Sweet 16 Cowgirl Boots for Noelle

Brown and Turquoise Cowgirl Boots Cake

Edna M. and Daughter Noelle

I love country music and anything associated with it. So you can imagine how pleased I was to have received the phone call from Edna asking for a cowgirl boots cake for her lovely daughter Noelle who celebrated her  Sweet 16 today

Mom Edna shared with me that for Noelle's birthday, they were taking her to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and could I please construct a pair of cowgirl boots cake for Noelle. Well...my dear friends...of course I said yes! Now mind you...this challenge was a first for me. As you all know...I have created car cakes, character cakes, a Cartier watch cake, designer purses, and designer shoes...but boots?  How hard could it be? At first...it was a daunting project...but...not being one to back down from a cake challenge I forged forward.

First order of business was to talk about the style of boot cake Noelle might like.

 Remember on the Next Great Baker...when Buddy presented the bakers  with a challenge to create a cake for Miss USA? Well the one thing he said that rang true was "listen to your customer". I always try to listen to all of my wonderful clients, and then of course, I research to get inspiration and talk some more.  For Noelle's cake we decided on a cake that wasn't juvenille, no pinks or purples. I viewed several photos that Edna had sent...and from them I could see that the boots were playful...yet sophisticated. Perfect for a young lady. What caught my eye especially was a pair of boots that had turquoise in them...and so I ran with the turquoise and brown with a hint of silver beads.

I loved speaking with Edna, she is so lovely....and a cake decorator as well!!! Yah...you read correctly...Edna M. is a cake decorator...and amazingly talented!  No pressure there to create a cake that would not only make the birthday girl happy but now...it's being delivered to a cake decorator!

Well...to make a very long story short....the cake was created...and turned out to be a "piece of cake" and a lot of fun to create and deliver! I'm still in awe at how easy it was to deliver. You know how stressful deliveries can be!

And...what made it even more special was finally meeting Edna and her beautiful family in person.

Edna...if you're reading this...the offer still stands for that Cake Playdate in Port!

Happy Sweet 16 Noelle.

Hints for Ease of Applying Fondant to A Cake Boot

1. Roll out your fondant between two sheets of plastic to the size you will need to cover the area in sections on the cake.

2. Open up the plastic and place a piece of parchment to cover the fondant and immediately flip it over.

3. If you are cutting out a pattern place your template over the exposed fondant and using your hobby knife proceed to cut out your pattern.

4. Transfer the fondant still attached to the parchment onto a cookie sheet and place in freezer for about 15 minutes.

5. After 15 minutes or so...remove from freezer. Peel off the parchment and apply fondant  to cake (smooth side up)...allowing the warmth of your hands to thaw the fondant, as you go along forming the fondant to the cake.

This method is really great as the fondant won't stretch and pull...you know that awful distortion that happens when you try to apply fondant to irregular shapes.

I also use this method to cut out intricate stencils. Saves so much time and aggravation!