Starting 2011 the right way!

First cake of the new year - I am loving it!  My grandmother turned 92 this month and requested that I create a work of edible art for her.  She is a big fan of roses - has tons of them growing in her garden.  I got a new airbrush for Christmas and was dying to use it.  Hmmm.... and idea was born! 

My friend Melissa recently showed me a super easy way to make fondant roses.  Much, much easier than the way I was making them before.  Sitting down one evening, I made a ton of roses, all different sizes out of plain white 50/50.  Once they dried, I used the airbrush to color them different colors. 

Something to note about the airbrush - the fine mist goes EVERYWHERE!  I have "constructed" a painting box and that caught most of it - but after I was done, there was a fine layer of colors on the counters. 

I have a large egg carton that I saved, which makes it perfect for putting the roses in to dry.  It took about 24 hours for things to completely dry and I was then able to make "paint" out of luster dust and vodka.  I painted the edges of the rose petals to make them pop just a bit and give it a little more definition.  The white roses I experimented with and painted the entire petals with a pearlized white - it made them come out sort of satiny looking.  Very pretty! 

Constructing the cake - triple chocolate fudge with raspberry filling - crumb coating and then airbrushed the cake brown.  I wanted it to match the color of the fondant strips I made to give it a basket look in case I had any large gaps.  The fondant strips I cut and then scored with my gumpaste tool to give it a wood grain look.  Each strip was applied and I made them long enough to overlap on the top and cause a "bump".  That way when I put the roses on the cake, I had a ready made height in the center.  Roses were added, gumpaste leaves added and voila!  One very happy grandmother - and me too!  :-)