Xbox Controller Cake Challange

     Finally, I've made it (fondant cake that is). Though, it isn't perfect, it is satisfactory. My boyfriend had helped me bake the cakes and my sister Jess helped with some of the fondant the next day. It's always fun to have someone in the kitchen at times, you never know what topics will be discussed.  

     First thing is first. Jeremy and I made butter cakes from scratch and they were very delicious. Jeremy is so cute in the kitchen (com'on ladies, we love to see that our men can cook too). We baked a heavier cake that is supposed to work better with sculpting for fondant usage (like a pound cake). The cake recipe was good, but I honestly don't understand why it never mentioned greasing and flouring the pan, or at least placing parchment paper inside as a liner. I assumed it was because there was so much butter in the mix that it wouldn't stick. WRONG. It stuck and was very difficult to get out without tearing it to pieces. My advice (for this recipe) is to grease and flour the pan, even though it's not in the directions. Experienced butter cake bakers, feel free to school me :). After I finally got the cakes out, I put wax paper under and over them and put them in the freezer overnight. I read that it will help to keep them firm while sculpting later on. 

Butter cake recipe: http://www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/buttercakerecipes.html

     For this recipe I think it would have been easier to sculpt at room temperature. With all the butter in the recipe it was too stiff and had to thaw a bit. Perhaps my knives weren't sharp enough to add to the difficulty. Jess and I drew a blueprint on parchment paper and stuck it on top of the cake before cutting. This way all the layers would be the same size.

     After spreading the butter cream icing in the middle we stacked the layers and dirty iced it.

     When it was finished it went in the fridge to stay cool while we worked with the fondant. We flattened the fondant out as best as we could then laid it over power sugar to roll out like a pie crust. We flipped the fondant many times to sprinkle power sugar on both sides as it was rolled out. It was flattened to about 1/8 of an inch.

      With the extra cake we made circular shapes to put on top of the sculpture where the controller knobs would go. It took both of us to lay the fondant over the cake. We smoothed it from top to bottom and cut the edges so the fondant would lay flat. 

     Since we had noticeable creases on the ends where the fondant was cut, I used a blow dryer (old school) on low heat to smooth it out. It tuned out perfect, you just want to be careful not to get the fondant too hot or it will become sticky and ruin. I noticed that there was air caught where the controller knobs would go, so I pierced the rounded areas to let air pockets out.  Then I sprayed the cake with an edible silver paint. The controller is the silver Halo edition. 

     After that we cut black fondant to lay over the silver. We used butter cream icing as the glue. It was rolled very thin. This is where the proportions change since the cake was so tall. We were also able to finish the back of the controller and knobs, which were also black pieces. You will see that the knobs were a tad small too. At this point I was running out of time and the cake had to go back in the fridge overnight.

     Condensation became an issue the next day. I was certain it was supposed to stay cool for preservation. This actually made it more difficult and the spray paint was no longer dry to the touch, it had actually moistened up. 

     I let it evaporate as much as possible before continuing my work. The silver spray paint would easily smudge at this point (insert angry face). I continued with rolling black fondant for the back of the controller and the buttons on top. 

     I had used a gel for the colored buttons. I made a slight indention on the top to put small letters in. I had formed them from fondant (I didn't have gum paste) and covered them with the gel. When I was done I free handed the drawing/etching with a toothpick using black food coloring since I didn't have edible paint or a paint brush. The cake sat out the rest of the day. I feared what it would look like if I put it back in the fridge. 

     So here it is, in all my glory. I know it isn't perfect but remember, I'm doing this for the first time with no direction. There is only so much you can learn from the internet, then hands on is the only option left!

 

       My nine year old didn't critique my work and his birthday "was even better" thanks to mom's cake. :) The cake isn't proportioned perfectly, but you can definitely identify what it is supposed to be. When it all comes down to it, this was my first time working with fondant and the entire cake tasted soooo good.  

     Well, if you have any questions feel free to post them. I know I probably did a few things the long way due to lack of knowledge or tools. However, this was still a very fun project and I will make another fondant cake next month for a little princess' birthday.