Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s over, and it rocks!
As you might remember from my January 14th post, "Ace of Cakes Goes to School," my older son was about to embark on a 4th-grade right of passage for all Californians: the California Mission model. Because my son is a huge fan of cooking shows, and especially shows like Ace of Cakes and the Food Network Challenges, he made the decision to do his model as a cake.
Four pound cakes, seven batches of Rice Krispy treats, and a pound of fondant later, a masterpiece was born. The final product, plus construction pictures, video, and other information await in the extended post.
We won’t keep you in suspense if you just want to see the final product. So here, for comparison, is an illustration from the Mission’s website, next to the finished project:
The cake is the one on the right.
The basic construction includes pound cakes for the body of the church, and Rice Krispy treats for the bell tower, buildings around the courtyard, and other details. Pretty much everything is covered in fondant, a dough-like substance that can be rolled-out thin, and stretched over the parts. Plus, all the faux terra cotta roof tiles are also made from cut fondant.
We started by mixing and baking the major structural elements.
Next, we rolled out some fondant, and cut out all the pieces we’d need for roof tiles.
We then took the tile pieces and some of the RK treats to our local bakery, Amia Bakery in Fremont, CA, where they let my son use their air brush to color them.
Finally, with everything ready, it was time for assembly:
As of last Tuesday, it was submitted, and now we just wait for the grade. Of course, if it was up to me, he’d get an A+.
