Friday, August 17, 2007

Candy Cakes

My sugar “cake” has captured the imagination of the 10-year-old girls in my neighborhood. 

Every so often the doorbell rings and 3 smiling faces ask if they can see the “candy cake.”  They think it is sheer genius that I built a cake made of candy to display in my kitchen. 

It is the kind of art they can understand. It is the kind of art they want. 

They never tire of looking at it and they check back often to make sure that it is “real.” Lots of things I create garner attention, but nothing is quite like what I see in the eyes of these girls.

3 comments:

Mel said...

hi anna~ i love your candy cake... Is it easy to make? I am planning a candyland theme for my baby's baptism and would love to have something like that for her cake... :)hope you can help me how it's done THANKS :)

Anne Reeves said...

Hi Mel - Thanks! I will give you some tips on constructing later to day. I love it for a baptism -how adorable. Anne

Anne Reeves said...

Mel - My candy cake is really for decoration - it is candy glued to permenant containers, but I am certain that you could construct a real cake the same way and I think it would be beautiful. I recommend baking with pound cake mix - it is more stable than traditional cake. The height & distinct layers are what make this cake so appealing. I think a bundt cake would be a substantial base - bake 1 cupcake with the extra batter and stuff it in the bundt hole for support. Then I would use a deep springform pan and bake the middle layer. That would go on top of the bundt. Depending on the size of your pans and the sturdiness of the structure, you may decide that cupcakes make a cute crowning layer. Many bakers use rods or skewers to support cake structures - it can't hurt. First, assemble & frost the entire cake. Now the fun part - decorating! The bottom layer is covered with merengue cookie kisses. On the middle layer, arrange pink sugar wafer cookies upright around the perimeter. For the cupcakes, frost them and top as desired. I think a spiral of Necco wafers on top of each cupcake would look amazing. Fill in any gaps with candy and enjoy! and PLEASE tell me how it turns out. Beautiful baking...Ana