Lights, camera...cake!

Hello! I wanted to share with you how to make a camera cake!

I made this cake for my friend Si's birthday. His lovely girlfriend Wendy decided she wanted to have a little surprise get together for his birthday and was after a cake that reflected him... he is a photographer and a brilliant one at that, so a camera cake it was!

Here we go...

Firstly I baked a 10 inch square vanilla sponge and then popped it into the freezer overnight, this really helps when you come to cut it to shape as when its defrosted its nice and cold and easier to work with. I then cut it to shape using a photo of Si's make of camera as a guide. This is the crucial stage and one that you should take your time on, as once you have this part right the rest is easy; famous last words!



Once I had it to the exact shape I wanted I filled and covered it with vanilla buttercream; make sure you really cover the whole cake as the buttercream creates the lovely smooth finish of your shaped cake. This is the canvass for your icing so take time and get it smooth and even. I iced the lens of the cake separately to the main body of the camera just because it will be easier when you come to ice it later. I cut the lends out of the sponge using a large circle cutter.






Woooow lens is way too big...


That's more like it, wouldn't want Si to get a big head now!


Now you can add your finishing touches


When you have your finished butter creamed cake, put it into the fridge for about 20 minutes so it forms a 'crumb crust'. Go and make a cuppa... then take your cake out of the fridge and using a palette knife dipped in boiling water smooth your cake.

Take your black sugarpaste and cover your cake. Now I know this is the hard part but practice makes perfect. Just ensure you have enough sugarpaste so you can cover the cake and then place it over with a rolling pin, tucking and smoothing down all the sides with your hands then with cake smoothers, making sure you don't get any folds in the icing (VERY hard but oh so satisfying once its done!) Then do the same with your lens.

So when that's done and you are happy with your icing, get on with making all your buttons and wheels etc for your camera and then place them on using edible sugar glue. Really take your time as this is the fun part and the time when you can get it looking like a real camera.


The finished cake


Side view...

...and the back complete with little happy birthday message

As you can see Si is very happy with his cake, gimmick mustache and all. Happy Birthday Si!



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