the cocktail sticks, which held them perfectly secure.

I was really happy with the finished cake and was lucky enough to see this one cut and even got to sample a bit at the party, which was fantastic. I'm so glad the couple loved it as much as I enjoyed making it.