Cake Opinions

[KarenS]

I'd love to have opinions from some other pastry people. I have an order from a local tire company (the founders 90th birthday). They want a cake the size and shape of a tire (they want me to even put a real rim on top). Michelin is paying for part of the cake! Anyway, I'm planning to do it in black fondant and paint the tread- but I am interested in ideas from others. This is going to be a very big cake!

Edited September 12, 2004 by KarenS (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

Cool order! If you buy black fondant it will be the darkest black I think you can get, mixing your own will take a ton of paste........anyway, first thing that comes to my mind is I would actually make the tire treads 3d. Either by applying fondant to the base or indenting the sides after it's covered. Then I think I'd try to make a couple scuff marks on it to look more real, maybe a stone embeded into a thread....

I think you could also have fun with your cake board. Either choosing a paper with a cool design (for more detail interest), painting on the fondant covering the board/base or make a tire impression into the fondant covering the board (like it just rolled onto this board and landed there).

Can't wait to see some photos of how this turns out for you!!! It sounds fun!

[chefpeon]

When you say they want a real rim on the top, does that mean you will be making the cake as a solid circle and placing a hubcab kind of thing on top of it, or does it mean that you will place a real rim on the board and building the cake around it?

Regardless, I would use black fondant too (I didn't know you could buy it in already colored; I've always just colored my own, and yeah, it takes a LOT of paste/powder/gel-whatever you use-to get it really black. I use a combination of powder and gel paste, because if I use exclusively ALL gel or liquid, it messes with the consistency of the fondant enough that it makes it hard to work with. Adding powder for additional deepening of color won't make your fondant so unmanageable to use. But hey, if you can buy it in that way, go for it.....saves a lot of work!

Regarding tread and patterning, I like to assemble the cake, then pipe buttercream on it in the pattern I want to achieve. I let it harden up in the walk-in or freezer, then cover with fondant.

As you are smoothing the fondant over the cake, gently smooth it over the patterns you have

created with your buttercream, and voila, you have tread! To further add definition to your tread pattern, spray the indentations with black color in your airbrush.

Here is sort of an example of that:

I carved out my brain (yeah, literally too, but that's another story)

Then piped out the brain pattern with buttercream using a large round tip,

refrigerated it, then covered with the blue fondant. You can use the same technique

to re-create tread.....it's neat, because you get two things done in one step...you

cover your cake and get your tread at the same time!

Raised white letters are always cool on tires. After I got the fondant thing done, I

would enlarge the Michelin font logo, cut out each letter, and use each letter as a pattern

to cut out white modeling chocolate letters to place on the tire.

Also, new tires are somewhat glossy (do you have to make a new tire or a used tire? hee hee),

so I like to add a little gloss by thinning down piping gel with some clear liquor and brushing it on.

The only drawback is that it makes the cake somewhat sticky, but heck, nobody's supposed to be touching it anyway.....

Also, glossing it up a bit deepens the black color very very nicely.

Just my personal preference, but I don't like combining inedible elements in my cakes. If

they were my client I probably would tell them I could recreate the real rim out of edible

products rather that use a real one. I mean, even if it were new and completely clean

and sanitized, I don't know.....it's one of those things that kinda wigs me out.

On the other hand, using a real rim saves you a lot of work, and that's a good thing.

Anyway, I do hope you post a pic when you're done!

Love to see it!

[KarenS]

Thank's you guys! I did not know that I could buy black fondant (in Hawaii it may be still achallenge- I'll try tomorrow). I like the buttercream tread under the fondant idea, I'm going to try that this week. I too thought about a new tire being glossy (the armoral affect). I was thinking of clear glaze- the alcohol and gel is also an option to try. I agree about the board Sinclair- maybe I'll make it look like concrete.

good ideas!

[Tepee]

Howzabout adding this guy in da picture?

[Wendy DeBord]

You'll find colored fondants from Pfeil & Holing. There at http://wwwcakedeco.com Although I believe the high color consentration does effect flavor even with purchased fondant, you might consider starting with a chocolate fondant for taste. Definately plan on adding additional flavor to the fondant.

They have an incredible assortment of cake supplies.......nicely done seasonal catalogs too. Make sure you get on their mailing list.

I've bought several things from them and I've always been very pleased with their quality. At x-mas time I alway purchased their gum paste holly leaves and berries to garnish trays and bouche de noels.........the price and quality on that item is a steal.

I'm just thinking as I'm typing.........I don't know how your going to roll and place fondant that large.........then when you get to the end where your pressing your pattern/tread I think it will have started to loose shape from the weight of it. You'd definately need someone skilled to assist you.

Hum..........anyone see something similar at one of the top decorators sites. I'd check our Mikes Amazing Cakes for insight.

If you did buttercream, could you create a tread mold using silcone, fill with frosting, freeze then apply that in pieces to a cake? Possibly just piping out a tread pattern to acetate then lightly chill, attach to the tire and that should get you flat edges for your tread...........

[chefpeon]

I'm just thinking as I'm typing.........I don't know how your going to roll and place fondant that large.........then when you get to the end where your pressing your pattern/tread I think it will have started to loose shape from the weight of it. You'd definately need someone skilled to assist you.

When I do REALLY large cakes, I place the fondant on in sections. It is easy to make the seams invisible with water, the edge of a knife blade and fingertips.

If you did buttercream, could you create a tread mold using silcone, fill with frosting, freeze then apply that in pieces to a cake? Possibly just piping out a tread pattern to acetate then lightly chill, attach to the tire and that should get you flat edges for your tread...........

Sure, you could do it that way, but wow, that's a lot of work. It is so quick and easy to pipe your buttercream on the cake in a zigzaggy tread pattern, then refrigerate it, then quickly run an offset spatula over the top of the buttercream to give it that flat edge. Believe me, my specialty is labor-intensive cakes. Anything I can do to make it less so (without sacrificing quality, mind you) is more money in my (and my employers' pocket)!

[chefpeon]

Love your Michelin Man, TP!!!

I actually had this wacked out thought of suggesting that Karen put that Michelin Man partially under the tire.....as if he'd been run over......

Hee hee.

They probably wouldn't like that.

But it's fun to think about.

[KarenS]

I LOVE you guys, and I am really glad that I put that cake here!

My pastry world is so small here; I really appreciate what you contribute!

[KarenS]

TP, your "man" is lovely. I will reccomend you to the Michelin people! Actually, I would have really never have made such a good rendition (we are producing a standard of 400 desserts per day). Adding the "tire cake" is a kind of scarey nightmare-but I will deal with it.

[Tepee]

TP, your "man" is lovely. I will reccomend you to the Michelin people!

←

((((Whisper, whisper... Don't think that's a good idea, Karen. This cake was requested by the girlfriend of a guy who worked in Michelin...didn't exactly get permission from the company.)))) Not a perfect job (did it when I was into my second month of cake-decorating), but I guess he's kinda cute.

All the best for your tire cake! Remember to post it for us to see!

Edited September 13, 2004 by TP(M'sia) (log)

[Tracy K.]

Don't forget to go out and look at some real tires. They're not perfectly smooth, so doing the fondant in sections would be fine. As for the tread, I'd emboss it into the fondant, since real tread does go inward. You could also have some fun with the lettering on the side of the tire. You'll need the tire size, rating, etc. That would be a great place to sneak in the happy birthday part too.

I'm concerned about the rim. Make certain it is thoroughly washed, and if your cake is truly tire shaped with a hole in it, place the rim on top of a set of separators. Heaven only knows what kinds of lubricants or metal filings come out of a hubcap, even straight from the manufacturer, so I'd keep it away from the cake itself.

I'd also go with a chocolate fondant (Rose Levy Beranbaum has a great recipe if you're going to make it) and airbrush the black, if you have an airbrush, or crush up some black halloween decorations and dust them on. Food coloring definitely changes the taste, and a lot of people don't like the taste of fondant in the first place. However, Rose's fondant tastes like a tootsie roll... :)

Good luck!

[chefpeon]

As for the tread, I'd emboss it into the fondant, since real tread does go inward.

With my buttercream piping method, the tread goes inward also. Examine my brain, above.

The piping sticks out and the spaces in between the piping go inward. So if I were to do tread,

I would pipe a zigzaggy line, leave a space, pipe another zigzaggy line, and so on. Then when the fondant goes over it, you gently press it into those spaces, and voila! Inward tread.

Especially with a cake that large, I would avoid embossing, because as the fondant dries, it starts to crack.....I'm afraid it would start to become unworkable as you worked your way around the cake. There's also the risk of embossing too hard and poking holes in it. Not good.

I had forgotten about the existence of chocolate fondant. Yes, I agree, go with that. It will take much less additional black coloring to get it dark, and of course, there's the option that you can airbrush the black on.......this will help greatly with taste issues.

[andiesenji]

Regarding the "tread" on the rolled fondant.

There is a flat dish drainer which is available in most household stores, it is sort of a translucent white, which has a raised patten very similar to a tire tread.

I have rolled fondant directly onto this to approximate clay shingles on a roof, placing the zig-zag pattern at an angle (bias). The ridges are just deep enough to make a good impression into the fondant but not deep enough to come through.

Take a look in the housewares section of Wal-Mart, Target, or Bed, Bath and Beyond, etc. This has been a real time saver for me and might work for you.